Pattaya vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Pattaya	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$874	$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2115	$3097
🏠 One person rent	$463	$600
🏘️ Family rent	$800	$1068
🍽️ Food expenses	$296	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$31.1	$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$487	$879
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	32 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	31	99
😀 Quality of life	59	75
🏙️ Population	120K	24.9M

The cost of living in Pattaya is 22% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 6471st and 4971st ($874 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 5th in Thailand and China, respectively. Check Thailand vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Pattaya compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Pattaya ranked 3rd best city to live in Thailand vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 6065th 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 Pattaya vs Shanghai

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

	Pattaya	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.85	$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.7	$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.69	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.44	$1.69
☕ Cappuccino	$2.25	$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.87	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$543	$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$349	$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1002	$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$618	$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$55.3	$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$85.7	$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.7	$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.41%	3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2865	$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1743	$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.32	$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21.2	$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11	$6.45
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.72	$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.49	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.18	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.8	$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.85	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.53	$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.16	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.35	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.18	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.1	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.78	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.75	$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.83	$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.7	$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.38	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$46.1	$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.36	$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$28.1	$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.13	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$34.2	$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.3	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$340	$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12044	$27781

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Pattaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.7 km or 3.5 mi	Nong Prue	$846
16 km or 9.7 mi	Laem Chabang	$838
23 km or 14 mi	Chaophraya Surasak	$823
84 km or 52 mi	Pu Chao Saming Phrai	$829
85 km or 53 mi	Klaeng	$768
85 km or 53 mi	Lat Luang	$833
98 km or 61 mi	Bangkok	$1027
110 km or 68 mi	Nonthaburi	$789
110 km or 68 mi	Hua Hin	$784
115 km or 72 mi	Pak Kret	$788
119 km or 74 mi	Rangsit	$656
130 km or 81 mi	Tha Khlong	$710
132 km or 82 mi	Nakhon Pathom	$658
184 km or 114 mi	Ko Chang	$763
237 km or 147 mi	Serei Saophoan	$629
250 km or 156 mi	Battambang	$575
255 km or 159 mi	Myeik	$562
259 km or 161 mi	Nakhon Ratchasima	$610
318 km or 198 mi	Nakhon Sawan	$730
324 km or 202 mi	Siem Reap	$679
340 km or 211 mi	Ko Tao	$845
372 km or 231 mi	Ko Pha-ngan	$805
383 km or 238 mi	Sihanoukville	$764
396 km or 246 mi	Ko Samui	$782
435 km or 270 mi	Phitsanulok	$585
440 km or 273 mi	Khon Kaen	$621
442 km or 275 mi	Kampot	$587
450 km or 280 mi	Phu Quoc	$530
457 km or 284 mi	Surat Thani	$612
464 km or 288 mi	Phnom Penh	$882
497 km or 309 mi	Ubon Ratchathani	$583
506 km or 314 mi	Kampong Cham	$501
508 km or 315 mi	Prey Veng	$760
512 km or 318 mi	Nakhon Si Thammarat	$834
527 km or 328 mi	Mawlamyine	$571
535 km or 333 mi	Udon Thani	$581
553 km or 343 mi	Stung Treng	$652
561 km or 349 mi	Hpa-an	$593
562 km or 349 mi	Rach Gia	$535
571 km or 355 mi	Long Xuyen	$514

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