Shanghai vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Shanghai	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1126	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3097	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$600	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$1068	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$293	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$108	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$879	$164
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	99	1
😀 Quality of life	75	28
🏙️ Population	24.9M	63.4K

The cost of living in Shanghai is 109% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 4971st and 8474th ($1126 vs $538) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 2nd in China and Kiribati, respectively. Check China vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Shanghai compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Shanghai ranked 4th best city to live in China vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 1655th and 8872nd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Shanghai vs South Tarawa

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

	Shanghai	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$5.01	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$36.1	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.51	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.69	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$3.77	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.54	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$803	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$486	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1462	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$880	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$37.5	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$58.6	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$13	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.34%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14215	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7113	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.47	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$30.1	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.45	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.15	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.94	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.8	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.3	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.79	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.91	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.35	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.76	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.04	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.45	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.27	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.5	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.46	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.19	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.91	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.07	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.21	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$61.9	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.84	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$94.1	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$12	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$50.6	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$78.8	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1114	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27781	$4200

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Shanghai

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Pudong	$1002
47 km or 29 mi	Taicang	$669
53 km or 33 mi	Kunshan	$696
74 km or 46 mi	Qidong	$701
82 km or 51 mi	Suzhou	$782
82 km or 51 mi	Jiaxing	$594
85 km or 53 mi	Haimen	$620
88 km or 55 mi	Changshu	$644
106 km or 66 mi	Nantong	$557
117 km or 73 mi	Zhangjiagang	$667
121 km or 75 mi	Wuxi	$683
135 km or 84 mi	Huzhou	$643
141 km or 87 mi	Jiangyin	$650
142 km or 88 mi	Zhoushan	$584
144 km or 89 mi	Ningbo	$671
148 km or 92 mi	Jingjiang	$636
155 km or 96 mi	Shaoxing	$680
158 km or 98 mi	Yixing	$684
159 km or 99 mi	Changzhou	$623
160 km or 100 mi	Rugao	$646
161 km or 100 mi	Hangzhou	$860
177 km or 110 mi	Taixing	$636
179 km or 111 mi	Hai'an	$647
191 km or 119 mi	Liyang	$652
197 km or 122 mi	Yangzhong	$611
198 km or 123 mi	Guangde	$652
201 km or 125 mi	Danyang	$604
208 km or 129 mi	Taizhou	$675
217 km or 135 mi	Dongtai	$678
223 km or 139 mi	Zhenjiang	$525
235 km or 146 mi	Yangzhou	$618
236 km or 146 mi	Jurong	$626
244 km or 152 mi	Ningguo	$644
246 km or 153 mi	Yiwu	$667
250 km or 155 mi	Xinghua	$677
250 km or 156 mi	Yizheng	$601
259 km or 161 mi	Linhai	$661
260 km or 161 mi	Xuancheng	$665
262 km or 163 mi	Gaoyou	$632
274 km or 170 mi	Nanjing	$765

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1507
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1510
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$783
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$718
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1422
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1422
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2062
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$633
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1039
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2068
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$857
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$879
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$791
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1865
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1865
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1928
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$558
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$572
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$539
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1415
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2401
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3009
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1695
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$506
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1640
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1839
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2821
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1864
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1988
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2269
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2610