Beijing vs San Francisco - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Beijing	San Francisco
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1065	$3729
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3114	$8827
🏠 One person rent	$605	$2575
🏘️ Family rent	$1364	$4722
🍽️ Food expenses	$253	$762
🚐 Transport expenses	$108	$182
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1709	$7332
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	100	97
😀 Quality of life	78	95
🏙️ Population	21.9M	874K

The cost of living in Beijing is 71% less expensive than in San Francisco. Cities ranked 4887th and 12th ($1065 vs $3729) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 10th and 10th in China and the United States, respectively. Check China vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Beijing compared to 2 months in San Francisco. Beijing ranked 5th best city to live in China vs San Francisco ranked 4th in the United States, while ranked 583rd and 29th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Beijing vs San Francisco infographic

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Prices in Beijing vs San Francisco

Prices for goods and services in Beijing and San Francisco are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Beijing	San Francisco
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.9	$22.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.6	$87.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.54	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.4	$8.6
☕ Cappuccino	$3.83	$5.44
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$2.75
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$843	$2705
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$487	$2296
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2089	$5169
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1102	$4274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.7	$135
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.3	$208
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.6	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.35%	6.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14972	$11456
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8057	$10309
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$2.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$35.5	$96.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.9	$21
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.19	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.01	$1.72
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.53	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$4.93
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.97	$6.13
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$20
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.23	$15.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.5	$19
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$5.78
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$4.9
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$5.99
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$3.44
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.99	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$1.52
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.29	$3.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.5	$16.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$4.01
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.64	$12.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.55	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.54	$8.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.33	$5.79
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.94	$2.94
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.2	$95.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.44	$17.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.8	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.69	$26.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$62.7	$62.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$85.6	$106
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$896	$2657
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27310	$31490

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Beijing

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Langfang	$733
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$713
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$772
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$633
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$650
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$688
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$583
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$678
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$466
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$667
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$677
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$658
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$587
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$700
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$633
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$607
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$539
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$549
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$643
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$637
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$594
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$592
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$525
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$633
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$545
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$569
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$527
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$650
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$572
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$486
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$707
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$598
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$667
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$621
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$640
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$643
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$620
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$587
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$640
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$506

Cities near San Francisco

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.9 mi	Daly	$3133
14 km or 8.4 mi	South San Francisco	$3130
14 km or 8.8 mi	Alameda	$3358
15 km or 9.2 mi	Oakland	$3123
16 km or 10 mi	Albany	$2965
17 km or 10 mi	Berkeley	$3127
17 km or 11 mi	San Bruno	$3147
18 km or 11 mi	El Cerrito	$2977
18 km or 11 mi	Pacifica	$3135
19 km or 12 mi	Richmond	$3042
20 km or 12 mi	Millbrae	$3163
21 km or 13 mi	San Pablo	$3046
22 km or 14 mi	Burlingame	$3219
24 km or 15 mi	San Leandro	$2969
24 km or 15 mi	San Rafael	$4148
26 km or 16 mi	San Mateo	$3583
28 km or 17 mi	San Lorenzo	$2650
28 km or 18 mi	Foster	$3518
29 km or 18 mi	Lafayette	$2840
29 km or 18 mi	Hercules	$2968
31 km or 19 mi	Belmont	$3567
32 km or 20 mi	Hayward	$2660
32 km or 20 mi	Castro Valley	$2881
34 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3300
34 km or 21 mi	Walnut Creek	$2876
36 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3389
37 km or 23 mi	Martinez	$2697
37 km or 23 mi	Danville	$2929
37 km or 23 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2782
38 km or 24 mi	Union	$2922
39 km or 24 mi	San Ramon	$2860
39 km or 24 mi	Vallejo	$2900
39 km or 24 mi	Novato	$3195
39 km or 24 mi	Benicia	$2824
41 km or 25 mi	Concord	$2947
42 km or 26 mi	Menlo Park	$3313
42 km or 26 mi	East Palo Alto	$3245
43 km or 27 mi	Newark	$3003
45 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3109
46 km or 28 mi	Palo Alto	$3733