Boston vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Boston Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person
$3638
$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$8082
$3097
🏠 One person rent
$2543
$600
🏘️ Family rent
$4126
$1068
🍽️ Food expenses
$722
$293
🚐 Transport expenses
$145
$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$6556
$879
😷 Air quality
Excellent
Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity
5 km
13 km
🎓 Higher education
100
99
😀 Quality of life
92
75
🏙️ Population
676K
24.9M

The cost of living in Boston is 223% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 30th and 4971st ($3638 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 21st and 5th in the United States and China, respectively. Check the United States vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Boston compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Boston ranked 16th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 94th and 1655th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this infographic!

Prices in Boston vs Shanghai

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

Boston Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu
$21.5
$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$103
$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$11.9
$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$8.04
$1.69
 Cappuccino
$5.31
$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$2.85
$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$2878
$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$2181
$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$5280
$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$3456
$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$147
$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$229
$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$76.1
$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
6.34%
3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$11142
$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$6207
$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$2.41
$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$90.6
$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$17.8
$6.45
 Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$0.87
$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.19
$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$3.63
$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$4.64
$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12
$5.6
$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$15.1
$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$12.7
$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$19.4
$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$5.14
$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.15
$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$5.48
$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$5.77
$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$4.11
$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$3.73
$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.6
$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$2.78
$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$17.2
$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$3.07
$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack
$13.1
$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$6.48
$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$7.06
$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$4
$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$1.99
$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$89.2
$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$15.9
$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$190
$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple
$28.2
$12
👖 Brand Jeans
$67.6
$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers
$115
$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$2835
$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$26679
$27781

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

More cities to compare

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Boston

Distance City Cost of living
4 km or 2.5 mi Cambridge
$3830
4.4 km or 2.7 mi Chelsea
$3097
4.5 km or 2.8 mi Somerville
$3650
5.6 km or 3.5 mi Everett
$2960
5.7 km or 3.5 mi Brookline
$3140
6.9 km or 4.3 mi Revere
$2981
7.4 km or 4.6 mi Malden
$3000
7.6 km or 4.7 mi Medford
$2691
10 km or 6.2 mi Belmont
$3017
10 km or 6.2 mi Arlington
$2944
10 km or 6.2 mi Watertown
$2966
11 km or 6.9 mi Melrose
$2870
12 km or 7.5 mi Milton
$3006
12 km or 7.5 mi Winchester
$2845
12 km or 7.7 mi Newton
$2862
13 km or 7.8 mi Saugus
$2839
13 km or 8.1 mi Quincy
$3186
14 km or 8.6 mi Stoneham
$2823
14 km or 8.9 mi Waltham
$2870
15 km or 9.4 mi Lynn
$2762
15 km or 9.5 mi Woburn
$2714
16 km or 9.6 mi Dedham
$2921
16 km or 10 mi Needham
$2837
16 km or 10 mi Lexington
$2771
16 km or 10 mi Wakefield
$2808
18 km or 11 mi Braintree
$2980
18 km or 11 mi Weymouth
$2986
19 km or 12 mi Reading
$2786
19 km or 12 mi Hingham
$2939
20 km or 12 mi Burlington
$2405
20 km or 13 mi Wellesley
$2803
21 km or 13 mi Norwood
$2866
22 km or 14 mi Peabody
$2859
22 km or 14 mi Randolph
$2894
22 km or 14 mi Salem
$3006
23 km or 14 mi Wilmington
$2629
23 km or 14 mi Marblehead
$2854
23 km or 14 mi Canton
$2871
25 km or 16 mi Natick
$2867
26 km or 16 mi Stoughton
$2852

Cities near Shanghai

Distance City Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi Pudong
$1002
47 km or 29 mi Taicang
$669
53 km or 33 mi Kunshan
$696
74 km or 46 mi Qidong
$701
82 km or 51 mi Suzhou
$782
82 km or 51 mi Jiaxing
$594
85 km or 53 mi Haimen
$620
88 km or 55 mi Changshu
$644
106 km or 66 mi Nantong
$557
117 km or 73 mi Zhangjiagang
$667
121 km or 75 mi Wuxi
$683
135 km or 84 mi Huzhou
$643
141 km or 87 mi Jiangyin
$650
142 km or 88 mi Zhoushan
$584
144 km or 89 mi Ningbo
$671
148 km or 92 mi Jingjiang
$636
155 km or 96 mi Shaoxing
$680
158 km or 98 mi Yixing
$684
159 km or 99 mi Changzhou
$623
160 km or 100 mi Rugao
$646
161 km or 100 mi Hangzhou
$860
177 km or 110 mi Taixing
$636
179 km or 111 mi Hai'an
$647
191 km or 119 mi Liyang
$652
197 km or 122 mi Yangzhong
$611
198 km or 123 mi Guangde
$652
201 km or 125 mi Danyang
$604
208 km or 129 mi Taizhou
$675
217 km or 135 mi Dongtai
$678
223 km or 139 mi Zhenjiang
$525
235 km or 146 mi Yangzhou
$618
236 km or 146 mi Jurong
$626
244 km or 152 mi Ningguo
$644
246 km or 153 mi Yiwu
$667
250 km or 155 mi Xinghua
$677
250 km or 156 mi Yizheng
$601
259 km or 161 mi Linhai
$661
260 km or 161 mi Xuancheng
$665
262 km or 163 mi Gaoyou
$632
274 km or 170 mi Nanjing
$765