Los Angeles vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Los Angeles	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3165	$1190
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7625	$3757
🏠 One person rent	$2019	$635
🏘️ Family rent	$3688	$1613
🍽️ Food expenses	$715	$308
🚐 Transport expenses	$236	$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$6398	$1455
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	99	100
😀 Quality of life	94	78
🏙️ Population	3.9M	24.9M

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 166% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 72nd and 4461st ($3165 vs $1190) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 60th and 6th 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 2 months in Los Angeles compared to 1.2 months in Shanghai. Los Angeles ranked 5th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 34th and 558th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Los Angeles vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Los Angeles vs Shanghai

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

	Los Angeles	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.5	$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$101	$40.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.9	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.42	$1.7
☕ Cappuccino	$5.63	$3.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.65	$0.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2215	$901
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1717	$497
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4161	$2595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3237	$1269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$132	$39.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$195	$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71	$17.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.7%	4.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7697	$17366
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6904	$9346
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.75	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$87.3	$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.4	$6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.38	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.27	$2.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.26	$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.61	$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.47	$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.9	$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.9	$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18	$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.91	$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.03	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.57	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.35	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.51	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.72	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.9	$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.97	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12	$3.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$6.43
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.97	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.95	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.16	$2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.5	$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.3	$8.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$140	$89.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$29	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$64.1	$66.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2020	$1283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$31623	$28143

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2777
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2717
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2781
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2678
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2821
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2887
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2854
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2638
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$2987
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2578
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$2734
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2713
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2650
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3660
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$2886
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2297
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2676
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2750
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$2836
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3263
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2649
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3220
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2442
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2737
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3030
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$2987
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2747
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2702
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2621
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2579
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$2935
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2707
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3148
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$2700
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2541
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2375
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3589
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2665
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3168
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2862

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