Berlin vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Berlin	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2104	$1136
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5039	$3654
🏠 One person rent	$1143	$602
🏘️ Family rent	$2202	$1527
🍽️ Food expenses	$534	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$288	$116
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3287	$1905
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	95	79
🏙️ Population	3.76M	24.9M

The cost of living in Berlin is 85% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1583rd and 4780th ($2104 vs $1136) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th in Germany and China, respectively. Check Germany vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Berlin compared to 1.7 months in Shanghai. Berlin ranked 3rd best city to live in Germany vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 23rd and 571st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Berlin vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Berlin vs Shanghai

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

	Berlin	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.5	$3.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67	$42.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.2	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.48	$1.43
☕ Cappuccino	$4.15	$3.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.93	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1178	$897
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$855	$461
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2408	$2549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1752	$1181
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$178	$36.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$274	$56.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.8	$16.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.92%	4.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8742	$16156
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6444	$8893
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.9	$0.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$55.1	$36.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.1	$6.13
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$2.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.14	$1.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$1.41
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.8	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$3.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.5	$11.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.02	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.89	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$0.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.93	$1.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.43	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.15	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.05	$3.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$6.62
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.69	$7.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.06	$1.72
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.26	$2.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.7	$55
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.9	$8.47
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$57.8	$90.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.5	$11.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$93.4	$58.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.8	$78.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$322	$1263
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8961	$31401

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Berlin

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Teltow	$1739
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1783
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1775
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1739
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1786
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1730
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1717
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1780
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1739
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1690
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1752
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1737
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1671
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1687
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1713
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1734
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1714
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1574
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1692
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1421
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1482
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1469
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1393
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1261
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1386
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1387
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1396
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1345
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1513
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1390
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1470
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1372
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1386
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1349
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1365
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1169
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1384
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$931
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1387
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1369

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1028
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$706
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$749
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$738
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$1020
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$585
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$661
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$718
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$620
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$676
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$686
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$706
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$685
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$612
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$733
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$674
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$742
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$702
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$729
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$674
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$843
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$665
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$676
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$690
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$629
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$698
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$630
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$673
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$698
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$538
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$650
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$651
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$703
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$708
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$699
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$617
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$702
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$771
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$648
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$774