Canberra vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$3146
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$636
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$1119
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$1068
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	30	99
😀 Quality of life	85	76
🏙️ Population	381K	24.9M

The cost of living in Canberra is 97% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1373rd and 4880th ($2258 vs $1147) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 5th in Australia and China, respectively. Check Australia vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Canberra compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 438th 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 Canberra vs Shanghai

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

	Canberra	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.6	$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$1.44
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$27610

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1795
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1701
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1460
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1709
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2481
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2040
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2354
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1825
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1855
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1816
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1995
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$2000
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1936
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1915
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1913
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1834
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1493
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2543
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1933
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1896
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1813
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2179
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1606
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1273
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1905
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1868
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1728
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2364
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1720

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