Riyadh vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated:

Livingcost

Riyadh Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person
$1632
$1126
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family
$3539
$3097
🏠 One person rent
$946
$600
🏘️ Family rent
$1446
$1068
🍽️ Food expenses
$370
$293
🚐 Transport expenses
$183
$108
💳 Monthly salary after tax
$2285
$879
😷 Air quality
Moderate
Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity
21 km
13 km
🎓 Higher education
70
99
😀 Quality of life
78
75
🏙️ Population
7.01M
24.9M

The cost of living in Riyadh is 45% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 3529th and 4971st ($1632 vs $1126) 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 0.8 months in Shanghai. Riyadh ranked 1st best city to live in Saudi Arabia vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 879th and 1655th 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 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
$8.06
$5.01
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2
$53.3
$36.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's
$7.94
$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.62
$1.69
☕ Cappuccino
$4.33
$3.77
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz
$0.79
$0.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$1000
$803
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2
$763
$486
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1845
$1462
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2
$1133
$880
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$63.5
$37.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.
$98.6
$58.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited
$72.1
$13
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years
5.58%
3.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$2922
$14215
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2
$1930
$7113
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket
$1.08
$0.47
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport
$37.3
$30.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi
$18.3
$6.45
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal
$0.61
$1.15
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt
$1.61
$1.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb
$1.27
$1.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.52
$1.3
🥚 Eggs, x12
$2.69
$1.79
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$8.76
$16.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$9.8
$3.91
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$15.2
$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$2.26
$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.68
$1.74
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.82
$1.78
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.52
$1.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.23
$0.89
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb
$1.45
$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt
$0.38
$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz
$2.39
$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle
$8.07
$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz
$1.77
$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack
$7.34
$3.46
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week
$2.71
$6.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo
$4.31
$6.91
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls
$2.38
$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube
$5.23
$2.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month
$93.5
$61.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person
$14.7
$7.84
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit
$51.6
$94.1
💇 Haircut, simple
$8.02
$12
👖 Brand Jeans
$57
$50.6
👟 Brand Sneakers
$111
$78.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month
$495
$1114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year
$9443
$27781

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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
$793
316 km or 196 mi Unaizah
$931
350 km or 217 mi Ar Rass
$815
389 km or 242 mi Dhahran
$931
394 km or 245 mi Dammam
$1037
395 km or 245 mi Jubail
$928
417 km or 259 mi Qatif
$823
420 km or 261 mi Riffa
$1109
421 km or 262 mi Isa Town
$1192
426 km or 265 mi Manama
$1309
460 km or 286 mi Al Wafrah
$1281
480 km or 298 mi As Sulayyil
$1005
491 km or 305 mi Doha
$2014
496 km or 308 mi Al Khor
$1923
540 km or 336 mi Kuwait City
$1461
595 km or 369 mi Ha'il
$775
611 km or 379 mi Umm Qasr
$711
618 km or 384 mi Al-Faw
$707
631 km or 392 mi Bushehr
$465
646 km or 401 mi Az Zubayr
$698
652 km or 405 mi Abadan
$556
658 km or 409 mi Basra
$861
659 km or 410 mi Khorramshahr
$551
668 km or 415 mi Bisha
$906
680 km or 423 mi Borazjan
$489
701 km or 436 mi Bandar-e Mahshahr
$537
713 km or 443 mi Madinat Zayed
$1710
714 km or 443 mi Nasiriyah
$664
719 km or 447 mi Medina
$1168
737 km or 458 mi Kazerun
$523
747 km or 464 mi Behbahan
$492
754 km or 469 mi Samawah
$581
766 km or 476 mi Ahvaz
$571
775 km or 481 mi Abu Dhabi
$2070
790 km or 491 mi Mecca
$1107
798 km or 496 mi Shiraz
$565
800 km or 497 mi Amarah
$680
804 km or 499 mi Bareq
$893
804 km or 500 mi Jahrom
$545
823 km or 511 mi Yasuj
$487

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