San Diego vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	San Diego	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3427	$1190
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7903	$3757
🏠 One person rent	$2366	$635
🏘️ Family rent	$4375	$1613
🍽️ Food expenses	$686	$308
🚐 Transport expenses	$192	$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5439	$1455
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	3 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	87	100
😀 Quality of life	91	78
🏙️ Population	1.39M	24.9M

The cost of living in San Diego is 188% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 26th and 4461st ($3427 vs $1190) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 23rd 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 1.6 months in San Diego compared to 1.2 months in Shanghai. San Diego ranked 15th best city to live in the United States vs Shanghai ranked 4th in China, while ranked 107th and 558th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in San Diego vs Shanghai infographic

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Prices in San Diego vs Shanghai

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

	San Diego	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.9	$4.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$85.6	$40.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.1	$5.69
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.8	$1.7
☕ Cappuccino	$5.63	$3.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.87	$0.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2498	$901
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2064	$497
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4740	$2595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3919	$1269
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$142	$39.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$218	$60.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$73.6	$17.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.64%	4.77%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11408	$17366
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8035	$9346
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.57	$0.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$71.4	$37.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$22.2	$6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.19
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.14	$2.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.69	$2.02
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$1.47
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.13	$2.21
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.8	$18.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$4.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.3	$12.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.46	$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.58	$1.52
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.9	$0.96
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.18	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.64	$1.25
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.7	$14.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.13	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.5	$3.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$16.1	$6.43
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.94	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.91	$1.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.16	$2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$79.3	$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.2	$8.16
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$129	$89.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.8	$66.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.2	$78.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1701	$1283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18429	$28143

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near San Diego

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Coronado	$3051
7.2 km or 4.5 mi	National	$2907
13 km or 7.8 mi	Lemon Grove	$2844
14 km or 9 mi	Chula Vista	$2969
14 km or 9 mi	La Mesa	$2868
16 km or 9.8 mi	Imperial Beach	$2851
18 km or 11 mi	La Jolla	$2867
21 km or 13 mi	El Cajon	$2910
24 km or 15 mi	Tijuana	$1184
25 km or 15 mi	Santee	$2788
30 km or 19 mi	Poway	$2784
38 km or 24 mi	Encinitas	$2879
40 km or 25 mi	Las Delicias	$1032
43 km or 26 mi	Rosarito Beach	$1029
46 km or 29 mi	Escondido	$2884
47 km or 30 mi	San Marcos	$2722
52 km or 33 mi	Carlsbad	$3046
54 km or 33 mi	Vista	$2732
57 km or 36 mi	Oceanside	$3094
73 km or 46 mi	Fallbrook	$2709
88 km or 55 mi	Temecula	$2597
91 km or 57 mi	San Clemente	$3070
95 km or 59 mi	Murrieta	$3155
97 km or 61 mi	Dana Point	$2751
98 km or 61 mi	French Valley	$2684
99 km or 61 mi	San Juan Capistrano	$2681
99 km or 61 mi	Wildomar	$2803
104 km or 65 mi	Laguna Niguel	$2461
107 km or 66 mi	Laguna Beach	$2755
107 km or 67 mi	Menifee	$2637
109 km or 68 mi	Ensenada	$1027
109 km or 68 mi	Lake Elsinore	$2730
110 km or 68 mi	Mission Viejo	$3513
110 km or 69 mi	Laguna Hills	$2957
111 km or 69 mi	Rancho Santa Margarita	$2960
114 km or 71 mi	Aliso Viejo	$3180
114 km or 71 mi	Lake Forest	$2944
115 km or 72 mi	Hemet	$2879
119 km or 74 mi	Perris	$2609
119 km or 74 mi	Temescal Valley	$2606

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1074
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$731
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$771
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$763
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$1020
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$682
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$731
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$651
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$678
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$687
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$699
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$688
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$690
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$677
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$675
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$755
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$707
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$713
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$682
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$831
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$665
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$679
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$694
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$625
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$707
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$651
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$703
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$524
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$631
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$645
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$720
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$725
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$696
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$617
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$719
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$789
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$652
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$740