Calgary vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Calgary	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2095	$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4718	$3146
🏠 One person rent	$1181	$636
🏘️ Family rent	$1885	$1119
🍽️ Food expenses	$591	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$173	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3093	$1068
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	53	99
😀 Quality of life	90	76
🏙️ Population	1.31M	24.9M

The cost of living in Calgary is 83% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1759th and 4880th ($2095 vs $1147) 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 1.5 months in Calgary compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Calgary ranked 9th best city to live in Canada vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 187th and 1178th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$19.1	$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.2	$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.66	$1.44
☕ Cappuccino	$4.19	$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.13	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1234	$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$935	$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1946	$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1549	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$130	$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$200	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$56.1	$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.5%	3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3751	$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3441	$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.85	$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88	$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.2	$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.06	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.86	$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.39	$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.39	$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.87	$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.5	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.6	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.3	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.83	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.54	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.21	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.92	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.27	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.57	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.51	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.43	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.4	$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$92.4	$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.6	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$57.7	$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.1	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$820	$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15881	$27610

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	$1927
137 km or 85 mi	Red Deer	$1874
174 km or 108 mi	Lethbridge	$1780
248 km or 154 mi	Leduc	$1733
265 km or 165 mi	Medicine Hat	$1579
278 km or 173 mi	Spruce Grove	$1626
279 km or 173 mi	Edmonton	$1835
357 km or 222 mi	Sandpoint	$2595
402 km or 250 mi	Kelowna	$1974
422 km or 262 mi	Coeur d'Alene	$2338
426 km or 265 mi	Post Falls	$2307
429 km or 266 mi	Penticton	$1749
440 km or 273 mi	Spokane Valley	$2197
442 km or 275 mi	Kamloops	$1771
443 km or 275 mi	Great Falls	$1953
452 km or 281 mi	Spokane	$2180
466 km or 289 mi	Missoula	$2135
517 km or 322 mi	Helena	$2505
524 km or 325 mi	Saskatoon	$1781
526 km or 327 mi	Moscow	$1703
531 km or 330 mi	Pullman	$1787
556 km or 345 mi	Grande Prairie	$1867
560 km or 348 mi	Lewiston	$1729
572 km or 355 mi	Butte	$1634
579 km or 360 mi	Moses Lake	$2100
600 km or 373 mi	Chilliwack	$1869
603 km or 375 mi	Moose Jaw	$1451
607 km or 377 mi	Wenatchee	$2290
616 km or 382 mi	Prince Albert	$1442
630 km or 391 mi	Abbotsford	$1953
636 km or 395 mi	Whistler	$2427
637 km or 396 mi	Walla Walla	$2053
638 km or 396 mi	Bozeman	$2930
641 km or 398 mi	Maple Ridge	$2266
650 km or 404 mi	Langley	$2100
650 km or 404 mi	Pasco	$2141
651 km or 405 mi	Coquitlam	$2493
654 km or 406 mi	Bellingham	$2523
654 km or 406 mi	Richland	$2492
655 km or 407 mi	Fort McMurray	$1872

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