Chengdu vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chengdu	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$635	$2327
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1647	$5471
🏠 One person rent	$252	$1420
🏘️ Family rent	$428	$2324
🍽️ Food expenses	$230	$628
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.6	$88.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$917	$4437
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	94	82
😀 Quality of life	75	90
🏙️ Population	20.9M	468K

The cost of living in Chengdu is 73% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 7530th and 1213th ($635 vs $2327) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 114th and 1060th in China and the United States, respectively. Check China vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Chengdu compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Chengdu ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Raleigh ranked 60th in the United States, while ranked 1800th and 212th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Chengdu vs Raleigh infographic

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Prices in Chengdu vs Raleigh

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

	Chengdu	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.87	$18.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.5	$72.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.35	$5.91
☕ Cappuccino	$3.31	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$2.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$313	$1434
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$183	$1158
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$574	$2441
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$318	$1941
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.1	$140
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.2	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.2	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.96%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3973	$3119
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2045	$2477
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.7	$51.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.61	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.02	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.55	$3.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$3.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.77	$4.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$5.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$6.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.68	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$1.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.22	$2.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.1	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.34	$7.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.11	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.97	$4.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.41	$4.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$35.2	$41.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.52	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$22	$161
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.37	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.5	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$66.6	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$251	$1578
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11647	$24117

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Chengdu

Distance	City	Cost of living
38 km or 24 mi	Chongzhou	$596
38 km or 24 mi	Pengzhou	$588
41 km or 25 mi	Guanghan	$571
53 km or 33 mi	Shifang	$557
55 km or 34 mi	Jianyang	$591
56 km or 35 mi	Dujiangyan	$583
60 km or 38 mi	Deyang	$563
65 km or 40 mi	Qionglai	$580
71 km or 44 mi	Meishan	$599
77 km or 48 mi	Mianzhu	$544
81 km or 50 mi	Ziyang	$598
110 km or 68 mi	Mianyang	$528
124 km or 77 mi	Leshan	$563
127 km or 79 mi	Ya'an	$571
127 km or 79 mi	Shehong	$551
131 km or 81 mi	Emeishan	$552
139 km or 87 mi	Jiangyou	$536
145 km or 90 mi	Suining	$565
153 km or 95 mi	Neijiang	$645
161 km or 100 mi	Zigong	$573
188 km or 117 mi	Longchang	$575
193 km or 120 mi	Nanchong	$541
208 km or 129 mi	Langzhong	$538
219 km or 136 mi	Yibin	$570
237 km or 148 mi	Luzhou	$562
247 km or 153 mi	Guang'an	$569
259 km or 161 mi	Guangyuan	$587
261 km or 162 mi	Huaying	$542
265 km or 165 mi	Chongqing	$561
288 km or 179 mi	Bazhong	$601
333 km or 207 mi	Dazhou	$583
341 km or 212 mi	Longnan	$593
353 km or 220 mi	Xichang	$570
372 km or 231 mi	Zhaotong	$579
388 km or 241 mi	Hanzhong	$663
390 km or 243 mi	Renhuai	$538
392 km or 244 mi	Bijie	$569
408 km or 253 mi	Wanyuan	$567
431 km or 268 mi	Zunyi	$551
459 km or 285 mi	Liupanshui	$560

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2582
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1818
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2225
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2338
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2387
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2331
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2219
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2319
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2171
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2105
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2071
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1926
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1812
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2312
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2124
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1757
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2065
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2112
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2176
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2076
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1993
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2070
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2152
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2154
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2156
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2079
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2054
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1893
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2094
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2107
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1734
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2102
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1983
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2231
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2395
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2160
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2228
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1766