Quebec City vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Quebec City	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1695	$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3907	$3097
🏠 One person rent	$873	$600
🏘️ Family rent	$1435	$1068
🍽️ Food expenses	$558	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$129	$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2900	$879
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	38	99
😀 Quality of life	88	75
🏙️ Population	549K	24.9M

The cost of living in Quebec City is 50% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 3269th and 4971st ($1695 vs $1126) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 113th and 5th in Canada and China, respectively. Check Canada vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Quebec City compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Quebec City ranked 28th best city to live in Canada vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 332nd 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 Quebec City vs Shanghai

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

	Quebec City	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.5	$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$59.9	$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.49	$1.69
☕ Cappuccino	$3.83	$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.08	$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$863	$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$743	$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1500	$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1244	$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.3	$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$95	$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$44.8	$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.33%	3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8196	$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2969	$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.76	$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.5	$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.2	$6.45
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.15	$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.29	$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.03	$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.99	$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.17	$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.5	$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.28	$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.13	$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.99	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.88	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.4	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.05	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.5	$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.92	$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.16	$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.29	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.91	$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$39.4	$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.3	$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$81.6	$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$16	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.4	$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.6	$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$719	$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$7052	$27781

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Quebec City

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.6 km or 2.2 mi	Levis	$1685
80 km or 50 mi	Thetford Mines	$1024
89 km or 55 mi	Saint-Georges	$1466
102 km or 64 mi	Victoriaville	$1265
114 km or 71 mi	Trois-Rivieres	$1180
120 km or 74 mi	Shawinigan	$1434
142 km or 88 mi	Drummondville	$1399
166 km or 103 mi	Sherbrooke	$1451
169 km or 105 mi	Sorel-Tracy	$1589
170 km or 106 mi	Riviere-du-Loup	$1506
178 km or 111 mi	Saguenay	$1104
180 km or 112 mi	Chicoutimi	$1254
187 km or 116 mi	Magog	$1526
188 km or 117 mi	Saint-Hyacinthe	$1642
192 km or 120 mi	Joliette	$1458
195 km or 121 mi	Alma	$1341
196 km or 122 mi	Granby	$1142
201 km or 125 mi	L'Assomption	$1723
206 km or 128 mi	Beloeil	$1838
210 km or 131 mi	Repentigny	$1846
211 km or 131 mi	Varennes	$1861
212 km or 132 mi	Sainte-Julie	$1891
217 km or 135 mi	Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville	$1918
218 km or 135 mi	Mascouche	$1852
218 km or 136 mi	Boucherville	$1897
220 km or 136 mi	Chambly	$1918
223 km or 138 mi	Saint-Lin-Laurentides	$1800
223 km or 139 mi	Terrebonne	$1907
227 km or 141 mi	Longueuil	$1923
228 km or 142 mi	Brossard	$2080
229 km or 142 mi	Saint-Lambert	$1875
229 km or 143 mi	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	$1857
231 km or 144 mi	Montreal	$1928
234 km or 146 mi	La Prairie	$1960
236 km or 146 mi	Westmount	$1862
236 km or 146 mi	Mount Royal	$1876
238 km or 148 mi	Laval	$2047
238 km or 148 mi	Candiac	$1940
241 km or 150 mi	Cote-Saint-Luc	$1893
241 km or 150 mi	Boisbriand	$1934

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