Berlin vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Berlin	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2371	$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5321	$3146
🏠 One person rent	$1330	$636
🏘️ Family rent	$2289	$1119
🍽️ Food expenses	$561	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$319	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3423	$1068
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	99
😀 Quality of life	94	76
🏙️ Population	3.78M	24.9M

The cost of living in Berlin is 107% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1150th and 4880th ($2371 vs $1147) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 5th in Germany and China, respectively. Check Germany vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Berlin compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Berlin ranked 9th best city to live in Germany vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 45th and 1178th 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/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	$16.2	$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.6	$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.4	$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.26	$1.44
☕ Cappuccino	$4.65	$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.71	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1383	$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1009	$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2475	$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1800	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$199	$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$307	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$47	$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.78%	3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8891	$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6112	$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.59	$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$72.4	$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.1	$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.2	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.31	$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.26	$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.44	$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.3	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.7	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.6	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.6	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.69	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.1	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.65	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.42	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.4	$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.31	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.4	$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.6	$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.6	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$101	$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$109	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$124	$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12679	$27610

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	$1930
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1960
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1941
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1902
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1979
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1908
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1878
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1921
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1895
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1840
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1920
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1903
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1804
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1827
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1854
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1863
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1848
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1682
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1870
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1482
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1517
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1558
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1460
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1332
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1459
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1462
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1459
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1482
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1551
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1461
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1505
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1434
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1448
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1419
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1443
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1190
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1416
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1080
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1551
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1470

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1030
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$708
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$726
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$725
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$798
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$643
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$678
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$581
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$652
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$686
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$680
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$658
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$571
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$660
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$645
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$670
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$663
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$636
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$659
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$899
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$651
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$664
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$657
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$627
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$667
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$623
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$693
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$691
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$538
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$623
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$644
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$661
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$696
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$693
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$620
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$677
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$684
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$644
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$789