San Antonio vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	San Antonio	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2033	$1097
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4826	$3454
🏠 One person rent	$1209	$577
🏘️ Family rent	$2134	$1404
🍽️ Food expenses	$555	$287
🚐 Transport expenses	$129	$110
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4114	$1644
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	81	100
😀 Quality of life	91	78
🏙️ Population	1.43M	24.9M

The cost of living in San Antonio is 85% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 1745th and 4858th ($2033 vs $1097) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1531st and 6th in the United States and China, respectively. Check the United States vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in San Antonio compared to 1.5 months in Shanghai. San Antonio ranked 20th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 117th and 675th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in San Antonio vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in San Antonio vs Shanghai

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

	San Antonio	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.6	$4.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.2	$39.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$5.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$1.45
☕ Cappuccino	$5.3	$3.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.37	$0.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1268	$823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$939	$455
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2285	$2226
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1757	$1115
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$130	$33.5
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$197	$51.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$73.8	$14.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.44%	3.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4263	$14361
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2070	$8086
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.58	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38	$34.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.5	$5.85
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.13
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.03	$2.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.71	$1.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.83	$1.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.76	$1.84
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$15.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$10.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.95	$2.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.64
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.32	$1.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$1.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$0.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$1.12
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.24	$0.37
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.35	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$12.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.51	$0.84
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.66	$3.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.62	$6.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.53	$6.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.92	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.97	$2.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$46.5	$55.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.2	$8.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$89.6	$87.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$17.8	$11.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.7	$60.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.2	$75.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1134	$1181
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16552	$30174

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near San Antonio

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Schertz	$2132
30 km or 18 mi	Cibolo	$2148
48 km or 30 mi	New Braunfels	$2182
54 km or 33 mi	Seguin	$2182
74 km or 46 mi	San Marcos	$2224
87 km or 54 mi	Kyle	$2223
93 km or 58 mi	Kerrville	$2152
122 km or 76 mi	Austin	$2455
136 km or 85 mi	Cedar Park	$2244
140 km or 87 mi	Leander	$2260
141 km or 88 mi	Pflugerville	$2218
145 km or 90 mi	Round Rock	$2163
157 km or 98 mi	Georgetown	$2192
161 km or 100 mi	Victoria	$2215
197 km or 122 mi	Copperas Cove	$2066
200 km or 124 mi	Harker Heights	$2044
201 km or 125 mi	Killeen	$1969
210 km or 130 mi	Eagle Pass	$1986
213 km or 132 mi	Piedras Negras	$726
215 km or 134 mi	Corpus Christi	$1767
216 km or 134 mi	Temple	$2134
221 km or 137 mi	Kingsville	$1877
233 km or 145 mi	Del Rio	$1964
235 km or 146 mi	Laredo	$1646
236 km or 147 mi	Ciudad Acuna	$759
237 km or 147 mi	Nuevo Laredo	$625
247 km or 153 mi	Bryan	$1944
247 km or 154 mi	College Station	$1853
261 km or 162 mi	Rosenberg	$2107
269 km or 167 mi	Waco	$2230
279 km or 174 mi	Sugar Land	$2028
286 km or 178 mi	Missouri	$2087
293 km or 182 mi	San Angelo	$2732
300 km or 186 mi	Lake Jackson	$2089
300 km or 187 mi	The Woodlands	$2698
303 km or 188 mi	Houston	$2265
308 km or 191 mi	Spring	$2093
309 km or 192 mi	Conroe	$1799
310 km or 193 mi	Pearland	$2108
312 km or 194 mi	Stephenville	$2133

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$984
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$665
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$700
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$868
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$573
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$631
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$645
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$602
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$640
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$670
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$670
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$657
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$590
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$708
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$643
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$716
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$695
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$702
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$644
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$805
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$643
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$654
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$603
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$650
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$607
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$665
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$522
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$620
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$621
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$642
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$677
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$665
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$592
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$672
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$621
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$746