New Orleans vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	New Orleans	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2226	$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5309	$3097
🏠 One person rent	$1279	$600
🏘️ Family rent	$2217	$1068
🍽️ Food expenses	$693	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.5	$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3883	$879
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	85	99
😀 Quality of life	89	75
🏙️ Population	384K	24.9M

The cost of living in New Orleans is 98% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1435th and 4971st ($2226 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1194th and 5th 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 New Orleans compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. New Orleans ranked 83rd best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 290th and 1655th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in New Orleans vs Shanghai

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

	New Orleans	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$23.5	$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$104	$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.2	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.56	$1.69
☕ Cappuccino	$5.39	$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.93	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1444	$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$980	$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2576	$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1777	$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$216	$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.7	$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.48%	3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2772	$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1749	$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.25	$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$44.9	$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.5	$6.45
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.32	$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.47	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.8	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.97	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.8	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.06	$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.83	$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.45	$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.22	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.73	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.94	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.2	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.06	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.98	$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.36	$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.34	$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.39	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.83	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$60.2	$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.9	$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$141	$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.6	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$53.7	$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.2	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1551	$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10147	$27781

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near New Orleans

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Kenner	$2143
46 km or 29 mi	Slidell	$2038
46 km or 29 mi	Mandeville	$1772
72 km or 45 mi	Hammond	$2062
74 km or 46 mi	Houma	$1720
109 km or 68 mi	Gulfport	$1705
112 km or 70 mi	Morgan	$2146
114 km or 71 mi	Central	$2045
119 km or 74 mi	Baton Rouge	$2052
121 km or 75 mi	Biloxi	$1753
154 km or 96 mi	Pascagoula	$1852
168 km or 104 mi	New Iberia	$2077
168 km or 105 mi	Hattiesburg	$1693
189 km or 118 mi	Lafayette	$1797
203 km or 126 mi	Opelousas	$1933
209 km or 130 mi	Prichard	$1807
212 km or 132 mi	Mobile	$1698
213 km or 133 mi	Laurel	$1672
218 km or 135 mi	Natchez	$1950
223 km or 139 mi	Daphne	$1812
235 km or 146 mi	Foley	$1809
258 km or 160 mi	Pearl	$2095
259 km or 161 mi	Brandon	$2240
261 km or 162 mi	Jackson	$1953
266 km or 166 mi	Clinton	$2099
272 km or 169 mi	Alexandria	$1766
274 km or 170 mi	Ridgeland	$2093
276 km or 171 mi	Vicksburg	$2023
278 km or 173 mi	Madison	$2102
281 km or 175 mi	Pensacola	$2244
299 km or 186 mi	Meridian	$1881
303 km or 188 mi	Lake Charles	$1904
318 km or 198 mi	Sulphur	$1971
336 km or 209 mi	Fort Walton Beach	$1992
344 km or 214 mi	Monroe	$1615
348 km or 216 mi	Crestview	$1917
373 km or 231 mi	Port Arthur	$1900
376 km or 234 mi	Ruston	$1844
390 km or 243 mi	Beaumont	$1605
394 km or 245 mi	Greenville	$1962

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1002
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$669
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$782
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$594
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$620
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$644
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$557
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$667
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$683
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$643
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$650
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$584
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$671
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$636
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$680
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$684
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$623
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$646
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$860
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$647
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$611
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$652
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$604
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$675
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$678
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$525
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$618
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$626
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$644
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$667
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$677
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$601
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$665
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$632
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$765