Beijing vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Beijing	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1044	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2705	$6700
🏠 One person rent	$596	$1749
🏘️ Family rent	$1053	$3002
🍽️ Food expenses	$250	$597
🚐 Transport expenses	$102	$337
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$711	$4145
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	99
😀 Quality of life	73	98
🏙️ Population	21.9M	5.45M

The cost of living in Beijing is 63% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 5341st and 348th ($1044 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 6th and 1st in China and Australia, respectively. Check China vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Beijing compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Beijing ranked 11th best city to live in China vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 2718th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/beijing/sydney.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Beijing vs Sydney infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/beijing/sydney" target="_blank">Beijing vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Beijing vs Sydney

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

	Beijing	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.36	$15.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$26.1	$79.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.05	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.02	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$3.03	$3.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.57	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$861	$2123
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$471	$1437
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1589	$3835
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$839	$2492
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$32.4	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$50.2	$190
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13.9	$51.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.39%	6.09%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12544	$13218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6280	$7866
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.58	$3.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$33.4	$118
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.68	$20.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.1	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.95	$1.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.81	$2.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.12	$2.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.89	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.38	$9.78
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.22	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$3.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$3.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.82	$2.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$2.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.21	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.65	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.86	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.61	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.71	$9.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.63	$4.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.73	$3.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.02	$3.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$63.8	$63.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34.7	$70.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.08	$21.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$59	$80.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$81.3	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$725	$2281
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25165	$21946

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	$716
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuozhou	$734
58 km or 36 mi	Sanhe	$767
78 km or 49 mi	Gaobeidian	$645
87 km or 54 mi	Bazhou	$646
109 km or 68 mi	Tianjin	$663
135 km or 84 mi	Renqiu	$572
137 km or 85 mi	Zunhua	$673
139 km or 87 mi	Baoding	$468
151 km or 94 mi	Binhai	$656
155 km or 97 mi	Tangshan	$697
163 km or 101 mi	Zhangjiakou	$657
164 km or 102 mi	Hejian	$562
176 km or 110 mi	Chengde	$709
182 km or 113 mi	Cangzhou	$621
189 km or 117 mi	Huanghua	$630
189 km or 118 mi	Anguo	$528
196 km or 122 mi	Dingzhou	$558
197 km or 122 mi	Qian'an	$632
198 km or 123 mi	Luanzhou	$626
204 km or 127 mi	Botou	$564
224 km or 139 mi	Shenzhou	$512
228 km or 142 mi	Xinle	$524
229 km or 142 mi	Pingquan	$629
239 km or 148 mi	Jinzhou	$521
241 km or 150 mi	Xinji	$525
249 km or 155 mi	Gaocheng	$519
249 km or 155 mi	Hengshui	$466
252 km or 156 mi	Laoling	$584
263 km or 164 mi	Shijiazhuang	$493
265 km or 165 mi	Datong	$770
272 km or 169 mi	Jizhou	$508
273 km or 169 mi	Qinhuangdao	$574
273 km or 170 mi	Dezhou	$492
281 km or 175 mi	Fengzhen	$655
282 km or 175 mi	Huairen	$666
294 km or 183 mi	Lingyuan	$618
296 km or 184 mi	Nangong	$562
302 km or 187 mi	Ulanqab	$640
314 km or 195 mi	Binzhou	$748

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2379
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2482
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2050
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1710
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1997
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1699
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1821
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1477
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2223
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1867
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1288
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1824
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1815
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1979
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2352
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1896
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1860
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1487
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1894
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1813
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1829
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2496
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1928
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1906
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2269
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1822
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1988
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2217
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1604
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1864