Riyadh vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Riyadh Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person
$1642
$1190
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$3429
$3757
🏠 One person rent
$996
$635
🏘️ Family rent
$1477
$1613
🍽️ Food expenses
$346
$308
🚐 Transport expenses
$162
$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$2566
$1455
😷 Air quality
Bad
Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity
9 km
13 km
🎓 Higher education
71
100
😀 Quality of life
74
78
🏙️ Population
7.01M
24.9M

The cost of living in Riyadh is 38% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 2922nd and 4461st ($1642 vs $1190) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 6th in Saudi Arabia and China, respectively. Check Saudi Arabia vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Riyadh compared to 1.2 months in Shanghai. Riyadh ranked 1st best city to live in Saudi Arabia vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 1210th and 558th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Riyadh vs Shanghai infographic

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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
$7.92
$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$53.6
$40.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$8.05
$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.87
$1.7
☕ Cappuccino
$4.36
$3.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$0.82
$0.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$1149
$901
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$792
$497
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$2059
$2595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1124
$1269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$58.8
$39.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$91.6
$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$73.9
$17.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
5.3%
4.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$2076
$17366
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$1301
$9346
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$1.06
$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$32.9
$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$15.8
$6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$0.61
$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.67
$2.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$1.19
$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.15
$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12
$2.56
$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$7.88
$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$7.66
$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$12.6
$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.09
$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.71
$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.59
$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.83
$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.29
$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.2
$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.41
$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$1.89
$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$4.02
$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.93
$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack
$7.27
$3.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$2.02
$6.43
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$4.07
$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$2
$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$5.95
$2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$100
$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$17.2
$8.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$49.8
$89.7
💇 Haircut, simple
$10.4
$12
👖 Brand Jeans
$52.7
$66.7
👟 Brand Sneakers
$108
$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$358
$1283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$9649
$28143

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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
$768
316 km or 196 mi Unaizah
$1013
350 km or 217 mi Ar Rass
$860
389 km or 242 mi Dhahran
$959
394 km or 245 mi Dammam
$1005
395 km or 245 mi Jubail
$910
417 km or 259 mi Qatif
$868
420 km or 261 mi Riffa
$1285
421 km or 262 mi Isa Town
$1327
426 km or 265 mi Manama
$1375
460 km or 286 mi Al Wafrah
$1256
480 km or 298 mi As Sulayyil
$1085
491 km or 305 mi Doha
$1872
496 km or 308 mi Al Khor
$1810
540 km or 336 mi Kuwait City
$1424
595 km or 369 mi Ha'il
$996
611 km or 379 mi Umm Qasr
$708
618 km or 384 mi Al-Faw
$710
631 km or 392 mi Bushehr
$646
646 km or 401 mi Az Zubayr
$698
652 km or 405 mi Abadan
$543
658 km or 409 mi Basra
$875
659 km or 410 mi Khorramshahr
$540
668 km or 415 mi Bisha
$938
680 km or 423 mi Borazjan
$621
701 km or 436 mi Bandar-e Mahshahr
$544
713 km or 443 mi Madinat Zayed
$1673
714 km or 443 mi Nasiriyah
$671
719 km or 447 mi Medina
$892
737 km or 458 mi Kazerun
$606
747 km or 464 mi Behbahan
$541
754 km or 469 mi Samawah
$594
766 km or 476 mi Ahvaz
$559
775 km or 481 mi Abu Dhabi
$1936
790 km or 491 mi Mecca
$1032
798 km or 496 mi Shiraz
$606
800 km or 497 mi Amarah
$685
804 km or 499 mi Bareq
$920
804 km or 500 mi Jahrom
$798
823 km or 511 mi Yasuj
$561

Cities near Shanghai

Distance City Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi Pudong
$1074
47 km or 29 mi Taicang
$731
53 km or 33 mi Kunshan
$771
74 km or 46 mi Qidong
$763
82 km or 51 mi Suzhou
$1020
82 km or 51 mi Jiaxing
$596
85 km or 53 mi Haimen
$682
88 km or 55 mi Changshu
$731
106 km or 66 mi Nantong
$651
117 km or 73 mi Zhangjiagang
$678
121 km or 75 mi Wuxi
$687
135 km or 84 mi Huzhou
$699
141 km or 87 mi Jiangyin
$688
142 km or 88 mi Zhoushan
$690
144 km or 89 mi Ningbo
$677
148 km or 92 mi Jingjiang
$675
155 km or 96 mi Shaoxing
$755
158 km or 98 mi Yixing
$707
159 km or 99 mi Changzhou
$713
160 km or 100 mi Rugao
$682
161 km or 100 mi Hangzhou
$831
177 km or 110 mi Taixing
$665
179 km or 111 mi Hai'an
$679
191 km or 119 mi Liyang
$694
197 km or 122 mi Yangzhong
$625
198 km or 123 mi Guangde
$707
201 km or 125 mi Danyang
$625
208 km or 129 mi Taizhou
$651
217 km or 135 mi Dongtai
$703
223 km or 139 mi Zhenjiang
$524
235 km or 146 mi Yangzhou
$631
236 km or 146 mi Jurong
$645
244 km or 152 mi Ningguo
$720
246 km or 153 mi Yiwu
$725
250 km or 155 mi Xinghua
$696
250 km or 156 mi Yizheng
$617
259 km or 161 mi Linhai
$719
260 km or 161 mi Xuancheng
$789
262 km or 163 mi Gaoyou
$652
274 km or 170 mi Nanjing
$740