Shanghai vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Shanghai	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1147	$526
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3146	$1270
🏠 One person rent	$636	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$1119	$370
🍽️ Food expenses	$279	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$105	$22.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1068	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	99	1
😀 Quality of life	76	30
🏙️ Population	24.9M	63.4K

The cost of living in Shanghai is 118% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 4880th and 8528th ($1147 vs $526) 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 0.9 months in Shanghai compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Shanghai ranked 5th best city to live in China vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 1178th and 8796th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$4.42	$3.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$30.3	$21.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.19	$5.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.44	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$3.21	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.57	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$849	$214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$520	$146
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1495	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$256
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.3	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.3	$63.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$11.2	$25.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.19%	12.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14068	$1342
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6729	$823
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.54	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29.4	$15.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.76	$7.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.14	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.81	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.87	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$7.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$7.14
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.94	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.45	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.31	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.8	$7.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.95	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.37	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.05	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.24	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$70.6	$23.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.79	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$98.8	$18.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$12	$4.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.1	$31
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.7	$65.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1268	$139
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27610	$4506

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	$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

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1499
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1497
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$788
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$714
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1491
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1502
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2020
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$680
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1095
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2036
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$910
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$891
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$789
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1844
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1851
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1911
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1032
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$546
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$562
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$526
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1435
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2409
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3243
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1851
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$492
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1643
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$2015
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2888
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1863
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1992
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2760
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2323
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2649