London vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	London	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3321	$1190
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7723	$3757
🏠 One person rent	$2218	$635
🏘️ Family rent	$3918	$1613
🍽️ Food expenses	$574	$308
🚐 Transport expenses	$349	$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4098	$1455
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	98	78
🏙️ Population	8.91M	24.9M

The cost of living in London is 179% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 38th and 4461st ($3321 vs $1190) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in the United Kingdom and China, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in London compared to 1.2 months in Shanghai. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 5th and 558th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in London vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in London vs Shanghai

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

	London	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.7	$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84.7	$40.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.3	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.25	$1.7
☕ Cappuccino	$4.62	$3.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.47	$0.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2493	$901
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1838	$497
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4599	$2595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3306	$1269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$210	$39.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$314	$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.2	$17.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.62%	4.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$16999	$17366
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9363	$9346
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.94	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$99.6	$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$23.4	$6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.9	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$2.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.81	$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.31	$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.1	$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.3	$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.34	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.88	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.51	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.86	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.8	$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.56	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$19.5	$3.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.06	$6.43
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.1	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.68	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.3	$2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$58	$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.8	$8.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$97.8	$89.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.6	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$99.8	$66.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$110	$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2256	$1283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25471	$28143

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$3004
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2364
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2291
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2538
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2202
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2234
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2282
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2165
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2157
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2228
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2175
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2120
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2119
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2104
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2036
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2117
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2504
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$1981
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2152
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2050
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2345
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$1999
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2067
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2599
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2057
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$1937
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2173
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2043
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2001
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2155
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1974
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2051
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2076
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$1993
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$1875
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$1976
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$1920
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$1972
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2406
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$1908

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1074
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$731
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$771
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$763
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$1020
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$682
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$731
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$651
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$678
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$699
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$688
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$690
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$677
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$675
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$755
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$707
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$713
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$682
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$831
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$665
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$679
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$694
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$625
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$707
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$703
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$524
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$631
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$645
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$720
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$725
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$696
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$617
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$719
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$789
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$652
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$740