Shanghai vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Shanghai	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1128	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3104	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$605	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$1067	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$289	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$110	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$931	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	100	1
😀 Quality of life	77	25
🏙️ Population	24.9M	63.4K

The cost of living in Shanghai is 112% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 4879th and 8428th ($1128 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 1st 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 1383rd and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Shanghai vs South Tarawa infographic

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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	$4.7	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.69	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$3.79	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.51	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$848	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$485	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1510	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$875	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.2	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.8	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.36%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14877	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7318	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.56	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.8	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.41	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.11	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.88	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.88	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.54	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.81	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.27	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.9	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.86	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.07	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.02	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.12	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.6	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.24	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$92.7	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.1	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.8	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$75.1	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1172	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27624	$3644

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	$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

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637