Riyadh vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Riyadh Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person
$1628
$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$3587
$3146
🏠 One person rent
$936
$636
🏘️ Family rent
$1460
$1119
🍽️ Food expenses
$376
$279
🚐 Transport expenses
$181
$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$2284
$1068
😷 Air quality
Moderate
Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity
21 km
13 km
🎓 Higher education
70
99
😀 Quality of life
78
76
🏙️ Population
7.01M
24.9M

The cost of living in Riyadh is 42% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 3485th and 4880th ($1628 vs $1147) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th in Saudi Arabia and China, respectively. Check Saudi Arabia vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Riyadh compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Riyadh ranked 1st best city to live in Saudi Arabia vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 899th and 1178th among best cities to live in the world.

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Prices in Riyadh vs Shanghai

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

Riyadh Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu
$7.94
$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$53.4
$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$8.02
$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.72
$1.44
☕ Cappuccino
$4.14
$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$0.8
$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$999
$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$757
$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1794
$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1176
$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$57.5
$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$87.5
$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$73.2
$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
5.52%
3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$3071
$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$1929
$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$1.07
$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$37.3
$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$17.9
$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$0.64
$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.6
$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$1.33
$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.45
$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12
$2.79
$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$9.9
$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$10.3
$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$14.9
$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.38
$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.8
$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.03
$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.53
$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.16
$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.37
$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.39
$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$2.4
$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$8.05
$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.84
$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack
$7.43
$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$2.73
$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$4.27
$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$2.37
$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$5.18
$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$89.7
$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$16.1
$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$51.6
$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple
$8.02
$12
👖 Brand Jeans
$58.2
$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers
$112
$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$503
$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$10912
$27610

Cost of living in other countries

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Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Riyadh

Distance City Cost of living
310 km or 193 mi Al-Mubarraz
$821
316 km or 196 mi Unaizah
$938
350 km or 217 mi Ar Rass
$834
389 km or 242 mi Dhahran
$965
394 km or 245 mi Dammam
$1059
395 km or 245 mi Jubail
$917
417 km or 259 mi Qatif
$778
420 km or 261 mi Riffa
$1062
421 km or 262 mi Isa Town
$1218
426 km or 265 mi Manama
$1340
460 km or 286 mi Al Wafrah
$1247
480 km or 298 mi As Sulayyil
$993
491 km or 305 mi Doha
$2100
496 km or 308 mi Al Khor
$2015
540 km or 336 mi Kuwait City
$1437
595 km or 369 mi Ha'il
$738
611 km or 379 mi Umm Qasr
$708
618 km or 384 mi Al-Faw
$703
631 km or 392 mi Bushehr
$454
646 km or 401 mi Az Zubayr
$694
652 km or 405 mi Abadan
$522
658 km or 409 mi Basra
$861
659 km or 410 mi Khorramshahr
$509
668 km or 415 mi Bisha
$890
680 km or 423 mi Borazjan
$457
701 km or 436 mi Bandar-e Mahshahr
$493
713 km or 443 mi Madinat Zayed
$1791
714 km or 443 mi Nasiriyah
$655
719 km or 447 mi Medina
$1164
737 km or 458 mi Kazerun
$471
747 km or 464 mi Behbahan
$469
754 km or 469 mi Samawah
$573
766 km or 476 mi Ahvaz
$548
775 km or 481 mi Abu Dhabi
$2133
790 km or 491 mi Mecca
$1031
798 km or 496 mi Shiraz
$505
800 km or 497 mi Amarah
$670
804 km or 499 mi Bareq
$873
804 km or 500 mi Jahrom
$494
823 km or 511 mi Yasuj
$459

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