Berlin vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Berlin	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2027	$1097
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4661	$3454
🏠 One person rent	$1127	$577
🏘️ Family rent	$2029	$1404
🍽️ Food expenses	$505	$287
🚐 Transport expenses	$258	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3225	$1644
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	95	78
🏙️ Population	3.78M	24.9M

The cost of living in Berlin is 85% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1762nd and 4858th ($2027 vs $1097) 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 1.5 months in Shanghai. Berlin ranked 3rd best city to live in Germany vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 21st and 675th 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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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/berlin/shanghai.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Berlin vs Shanghai infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/berlin/shanghai" target="_blank">Berlin vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$14.6	$4.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.3	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.5	$5.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.57	$1.45
☕ Cappuccino	$3.85	$3.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.94	$0.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1156	$823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$832	$455
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2233	$2226
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1562	$1115
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$190	$33.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$293	$51.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40.1	$14.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.88%	3.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8133	$14361
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5908	$8086
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.68	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$57.5	$34.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.9	$5.85
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.81	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$2.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.93	$1.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.66	$1.84
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$15.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$10.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.93	$2.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.75	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$0.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.81	$1.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.55	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.9	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.55	$12.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.2	$0.84
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.01	$3.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.37	$6.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.2	$6.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.73	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.11	$2.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.3	$55.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13	$8.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$59.3	$87.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$88.2	$60.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.1	$75.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$186	$1181
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9774	$30174

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Berlin

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Teltow	$1707
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1782
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1770
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1714
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1763
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1724
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1691
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1796
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1695
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1665
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1711
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1714
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1632
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1663
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1686
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1723
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1690
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1534
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1644
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1354
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1442
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1437
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1319
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1241
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1315
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1332
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1340
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1350
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1421
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1351
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1395
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1308
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1326
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1310
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1282
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1108
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1346
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1022
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1419
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1373

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$984
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$665
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$700
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$868
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$573
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$631
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$645
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$602
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$640
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$670
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$670
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$657
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$590
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$708
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$643
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$716
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$695
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$702
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$644
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$805
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$643
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$654
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$603
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$650
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$607
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$665
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$522
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$620
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$621
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$642
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$677
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$665
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$592
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$672
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$621
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$746