Dubai vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison
Updated:
| Dubai | Shanghai | |
|---|---|---|
| 🚶 Cost of living one person | ||
| 👨👩👧👦 Cost of living Family | ||
| 🏠 One person rent | ||
| 🏘️ Family rent | ||
| 🍽️ Food expenses | ||
| 🚐 Transport expenses | ||
| 💳 Monthly salary after tax | ||
| 😷 Air quality | ||
| ✈️ Airport proximity | ||
| 🎓 Higher education | ||
| 😀 Quality of life | ||
| 🏙️ Population |
The cost of living in Dubai is 103% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1098th and 4780th ($2309 vs $1136) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in the United Arab Emirates and China, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs China comparison.
The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Dubai compared to 1.7 months in Shanghai. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 306th and 571st among best cities to live in the world.
Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power
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Prices in Dubai vs Shanghai
Prices for goods and services in Dubai and Shanghai are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.
| Dubai | Shanghai | |
|---|---|---|
| Eating Out | ||
| 🍱 Lunch Menu | ||
| 🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2 | ||
| 🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's | ||
| 🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | ||
| ☕ Cappuccino | ||
| 🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz | ||
| Rent & Utilities | ||
| 🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | ||
| 🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2 | ||
| 🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | ||
| 🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2 | ||
| 🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc. | ||
| 🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc. | ||
| 🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited | ||
| 🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years | ||
| 🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 | ||
| 🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2 | ||
| Transportation | ||
| 🚌 Local transport ticket | ||
| 🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport | ||
| 🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi | ||
| ⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal | ||
| Groceries | ||
| 🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt | ||
| 🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb | ||
| 🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🥚 Eggs, x12 | ||
| 🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb | ||
| 🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt | ||
| 🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz | ||
| 🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle | ||
| 🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz | ||
| 🚬 Cigarette pack | ||
| 💊 Cold medicince, 1 week | ||
| 🧴 Hair Shampoo | ||
| 🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls | ||
| 👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube | ||
| Other | ||
| 🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month | ||
| 🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person | ||
| 👩⚕️ Doctor's visit | ||
| 💇 Haircut, simple | ||
| 👖 Brand Jeans | ||
| 👟 Brand Sneakers | ||
| 👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month | ||
| 🏫 International Primary School, 1 year | ||
Cost of living in other countries
Cost of living
More cities to compare
Cost of Living in the nearest cities
Cities near Dubai
| Distance | City | Cost of living |
|---|---|---|
| 13 km or 8 mi |  Sharjah | |
| 22 km or 14 mi | Ajman | |
| 41 km or 25 mi | Umm al-Quwain | |
| 104 km or 65 mi | Fujairah | |
| 108 km or 67 mi | Ras al-Khaimah | |
| 126 km or 78 mi | Al Ain | |
| 129 km or 80 mi | Abu Dhabi | |
| 234 km or 146 mi |  Bandar Abbas | |
| 246 km or 153 mi | Madinat Zayed | |
| 339 km or 211 mi |  Seeb | |
| 344 km or 214 mi | Nizwa | |
| 380 km or 236 mi |  Doha | |
| 380 km or 236 mi | Muscat | |
| 385 km or 239 mi | Al Khor | |
| 399 km or 248 mi | Jahrom | |
| 440 km or 273 mi | Fasa | |
| 449 km or 279 mi | Jiroft | |
| 466 km or 290 mi | Sirjan | |
| 485 km or 301 mi |  Manama | |
| 486 km or 302 mi | Riffa | |
| 487 km or 303 mi | Isa Town | |
| 523 km or 325 mi | Bam | |
| 528 km or 328 mi |  Dhahran | |
| 534 km or 332 mi | Chabahar | |
| 537 km or 334 mi | Dammam | |
| 554 km or 345 mi | Shiraz | |
| 560 km or 348 mi | Qatif | |
| 568 km or 353 mi | Al-Mubarraz | |
| 568 km or 353 mi | Marvdasht | |
| 574 km or 357 mi | Rafsanjan | |
| 578 km or 359 mi | Iranshahr | |
| 584 km or 363 mi | Kerman | |
| 595 km or 370 mi | Jubail | |
| 601 km or 373 mi | Borazjan | |
| 603 km or 375 mi | Kazerun | |
| 604 km or 375 mi | Bushehr | |
| 703 km or 437 mi | Yasuj | |
| 721 km or 448 mi | Zahedan | |
| 743 km or 461 mi | Yazd | |
| 773 km or 481 mi | Behbahan |
Cities near Shanghai
| Distance | City | Cost of living |
|---|---|---|
| 9.4 km or 5.8 mi |  Pudong | |
| 47 km or 29 mi | Taicang | |
| 53 km or 33 mi | Kunshan | |
| 74 km or 46 mi | Qidong | |
| 82 km or 51 mi | Suzhou | |
| 82 km or 51 mi | Jiaxing | |
| 85 km or 53 mi | Haimen | |
| 88 km or 55 mi | Changshu | |
| 106 km or 66 mi | Nantong | |
| 117 km or 73 mi | Zhangjiagang | |
| 121 km or 75 mi | Wuxi | |
| 135 km or 84 mi | Huzhou | |
| 141 km or 87 mi | Jiangyin | |
| 142 km or 88 mi | Zhoushan | |
| 144 km or 89 mi | Ningbo | |
| 148 km or 92 mi | Jingjiang | |
| 155 km or 96 mi | Shaoxing | |
| 158 km or 98 mi | Yixing | |
| 159 km or 99 mi | Changzhou | |
| 160 km or 100 mi | Rugao | |
| 161 km or 100 mi | Hangzhou | |
| 177 km or 110 mi | Taixing | |
| 179 km or 111 mi | Hai'an | |
| 191 km or 119 mi | Liyang | |
| 197 km or 122 mi | Yangzhong | |
| 198 km or 123 mi | Guangde | |
| 201 km or 125 mi | Danyang | |
| 208 km or 129 mi | Taizhou | |
| 217 km or 135 mi | Dongtai | |
| 223 km or 139 mi | Zhenjiang | |
| 235 km or 146 mi | Yangzhou | |
| 236 km or 146 mi | Jurong | |
| 244 km or 152 mi | Ningguo | |
| 246 km or 153 mi | Yiwu | |
| 250 km or 155 mi | Xinghua | |
| 250 km or 156 mi | Yizheng | |
| 259 km or 161 mi | Linhai | |
| 260 km or 161 mi | Xuancheng | |
| 262 km or 163 mi | Gaoyou | |
| 274 km or 170 mi | Nanjing |