Charlotte vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Charlotte	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2528	$1097
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5839	$3454
🏠 One person rent	$1559	$577
🏘️ Family rent	$2624	$1404
🍽️ Food expenses	$636	$287
🚐 Transport expenses	$162	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4485	$1644
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	68	100
😀 Quality of life	88	78
🏙️ Population	875K	24.9M

The cost of living in Charlotte is 130% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 761st and 4858th ($2528 vs $1097) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 705th and 6th 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 Charlotte compared to 1.5 months in Shanghai. Charlotte ranked 62nd best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 252nd and 675th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Charlotte vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Charlotte vs Shanghai

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

	Charlotte	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.6	$4.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.6	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$5.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.95	$1.45
☕ Cappuccino	$5.06	$3.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.56	$0.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1601	$823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1337	$455
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3268	$2226
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2181	$1115
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$105	$33.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$162	$51.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.8	$14.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.54%	3.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4188	$14361
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2832	$8086
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.61	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$90.9	$34.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.4	$5.85
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$2.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.23	$1.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.31	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$1.84
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.2	$15.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.6	$10.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.44	$2.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.8	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$0.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.19	$1.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.74	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.9	$12.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.52	$0.84
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.65	$3.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.14	$6.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.97	$6.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.26	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.8	$2.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$52.9	$55.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.1	$8.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$124	$87.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$25.8	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$54	$60.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.3	$75.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1337	$1181
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25956	$30174

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Charlotte

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 10 mi	Matthews	$2271
17 km or 11 mi	Mint Hill	$2269
20 km or 13 mi	Huntersville	$2188
23 km or 14 mi	Indian Trail	$2225
28 km or 18 mi	Cornelius	$2166
30 km or 18 mi	Concord	$2147
31 km or 19 mi	Gastonia	$1891
36 km or 22 mi	Kannapolis	$2136
36 km or 22 mi	Rock Hill	$2177
38 km or 23 mi	Monroe	$2182
40 km or 25 mi	Mooresville	$2072
57 km or 35 mi	Lancaster	$2170
59 km or 37 mi	Salisbury	$2117
62 km or 39 mi	Statesville	$2090
63 km or 39 mi	Shelby	$1474
72 km or 45 mi	Hickory	$1851
94 km or 58 mi	Forest	$1951
101 km or 63 mi	Thomasville	$2058
104 km or 64 mi	Rockingham	$2136
104 km or 65 mi	Spartanburg	$1925
108 km or 67 mi	Asheboro	$2091
111 km or 69 mi	Winston-Salem	$2098
113 km or 70 mi	High Point	$1934
120 km or 75 mi	Kernersville	$2169
130 km or 81 mi	Greer	$2292
132 km or 82 mi	Greensboro	$2011
138 km or 86 mi	Columbia	$1809
142 km or 88 mi	Mauldin	$2404
143 km or 89 mi	Lexington	$1929
147 km or 91 mi	Greenville	$2530
152 km or 94 mi	Florence	$1907
152 km or 95 mi	Sumter	$1902
154 km or 96 mi	Sanford	$2184
159 km or 99 mi	Burlington	$2144
160 km or 99 mi	Asheville	$2697
166 km or 103 mi	Greenwood	$2106
176 km or 109 mi	Fayetteville	$2100
179 km or 111 mi	Chapel Hill	$2309
180 km or 112 mi	Lumberton	$2100
184 km or 114 mi	Anderson	$1888

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$984
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$665
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$700
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$868
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$573
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$631
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$645
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$602
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$640
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$670
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$670
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$657
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$590
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$708
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$643
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$716
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$695
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$702
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$644
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$805
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$643
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$654
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$603
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$650
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$607
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$665
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$522
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$620
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$621
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$642
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$677
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$665
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$592
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$672
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$621
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$746