Los Angeles vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Los Angeles	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3187	$1136
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7653	$3654
🏠 One person rent	$2045	$602
🏘️ Family rent	$3732	$1527
🍽️ Food expenses	$714	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$218	$116
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5275	$1905
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	99	100
😀 Quality of life	94	79
🏙️ Population	3.9M	24.9M

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 181% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 72nd and 4780th ($3187 vs $1136) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 59th 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 1.7 months in Los Angeles compared to 1.7 months in Shanghai. Los Angeles ranked 8th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 47th and 571st 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	$21.6	$3.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$103	$42.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.3	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.95	$1.43
☕ Cappuccino	$5.63	$3.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.93	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2261	$897
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1732	$461
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3983	$2549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3315	$1181
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$139	$36.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$215	$56.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$67.8	$16.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.58%	4.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7592	$16156
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7011	$8893
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.76	$0.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$73.9	$36.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.3	$6.13
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.36	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.26	$2.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.22	$1.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.49	$1.41
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.2	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$3.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.1	$11.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.19	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.72	$2.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.63	$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$0.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.64	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.45	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.29	$1.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.7	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.35	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12	$3.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$6.62
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.06	$7.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.89	$1.72
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$2.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.8	$55
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.1	$8.47
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$174	$90.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$27.2	$11.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$61	$58.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$100	$78.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1998	$1263
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$28613	$31401

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	$2682
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2673
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2720
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2652
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2748
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$2883
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$2849
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2604
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$2984
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2561
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$2738
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2675
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2612
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3553
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$2831
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2633
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2733
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$2844
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3327
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2638
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3271
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2354
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2709
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3009
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$2861
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2776
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2714
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2629
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2572
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$2866
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2715
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3054
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$2717
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2552
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2569
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3589
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2673
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3065
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$2754

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