Saint Petersburg vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Saint Petersburg	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$971	$1128
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2348	$3104
🏠 One person rent	$502	$605
🏘️ Family rent	$876	$1067
🍽️ Food expenses	$258	$289
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1116	$931
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	82	100
😀 Quality of life	71	77
🏙️ Population	5.65M	24.9M

The cost of living in Saint Petersburg is 14% less expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 5813th and 4879th ($971 vs $1128) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 5th in Russia and China, respectively. Check Russia vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Saint Petersburg compared to 0.8 months in Shanghai. Saint Petersburg ranked 2nd best city to live in Russia vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 3397th and 1383rd 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	$7.62	$4.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.2	$40
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.3	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.77	$1.47
☕ Cappuccino	$2.26	$3.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.02	$0.51
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$654	$848
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$370	$485
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1172	$1510
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$665	$875
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$103	$52
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$7.03	$12.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	24.54%	3.36%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3928	$14877
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2610	$7318
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.4	$31.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$6.41
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.72	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.07	$2.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.7	$1.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.62	$1.88
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.78	$15.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.39	$3.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$10.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$2.26
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.78
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.78	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$0.81
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.64	$1.07
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.48	$0.44
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.27
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.16	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$0.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.52	$3.02
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.46	$6.07
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.09	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.04	$2.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.06	$2.12
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$32.7	$59.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.1	$8.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14	$92.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.52	$12.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.3	$52.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$75.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$402	$1172
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10534	$27624

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	$1083
156 km or 97 mi	Sillamae	$1064
162 km or 101 mi	Imatra	$1477
168 km or 104 mi	Veliky Novgorod	$734
170 km or 105 mi	Lappeenranta	$1454
181 km or 112 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$1089
185 km or 115 mi	Hamina	$1516
195 km or 121 mi	Kotka	$1516
223 km or 139 mi	Kouvola	$1561
227 km or 141 mi	Savonlinna	$1265
232 km or 144 mi	Rakvere	$999
254 km or 158 mi	Mikkeli	$1386
262 km or 163 mi	Porvoo	$1561
263 km or 164 mi	Pskov	$680
269 km or 167 mi	Tartu	$1174
280 km or 174 mi	Lahti	$1618
293 km or 182 mi	Kerava	$1611
294 km or 183 mi	Varkaus	$1145
294 km or 183 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1783
295 km or 183 mi	Vantaa	$1881
296 km or 184 mi	Joensuu	$1580
297 km or 184 mi	Tuusula	$1655
299 km or 186 mi	Petrozavodsk	$745
300 km or 186 mi	Helsinki	$1947
302 km or 188 mi	Maardu	$1372
310 km or 192 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1642
310 km or 193 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1546
315 km or 196 mi	Espoo	$1937
317 km or 197 mi	Riihimaki	$1394
318 km or 197 mi	Tallinn	$1601
322 km or 200 mi	Viljandi	$1041
328 km or 204 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1737
342 km or 213 mi	Hameenlinna	$1444
348 km or 216 mi	Lohja	$1383
349 km or 217 mi	Jamsa	$1503
354 km or 220 mi	Jyvaskyla	$1500
356 km or 221 mi	Kuopio	$1524
373 km or 232 mi	Valkeakoski	$1570
374 km or 233 mi	Parnu	$1184
383 km or 238 mi	Raseborg	$1566

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1003
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$673
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$696
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$771
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$597
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$612
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$632
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$547
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$648
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$679
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$631
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$634
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$576
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$713
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$621
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$740
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$674
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$601
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$630
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$826
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$622
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$634
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$639
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$597
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$642
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$664
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$531
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$602
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$618
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$637
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$672
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$663
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$590
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$666
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$659
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$617
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$753