Phoenix vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Phoenix	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2340	$1128
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5236	$3104
🏠 One person rent	$1406	$605
🏘️ Family rent	$2208	$1067
🍽️ Food expenses	$627	$289
🚐 Transport expenses	$153	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4277	$931
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	70	100
😀 Quality of life	91	77
🏙️ Population	1.61M	24.9M

The cost of living in Phoenix is 107% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1184th and 4879th ($2340 vs $1128) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1035th 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 1.8 months in Phoenix compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Phoenix ranked 52nd best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 181st and 1383rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Phoenix vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Phoenix vs Shanghai

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

	Phoenix	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.1	$4.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$76	$40
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.2	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.04	$1.47
☕ Cappuccino	$6.3	$3.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.7	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1511	$848
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1104	$485
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2337	$1510
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1799	$875
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$230	$52
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$71.7	$12.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.48%	3.36%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4621	$14877
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3554	$7318
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.73	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.2	$31.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.3	$6.41
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.93	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.51	$1.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.34	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.16	$1.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$3.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.68	$1.78
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.72	$1.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.76	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$0.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.58	$0.44
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.63	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.6	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.43	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$11.2	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.18	$6.07
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.48	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$2.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.12	$2.12
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.1	$59.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.4	$8.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$114	$92.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.6	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$53	$52.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$98.2	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1277	$1172
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16644	$27624

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Phoenix

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Glendale	$1977
14 km or 9 mi	Scottsdale	$2332
16 km or 10 mi	Peoria	$2344
17 km or 10 mi	Tempe	$2448
25 km or 15 mi	El Mirage	$2322
26 km or 16 mi	Mesa	$2417
27 km or 17 mi	Avondale	$2523
28 km or 17 mi	Goodyear	$2481
29 km or 18 mi	Surprise	$2353
33 km or 21 mi	Chandler	$2349
33 km or 21 mi	Gilbert	$2447
33 km or 21 mi	Fountain Hills	$2371
51 km or 31 mi	Queen Creek	$3031
51 km or 32 mi	Apache Junction	$2491
51 km or 32 mi	Buckeye	$2365
53 km or 33 mi	Maricopa	$2320
78 km or 48 mi	Casa Grande	$2403
84 km or 52 mi	Florence	$2466
118 km or 73 mi	Prescott	$2348
122 km or 76 mi	Prescott Valley	$2341
155 km or 96 mi	Marana	$2084
160 km or 99 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
165 km or 102 mi	Casas Adobes	$2021
181 km or 112 mi	Tucson	$1940
190 km or 118 mi	Flagstaff	$2598
205 km or 128 mi	Sahuarita	$2046
232 km or 144 mi	Lake Havasu	$2021
234 km or 145 mi	Blythe	$2757
254 km or 158 mi	Yuma	$1760
259 km or 161 mi	Kingman	$1883
264 km or 164 mi	Nogales	$2095
268 km or 166 mi	Nogales	$727
276 km or 171 mi	San Luis	$1911
276 km or 172 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$965
278 km or 173 mi	Sierra Vista	$1612
290 km or 180 mi	Bullhead	$1855
313 km or 194 mi	Caborca	$881
327 km or 203 mi	Brawley	$2751
330 km or 205 mi	Mexicali	$945
332 km or 207 mi	Calexico	$2766

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