Detroit vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Detroit	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2032	$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4925	$3097
🏠 One person rent	$1105	$600
🏘️ Family rent	$1878	$1068
🍽️ Food expenses	$664	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$121	$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3072	$879
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	77	99
😀 Quality of life	88	75
🏙️ Population	639K	24.9M

The cost of living in Detroit is 80% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1947th and 4971st ($2032 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1526th and 5th 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 1.5 months in Detroit compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Detroit ranked 95th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 318th and 1655th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Detroit vs Shanghai

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

	Detroit	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.1	$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.5	$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.5	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.88	$1.69
☕ Cappuccino	$5.48	$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.95	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1299	$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$820	$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2296	$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1448	$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$130	$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$201	$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.3	$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.34%	3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1602	$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1188	$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2	$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$75.1	$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$6.45
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.34	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.68	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.71	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.1	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.04	$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.4	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.46	$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.71	$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.83	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.05	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.8	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.3	$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.9	$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.05	$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.46	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.75	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.6	$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.8	$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$88.2	$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$18.2	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.3	$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$100	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1360	$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19339	$27781

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Detroit

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.9 km or 1.2 mi	Windsor	$1980
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Hamtramck	$1947
14 km or 8.6 mi	Dearborn	$1975
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lincoln Park	$1926
16 km or 9.8 mi	Allen Park	$1993
16 km or 10 mi	Ferndale	$1939
17 km or 10 mi	Wyandotte	$1758
17 km or 11 mi	Eastpointe	$1909
18 km or 11 mi	Madison Heights	$1969
18 km or 11 mi	Warren	$1820
19 km or 12 mi	Oak Park	$1943
19 km or 12 mi	Southgate	$1907
19 km or 12 mi	Royal Oak	$1946
20 km or 12 mi	Dearborn Heights	$1926
21 km or 13 mi	Roseville	$1905
21 km or 13 mi	Taylor	$2030
21 km or 13 mi	Southfield	$1915
22 km or 14 mi	St. Clair Shores	$1905
22 km or 14 mi	Inkster	$1941
24 km or 15 mi	Garden	$1876
26 km or 16 mi	Amherstburg	$1926
27 km or 17 mi	Birmingham	$1968
28 km or 17 mi	Sterling Heights	$1837
28 km or 17 mi	Livonia	$1920
29 km or 18 mi	Troy	$1972
29 km or 18 mi	Westland	$1945
30 km or 19 mi	Clinton Township	$1944
31 km or 19 mi	Romulus	$2004
32 km or 20 mi	Farmington Hills	$2181
37 km or 23 mi	Rochester Hills	$1940
39 km or 24 mi	Novi	$2307
40 km or 25 mi	Pontiac	$1796
42 km or 26 mi	Auburn Hills	$1913
54 km or 34 mi	Monroe	$1701
58 km or 36 mi	Ann Arbor	$2285
71 km or 44 mi	Chatham-Kent	$1843
86 km or 54 mi	Toledo	$1624
88 km or 54 mi	Burton	$1635
88 km or 54 mi	Port Huron	$1957
89 km or 55 mi	Sarnia	$1619

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1002
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$669
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$782
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$594
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$620
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$644
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$557
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$667
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$683
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$643
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$650
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$584
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$671
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$636
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$680
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$684
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$623
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$646
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$860
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$647
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$611
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$652
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$604
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$675
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$678
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$525
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$618
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$626
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$644
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$667
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$677
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$601
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$665
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$632
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$765