Chengdu vs Ulaanbaatar - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Chengdu	Ulaanbaatar
🚶 Cost of living one person	$635	$870
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1647	$2091
🏠 One person rent	$252	$430
🏘️ Family rent	$428	$764
🍽️ Food expenses	$230	$306
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.6	$43.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$917	$516
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	94	43
😀 Quality of life	75	61
🏙️ Population	20.9M	1.4M

The cost of living in Chengdu is 27% less expensive than in Ulaanbaatar. Cities ranked 7530th and 6373rd ($635 vs $870) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 114th and 1st in China and Mongolia, respectively. Check China vs Mongolia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Chengdu compared to 0.6 months in Ulaanbaatar. Chengdu ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Ulaanbaatar ranked 1st in Mongolia, while ranked 1800th and 5856th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Chengdu vs Ulaanbaatar infographic

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Prices in Chengdu vs Ulaanbaatar

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

	Chengdu	Ulaanbaatar
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.87	$5.45
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.5	$29.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$5.44
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.35	$1.95
☕ Cappuccino	$3.31	$2.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.46	$0.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$313	$417
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$183	$358
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$574	$769
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$318	$656
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.1	$46
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$46.2	$70.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.2	$14.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.96%	6.05%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3973	$1651
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2045	$881
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$0.28
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.7	$8.29
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$3.61	$4.98
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.18	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.02	$1.39
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.55	$0.85
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$2.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.77	$2.07
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$11.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$5.88
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$5.32
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.98
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.22
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$4.11
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$2.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.68	$0.66
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.51
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.22	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.1	$9.25
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$1.39
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.34	$1.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.11	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.97	$3.61
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.41	$2.49
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.62	$1.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$35.2	$70
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.52	$3.92
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$22	$19
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.37	$4.85
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.5	$81.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$66.6	$97.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$251	$167
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11647	$6621

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 Ulaanbaatar

Distance	City	Cost of living
268 km or 167 mi	Bulgan	$838
437 km or 272 mi	Ulan-Ude	$676
520 km or 323 mi	Irkutsk	$735
559 km or 347 mi	Angarsk	$725
656 km or 408 mi	Chita	$912
794 km or 493 mi	Manzhouli	$631
798 km or 496 mi	Bayannur	$986
835 km or 519 mi	Xilinhot	$677
840 km or 522 mi	Baotou	$659
875 km or 544 mi	Hohhot	$541
914 km or 568 mi	Ulanqab	$629
917 km or 570 mi	Wuhai	$1365
934 km or 581 mi	Ordos	$655
954 km or 593 mi	Hulunbuir	$638
969 km or 602 mi	Fengzhen	$642
985 km or 612 mi	Bratsk	$518
992 km or 616 mi	Shizuishan	$785
1008 km or 626 mi	Datong	$748
1012 km or 629 mi	Zhangjiakou	$652
1025 km or 637 mi	Yakeshi	$614
1028 km or 639 mi	Huairen	$654
1050 km or 652 mi	Shenmu	$580
1051 km or 653 mi	Yinchuan	$548
1051 km or 653 mi	Shuozhou	$600
1094 km or 680 mi	Lingwu	$564
1103 km or 685 mi	Qingtongxia	$563
1106 km or 687 mi	Wuzhong	$589
1113 km or 692 mi	Jinchang	$480
1124 km or 698 mi	Yuanping	$546
1126 km or 700 mi	Zhangye	$484
1131 km or 703 mi	Chifeng	$615
1131 km or 703 mi	Jiuquan	$470
1156 km or 718 mi	Xinzhou	$553
1164 km or 723 mi	Wuwei	$411
1165 km or 724 mi	Chengde	$694
1166 km or 724 mi	Ulanhot	$532
1166 km or 724 mi	Zhongwei	$597
1169 km or 726 mi	Beijing	$1029
1169 km or 727 mi	Yumen	$439
1176 km or 731 mi	Zalantun	$600