George Town vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	George Town	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3615	$1128
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8037	$3104
🏠 One person rent	$2516	$605
🏘️ Family rent	$4404	$1067
🍽️ Food expenses	$849	$289
🚐 Transport expenses	$60	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$6889	$931
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	2 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	20	100
😀 Quality of life	80	77
🏙️ Population	41K	24.9M

The cost of living in George Town is 220% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 30th and 4879th ($3615 vs $1128) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th in the Cayman Islands and China, respectively. Check the Cayman Islands vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in George Town compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. George Town ranked 1st best city to live in the Cayman Islands vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 729th and 1383rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in George Town vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in George Town vs Shanghai

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

	George Town	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$29.9	$4.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$82.8	$40
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.5	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.06	$1.47
☕ Cappuccino	$6.79	$3.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.45	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2664	$848
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2179	$485
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4700	$1510
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3941	$875
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$128	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$199	$52
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$112	$12.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.81%	3.36%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10871	$14877
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4203	$7318
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.42	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$41.8	$31.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.3	$6.41
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.71	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$3.46	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$5.68	$1.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.8	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$9.01	$1.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.9	$3.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.09	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.51	$1.78
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.84	$1.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.92	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$0.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.86	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.99	$0.44
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.84	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$22.9	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$14.5	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.88	$6.07
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.58	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.03	$2.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.5	$2.12
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.5	$59.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$8.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$110	$92.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$24	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$75.7	$52.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$140	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1779	$1172
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22286	$27624

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near George Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
333 km or 207 mi	Cienfuegos	$855
356 km or 221 mi	Sancti Spiritus	$1221
361 km or 225 mi	Savanna-la-Mar	$1149
375 km or 233 mi	Montego Bay	$1072
377 km or 234 mi	Santa Clara	$1154
381 km or 237 mi	Placetas	$1097
385 km or 239 mi	Colon	$1114
394 km or 245 mi	Ciego de Avila	$1300
402 km or 250 mi	Guines	$1064
412 km or 256 mi	Florida	$1504
414 km or 257 mi	Sagua La Grande	$1146
418 km or 260 mi	Artemisa	$1014
418 km or 260 mi	Cardenas	$1157
419 km or 260 mi	Matanzas	$1164
422 km or 262 mi	Pinar del Rio	$1057
425 km or 264 mi	Moron	$1300
429 km or 266 mi	Camaguey	$1601
430 km or 267 mi	Mandeville	$973
440 km or 273 mi	Havana	$918
459 km or 285 mi	May Pen	$947
461 km or 287 mi	Manzanillo	$2761
473 km or 294 mi	Old Harbour	$1030
476 km or 296 mi	Linstead	$1055
476 km or 296 mi	Yara	$2126
487 km or 303 mi	Spanish Town	$793
498 km or 310 mi	Las Tunas	$1574
503 km or 312 mi	Half Way Tree	$1223
504 km or 313 mi	Kingston	$1364
510 km or 317 mi	Bayamo	$1165
533 km or 331 mi	Port Antonio	$1164
563 km or 350 mi	Holguin	$1354
573 km or 356 mi	Palma Soriano	$1266
587 km or 365 mi	Santiago de Cuba	$1645
588 km or 365 mi	Key West	$3002
593 km or 369 mi	Cozumel	$1040
599 km or 372 mi	Isla Mujeres	$1011
608 km or 378 mi	Cancun	$1107
615 km or 382 mi	Playa del Carmen	$1153
646 km or 401 mi	Tulum	$1207
653 km or 405 mi	Guantanamo	$1656

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1003
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$673
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$696
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$771
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$597
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$612
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$632
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$547
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$648
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$679
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$631
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$634
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$576
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$713
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$621
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$740
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$674
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$601
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$630
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$826
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$622
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$634
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$639
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$597
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$642
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$664
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$531
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$602
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$618
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$637
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$672
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$663
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$590
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$666
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$659
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$617
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$753