Saint Petersburg vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Saint Petersburg	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$874	$1136
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2178	$3654
🏠 One person rent	$442	$602
🏘️ Family rent	$863	$1527
🍽️ Food expenses	$238	$293
🚐 Transport expenses	$104	$116
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$846	$1905
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	82	100
😀 Quality of life	67	79
🏙️ Population	5.38M	24.9M

The cost of living in Saint Petersburg is 23% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 6204th and 4780th ($874 vs $1136) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 6th in Russia and China, respectively. Check Russia vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in Saint Petersburg compared to 1.7 months in Shanghai. Saint Petersburg ranked 2nd best city to live in Russia vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 3645th and 571st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Saint Petersburg vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in Saint Petersburg vs Shanghai

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

	Saint Petersburg	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.59	$3.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32	$42.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.56	$5.51
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.67	$1.43
☕ Cappuccino	$2.04	$3.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.99	$0.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$558	$897
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$322	$461
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1149	$2549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$656	$1181
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.7	$36.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$102	$56.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$5.86	$16.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	16.16%	4.28%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3238	$16156
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2069	$8893
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.7	$0.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.5	$36.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.97	$6.13
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.6	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.85	$2.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.65	$1.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.27	$1.41
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.63	$2.11
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.24	$15.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.53	$3.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.28	$11.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$2.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$2.05
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$1.7
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.52	$0.98
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.47	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.09	$1.32
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.77	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.36	$3.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.24	$6.62
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.16	$7.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.02	$1.72
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.8	$2.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$31.4	$55
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$8.47
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.9	$90.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.29	$11.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$98.3	$58.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$111	$78.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$321	$1263
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6847	$31401

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Saint Petersburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
135 km or 84 mi	Narva	$846
156 km or 97 mi	Sillamae	$979
162 km or 101 mi	Imatra	$1149
168 km or 104 mi	Veliky Novgorod	$682
170 km or 105 mi	Lappeenranta	$1378
181 km or 112 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$990
185 km or 115 mi	Hamina	$1439
195 km or 121 mi	Kotka	$1416
223 km or 139 mi	Kouvola	$1447
227 km or 141 mi	Savonlinna	$1230
232 km or 144 mi	Rakvere	$973
254 km or 158 mi	Mikkeli	$1389
262 km or 163 mi	Porvoo	$1453
263 km or 164 mi	Pskov	$440
269 km or 167 mi	Tartu	$1120
280 km or 174 mi	Lahti	$1453
293 km or 182 mi	Kerava	$1532
294 km or 183 mi	Varkaus	$1123
294 km or 183 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1631
295 km or 183 mi	Vantaa	$1782
296 km or 184 mi	Joensuu	$1499
297 km or 184 mi	Tuusula	$1570
299 km or 186 mi	Petrozavodsk	$514
300 km or 186 mi	Helsinki	$1936
302 km or 188 mi	Maardu	$1278
310 km or 192 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1562
310 km or 193 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1360
315 km or 196 mi	Espoo	$2023
317 km or 197 mi	Riihimaki	$1534
318 km or 197 mi	Tallinn	$1447
322 km or 200 mi	Viljandi	$966
328 km or 204 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1608
342 km or 213 mi	Hameenlinna	$1431
348 km or 216 mi	Lohja	$1363
349 km or 217 mi	Jamsa	$1467
354 km or 220 mi	Jyvaskyla	$1466
356 km or 221 mi	Kuopio	$1414
373 km or 232 mi	Valkeakoski	$1584
374 km or 233 mi	Parnu	$1102
383 km or 238 mi	Raseborg	$1525

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