New Orleans vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	New Orleans	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2219	$1128
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5259	$3104
🏠 One person rent	$1273	$605
🏘️ Family rent	$2170	$1067
🍽️ Food expenses	$696	$289
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.6	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3848	$931
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	85	100
😀 Quality of life	89	77
🏙️ Population	384K	24.9M

The cost of living in New Orleans is 97% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1427th and 4879th ($2219 vs $1128) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1227th 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 79th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 252nd and 1383rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in New Orleans vs Shanghai infographic

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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	$23.6	$4.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$102	$40
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.2	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.48	$1.47
☕ Cappuccino	$5.38	$3.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.99	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1471	$848
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$977	$485
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2598	$1510
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1725	$875
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$134	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$206	$52
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.9	$12.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.58%	3.36%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2405	$14877
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2056	$7318
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.24	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$45	$31.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.5	$6.41
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.82	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.33	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.44	$1.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.22	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.8	$1.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.9	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$3.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.1	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.78
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.08	$1.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.98	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$0.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.93	$0.44
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.95	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.1	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.8	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.92	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.36	$6.07
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.27	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.42	$2.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.86	$2.12
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$61.3	$59.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.9	$8.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$140	$92.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.3	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.1	$52.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$79.3	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1571	$1172
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10150	$27624

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	$2121
46 km or 29 mi	Slidell	$2001
46 km or 29 mi	Mandeville	$1723
72 km or 45 mi	Hammond	$2036
74 km or 46 mi	Houma	$1755
109 km or 68 mi	Gulfport	$1613
112 km or 70 mi	Morgan	$2193
114 km or 71 mi	Central	$2134
119 km or 74 mi	Baton Rouge	$2135
121 km or 75 mi	Biloxi	$1775
154 km or 96 mi	Pascagoula	$1844
168 km or 104 mi	New Iberia	$2127
168 km or 105 mi	Hattiesburg	$1680
189 km or 118 mi	Lafayette	$1842
203 km or 126 mi	Opelousas	$1971
209 km or 130 mi	Prichard	$1861
212 km or 132 mi	Mobile	$1763
213 km or 133 mi	Laurel	$1776
218 km or 135 mi	Natchez	$1938
223 km or 139 mi	Daphne	$1861
235 km or 146 mi	Foley	$1837
258 km or 160 mi	Pearl	$2074
259 km or 161 mi	Brandon	$2231
261 km or 162 mi	Jackson	$1933
266 km or 166 mi	Clinton	$2025
272 km or 169 mi	Alexandria	$1787
274 km or 170 mi	Ridgeland	$2072
276 km or 171 mi	Vicksburg	$2010
278 km or 173 mi	Madison	$2072
281 km or 175 mi	Pensacola	$2252
299 km or 186 mi	Meridian	$2009
303 km or 188 mi	Lake Charles	$1975
318 km or 198 mi	Sulphur	$2029
336 km or 209 mi	Fort Walton Beach	$1957
344 km or 214 mi	Monroe	$1586
348 km or 216 mi	Crestview	$1830
373 km or 231 mi	Port Arthur	$1881
376 km or 234 mi	Ruston	$1804
390 km or 243 mi	Beaumont	$1592
394 km or 245 mi	Greenville	$1960

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1003
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$673
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$696
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$771
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$597
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$612
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$632
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$547
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$648
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$679
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$631
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$634
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$576
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$713
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$621
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$740
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$674
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$601
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$630
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$826
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$622
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$634
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$639
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$597
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$642
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$664
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$531
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$602
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$618
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$637
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$672
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$663
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$590
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$666
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$659
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$617
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$753