London vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	London	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3427	$1136
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8384	$3654
🏠 One person rent	$2251	$602
🏘️ Family rent	$4328	$1527
🍽️ Food expenses	$587	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$393	$116
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4627	$1905
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	99	79
🏙️ Population	8.8M	24.9M

The cost of living in London is 202% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 37th and 4780th ($3427 vs $1136) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd 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 1.4 months in London compared to 1.7 months in Shanghai. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 2nd and 571st 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	$23	$3.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$87.8	$42.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.7	$1.43
☕ Cappuccino	$4.87	$3.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.51	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2586	$897
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1894	$461
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$5526	$2549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3635	$1181
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$36.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$275	$56.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$39.5	$16.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.35%	4.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$17558	$16156
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10692	$8893
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.73	$0.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$103	$36.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.9	$6.13
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.99	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$2.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.8	$1.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$1.41
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.54	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.76	$3.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$11.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.34	$2.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.67	$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.11	$1.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.1	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.68	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$20.1	$3.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.92	$6.62
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.87	$7.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.94	$1.72
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.42	$2.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$58	$55
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.6	$8.47
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$142	$90.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.2	$11.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$99	$58.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$116	$78.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2404	$1263
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25830	$31401

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	$3054
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2446
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2368
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2624
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2353
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2322
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2372
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2268
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2248
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2381
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2255
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2245
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2491
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2184
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2173
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2202
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2589
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2328
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2106
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2227
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2363
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2179
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2228
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2630
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2157
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2020
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2451
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2159
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2040
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2310
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1963
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2033
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2202
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2152
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2053
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2033
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2041
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2028
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2477
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2055

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1028
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$706
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$749
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$738
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$1020
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$585
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$661
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$718
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$620
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$676
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$686
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$706
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$685
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$612
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$733
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$674
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$742
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$702
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$729
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$674
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$843
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$665
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$676
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$690
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$629
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$698
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$630
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$673
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$698
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$538
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$650
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$651
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$703
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$708
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$699
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$617
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$702
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$771
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$648
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$774