Seoul vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Seoul	Shanghai
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1296	$1147
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3195	$3146
🏠 One person rent	$624	$636
🏘️ Family rent	$1077	$1119
🍽️ Food expenses	$438	$279
🚐 Transport expenses	$132	$105
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3066	$1068
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	99	99
😀 Quality of life	95	76
🏙️ Population	9.67M	24.9M

The cost of living in Seoul is 13% more expensive than in Shanghai. Cities ranked 4545th and 4880th ($1296 vs $1147) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 5th in South Korea and China, respectively. Check South Korea vs China comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.4 months in Seoul compared to 0.9 months in Shanghai. Seoul ranked 1st best city to live in South Korea vs Shanghai ranked 5th in China, while ranked 16th and 1178th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/seoul/shanghai.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Seoul vs Shanghai infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/seoul/shanghai" target="_blank">Seoul vs Shanghai - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Seoul vs Shanghai

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

	Seoul	Shanghai
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.13	$4.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$45.4	$30.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.97	$5.19
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.36	$1.44
☕ Cappuccino	$3.47	$3.21
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.44	$0.57
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$717	$849
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$459	$520
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1281	$1495
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$818	$937
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.8	$38.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$152	$59.3
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$14.5	$11.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.02%	3.19%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$24031	$14068
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10129	$6729
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.01	$0.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$40.1	$29.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.36	$5.76
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.17	$1.23
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.82	$2.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.4	$1.81
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$1.1
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.79	$1.87
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$16.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.93	$3.33
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$25.3	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.15	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.02	$1.84
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$1.75
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$0.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$0.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.68	$0.45
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.46	$1.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$11.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.86	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.98	$2.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.33	$6.37
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.6	$7.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.88	$2.11
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.15	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.8	$70.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.18	$8.79
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.1	$98.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.3	$12
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.6	$46.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$64.7	$71.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$480	$1268
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19916	$27610

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Seoul

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 7.9 mi	Guri	$1089
17 km or 10 mi	Goyang	$1052
17 km or 10 mi	Gwangmyeong	$1029
17 km or 11 mi	Gwacheon	$1031
19 km or 12 mi	Uijeongbu	$868
20 km or 12 mi	Hanam	$1152
20 km or 12 mi	Namyangju	$1094
20 km or 13 mi	Seongnam	$1455
21 km or 13 mi	Siheung	$1313
21 km or 13 mi	Bucheon	$1090
22 km or 14 mi	Anyang	$943
23 km or 14 mi	Yangju	$894
24 km or 15 mi	Gunpo	$1053
26 km or 16 mi	Gimpo	$1040
27 km or 17 mi	Uiwang	$1022
30 km or 19 mi	Gwangju	$1179
32 km or 20 mi	Paju	$1010
33 km or 20 mi	Ansan	$1001
33 km or 21 mi	Suwon	$985
34 km or 21 mi	Incheon	$1032
37 km or 23 mi	Dongducheon	$977
39 km or 24 mi	Pocheon	$982
42 km or 26 mi	Yongin	$1061
47 km or 29 mi	Hwaseong	$1045
49 km or 31 mi	Osan	$1019
52 km or 32 mi	Icheon	$1108
58 km or 36 mi	Kaesong	$1557
65 km or 40 mi	Yeoju	$1033
66 km or 41 mi	Pyeongtaek	$1048
69 km or 43 mi	Anseong	$1016
72 km or 45 mi	Chuncheon	$819
83 km or 52 mi	Dangjin	$952
86 km or 53 mi	Wonju	$1062
87 km or 54 mi	Cheonan	$1128
101 km or 63 mi	Seosan	$917
107 km or 66 mi	Chungju	$852
114 km or 71 mi	Cheongju	$865
118 km or 73 mi	Jecheon	$993
123 km or 77 mi	Haeju	$1562
124 km or 77 mi	Sejong	$971

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1030
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$708
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$726
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$725
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$798
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$596
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$643
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$678
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$581
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$652
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$686
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$680
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$658
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$571
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$660
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$645
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$670
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$663
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$636
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$659
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$899
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$651
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$664
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$657
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$627
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$667
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$623
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$693
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$691
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$538
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$623
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$644
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$661
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$696
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$693
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$620
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$677
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$684
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$644
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$789