Riyadh vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Riyadh Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person
$1586
$1136
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$3407
$3654
🏠 One person rent
$921
$602
🏘️ Family rent
$1393
$1527
🍽️ Food expenses
$358
$293
🚐 Transport expenses
$176
$116
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$2861
$1905
😷 Air quality
Moderate
Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity
9 km
13 km
🎓 Higher education
71
100
😀 Quality of life
77
79
🏙️ Population
7.01M
24.9M

The cost of living in Riyadh is 40% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 3292nd and 4780th ($1586 vs $1136) 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 1.8 months in Riyadh compared to 1.7 months in Shanghai. Riyadh ranked 1st best city to live in Saudi Arabia vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 796th and 571st 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
$3.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$52.9
$42.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$7.96
$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.99
$1.43
☕ Cappuccino
$4.33
$3.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$0.77
$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$1005
$897
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$726
$461
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1969
$2549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1032
$1181
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$65.1
$36.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$99.7
$56.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$74.1
$16.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
5.34%
4.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$2212
$16156
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$1360
$8893
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$1.05
$0.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$37.6
$36.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$17.1
$6.13
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$0.61
$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.75
$2.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$1.24
$1.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.2
$1.41
🥚 Eggs, x12
$2.49
$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$8.03
$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$8.34
$3.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$13.3
$11.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.26
$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.66
$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.76
$2.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.65
$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.29
$0.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.42
$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.39
$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$2.13
$1.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$7.98
$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.73
$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack
$7.43
$3.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$2.85
$6.62
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$4.26
$7.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$2.61
$1.72
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$5.1
$2.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$104
$55
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$15.9
$8.47
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$49.9
$90.7
💇 Haircut, simple
$7.27
$11.9
👖 Brand Jeans
$50.9
$58.2
👟 Brand Sneakers
$108
$78.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$373
$1263
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$10359
$31401

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
$783
316 km or 196 mi Unaizah
$940
350 km or 217 mi Ar Rass
$828
389 km or 242 mi Dhahran
$870
394 km or 245 mi Dammam
$989
395 km or 245 mi Jubail
$928
417 km or 259 mi Qatif
$878
420 km or 261 mi Riffa
$1218
421 km or 262 mi Isa Town
$1226
426 km or 265 mi Manama
$1267
460 km or 286 mi Al Wafrah
$1268
480 km or 298 mi As Sulayyil
$1021
491 km or 305 mi Doha
$1810
496 km or 308 mi Al Khor
$1719
540 km or 336 mi Kuwait City
$1457
595 km or 369 mi Ha'il
$944
611 km or 379 mi Umm Qasr
$716
618 km or 384 mi Al-Faw
$713
631 km or 392 mi Bushehr
$548
646 km or 401 mi Az Zubayr
$705
652 km or 405 mi Abadan
$557
658 km or 409 mi Basra
$879
659 km or 410 mi Khorramshahr
$552
668 km or 415 mi Bisha
$895
680 km or 423 mi Borazjan
$541
701 km or 436 mi Bandar-e Mahshahr
$542
713 km or 443 mi Madinat Zayed
$1630
714 km or 443 mi Nasiriyah
$665
719 km or 447 mi Medina
$853
737 km or 458 mi Kazerun
$537
747 km or 464 mi Behbahan
$507
754 km or 469 mi Samawah
$586
766 km or 476 mi Ahvaz
$588
775 km or 481 mi Abu Dhabi
$1802
790 km or 491 mi Mecca
$940
798 km or 496 mi Shiraz
$558
800 km or 497 mi Amarah
$680
804 km or 499 mi Bareq
$895
804 km or 500 mi Jahrom
$561
823 km or 511 mi Yasuj
$489

Cities near Shanghai

Distance City Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi Pudong
$1028
47 km or 29 mi Taicang
$706
53 km or 33 mi Kunshan
$749
74 km or 46 mi Qidong
$738
82 km or 51 mi Suzhou
$1020
82 km or 51 mi Jiaxing
$585
85 km or 53 mi Haimen
$661
88 km or 55 mi Changshu
$718
106 km or 66 mi Nantong
$620
117 km or 73 mi Zhangjiagang
$676
121 km or 75 mi Wuxi
$686
135 km or 84 mi Huzhou
$706
141 km or 87 mi Jiangyin
$685
142 km or 88 mi Zhoushan
$612
144 km or 89 mi Ningbo
$733
148 km or 92 mi Jingjiang
$674
155 km or 96 mi Shaoxing
$742
158 km or 98 mi Yixing
$702
159 km or 99 mi Changzhou
$729
160 km or 100 mi Rugao
$674
161 km or 100 mi Hangzhou
$843
177 km or 110 mi Taixing
$665
179 km or 111 mi Hai'an
$676
191 km or 119 mi Liyang
$690
197 km or 122 mi Yangzhong
$629
198 km or 123 mi Guangde
$698
201 km or 125 mi Danyang
$630
208 km or 129 mi Taizhou
$673
217 km or 135 mi Dongtai
$698
223 km or 139 mi Zhenjiang
$538
235 km or 146 mi Yangzhou
$650
236 km or 146 mi Jurong
$651
244 km or 152 mi Ningguo
$703
246 km or 153 mi Yiwu
$708
250 km or 155 mi Xinghua
$699
250 km or 156 mi Yizheng
$617
259 km or 161 mi Linhai
$702
260 km or 161 mi Xuancheng
$771
262 km or 163 mi Gaoyou
$648
274 km or 170 mi Nanjing
$774