Calgary vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Calgary	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2079	$1128
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4683	$3104
🏠 One person rent	$1191	$605
🏘️ Family rent	$1928	$1067
🍽️ Food expenses	$572	$289
🚐 Transport expenses	$169	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2977	$931
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	53	100
😀 Quality of life	91	77
🏙️ Population	1.31M	24.9M

The cost of living in Calgary is 84% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1781st and 4879th ($2079 vs $1128) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 27th and 5th in Canada and China, respectively. Check Canada vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Calgary compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Calgary ranked 15th best city to live in Canada vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 160th and 1383rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Calgary vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Calgary vs Shanghai

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

	Calgary	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$4.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$40
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.16	$1.47
☕ Cappuccino	$4.07	$3.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.01	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1190	$848
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$957	$485
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2105	$1510
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1560	$875
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$203	$52
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$55.3	$12.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.19%	3.36%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3658	$14877
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3126	$7318
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.69	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$84.8	$31.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$6.41
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.92	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.34	$1.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.57	$1.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$3.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.78
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$1.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.35	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$0.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.18	$0.44
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.13	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.86	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.1	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.25	$6.07
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.47	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.53	$2.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.51	$2.12
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.7	$59.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.6	$8.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$91.5	$92.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$21.7	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$58	$52.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$87.5	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$796	$1172
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15727	$27624

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Calgary

Distance	City	Cost of living
106 km or 66 mi	Banff	$1773
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1782
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1632
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1730
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1544
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1648
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1823
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2617
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1949
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2366
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2343
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1759
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2231
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1748
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$1973
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2228
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2111
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2490
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1817
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1765
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1913
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1854
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1774
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1625
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$2001
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1842
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1486
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2219
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1478
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1987
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2414
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2080
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2641
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2361
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$1952
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2057
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2488
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2443
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2470
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1887

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1003
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$673
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$696
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$771
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$597
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$612
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$632
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$547
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$648
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$679
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$631
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$634
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$576
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$713
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$621
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$740
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$674
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$601
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$630
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$826
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$622
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$634
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$639
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$597
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$642
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$664
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$531
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$602
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$618
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$637
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$672
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$663
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$590
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$666
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$659
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$617
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$753