Berlin vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Berlin	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2013	$1190
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4765	$3757
🏠 One person rent	$1134	$635
🏘️ Family rent	$2203	$1613
🍽️ Food expenses	$489	$308
🚐 Transport expenses	$266	$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3496	$1455
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	95	78
🏙️ Population	3.68M	24.9M

The cost of living in Berlin is 69% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1759th and 4461st ($2013 vs $1190) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 6th in Germany and China, respectively. Check Germany vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Berlin compared to 1.2 months in Shanghai. Berlin ranked 2nd best city to live in Germany vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 19th and 558th 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	$12.4	$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.5	$40.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.6	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.77	$1.7
☕ Cappuccino	$3.86	$3.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.02	$0.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1192	$901
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$858	$497
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2460	$2595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1755	$1269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$165	$39.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$263	$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$43.7	$17.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.96%	4.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9186	$17366
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6527	$9346
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.8	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.2	$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$25.2	$6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.96	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.29	$2.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.84	$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.3	$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.82	$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.18	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.93	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.01	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.06	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.29	$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.14	$3.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.88	$6.43
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.43	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.75	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.75	$2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.8	$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13	$8.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$36.6	$89.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.1	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$85.1	$66.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.4	$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$228	$1283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9556	$28143

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	$1671
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1729
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1715
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1656
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1735
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1601
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1629
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1701
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1673
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1581
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1695
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1689
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1622
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1607
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1618
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1656
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1628
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1536
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1677
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1258
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1372
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1443
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1280
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1288
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1298
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1263
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1253
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1271
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1379
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1384
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1370
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1264
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1295
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1348
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1297
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1196
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1249
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$848
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1303
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1323

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1074
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$731
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$771
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$763
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$1020
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$682
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$731
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$651
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$678
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$699
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$688
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$690
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$677
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$675
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$755
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$707
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$713
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$682
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$831
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$665
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$679
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$694
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$625
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$707
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$703
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$524
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$631
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$645
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$720
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$725
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$696
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$617
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$719
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$789
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$652
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$740