Rio de Janeiro vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Rio de Janeiro	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1095	$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2561	$3146
🏠 One person rent	$567	$636
🏘️ Family rent	$856	$1119
🍽️ Food expenses	$285	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$156	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$550	$1068
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	95	99
😀 Quality of life	72	76
🏙️ Population	6.21M	24.9M

The cost of living in Rio de Janeiro is 5% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 5029th and 4880th ($1095 vs $1147) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 5th in Brazil and China, respectively. Check Brazil vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Rio de Janeiro ranked 2nd best city to live in Brazil vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 2767th and 1178th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Rio de Janeiro vs Shanghai

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

	Rio de Janeiro	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$6.94	$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.7	$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.83	$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.4	$1.44
☕ Cappuccino	$2.75	$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.53	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$657	$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$408	$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1011	$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$621	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$89.7	$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$137	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$19.9	$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.87%	3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2589	$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1468	$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.97	$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$50.2	$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.88	$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.6	$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.24	$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.47	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.43	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.48	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.46	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.8	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.15	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.19	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.59	$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.95	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.36	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.21	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.06	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$26.6	$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.19	$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$50.2	$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.98	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$42.5	$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$70.9	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$554	$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12842	$27610

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$824
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$651
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$688
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$858
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$617
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$805
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$546
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$623
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$488
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$581
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$607
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$586
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$737
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$531
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$623
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$562
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$655
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$668
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$686
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$568
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$729
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$682
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$634
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$696
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$566
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$584
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$567
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$663
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$576
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$671
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$667
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$670
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$684
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$610
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$695
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$711
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$577
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$519
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$884
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$634

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1030
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$708
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$726
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$725
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$798
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$643
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$678
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$581
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$652
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$686
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$680
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$658
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$571
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$660
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$645
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$670
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$663
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$636
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$659
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$899
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$651
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$664
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$657
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$627
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$667
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$623
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$693
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$691
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$538
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$623
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$644
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$661
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$696
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$693
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$620
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$677
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$684
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$644
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$789