Shanghai vs Valencia, Spain - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Shanghai	Valencia
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1147	$1812
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3146	$4109
🏠 One person rent	$636	$1059
🏘️ Family rent	$1119	$1733
🍽️ Food expenses	$279	$495
🚐 Transport expenses	$105	$121
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1068	$1958
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	99	76
😀 Quality of life	76	87
🏙️ Population	24.9M	841K

The cost of living in Shanghai is 37% less expensive than in Valencia, Spain. Cities ranked 4880th and 2757th ($1147 vs $1812) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 9th in China and Spain, respectively. Check China vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.9 months in Shanghai compared to 1.1 months in Valencia, Spain. Shanghai ranked 5th best city to live in China vs Valencia, Spain ranked 6th in Spain, while ranked 1178th and 354th 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 Valencia, Spain

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

	Shanghai	Valencia
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.42	$15.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$30.3	$61.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.19	$14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.44	$4.34
☕ Cappuccino	$3.21	$3.07
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.57	$2.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$849	$1172
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$520	$866
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1495	$2058
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$937	$1423
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$38.3	$97.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.3	$150
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$11.2	$33.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.19%	3.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14068	$5630
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6729	$3501
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.54	$2.29
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29.4	$38.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.76	$16.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.76
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.14	$1.27
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.81	$1.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.87	$3.82
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.7	$11
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$8.01
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$2.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$1.85
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.85
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$2.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.74
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.94	$1.88
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.45	$0.51
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.31	$2.71
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.8	$6.15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$1.31
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.95	$6.61
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.37	$18.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.05	$4.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.24	$2.64
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$70.6	$45
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.79	$10.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$98.8	$66.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$12	$15.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.1	$98.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$71.7	$96.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1268	$572
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27610	$10416

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 Valencia, Spain

Distance	City	Cost of living
25 km or 15 mi	Sagunto	$1408
36 km or 22 mi	Alzira	$1401
53 km or 33 mi	Borriana	$1271
57 km or 36 mi	Villarreal	$1238
58 km or 36 mi	Gandia	$1150
62 km or 39 mi	Requena	$1421
62 km or 39 mi	Castellon de la Plana	$1183
74 km or 46 mi	Ontinyent	$1342
81 km or 50 mi	Denia	$1620
98 km or 61 mi	Calp	$1546
102 km or 63 mi	Villena	$1340
106 km or 66 mi	Benidorm	$1519
114 km or 71 mi	Yecla	$1203
116 km or 72 mi	Elda	$1372
125 km or 78 mi	Novelda	$1381
125 km or 78 mi	Alicante	$1513
132 km or 82 mi	Vinaros	$1494
136 km or 85 mi	Elche	$1268
137 km or 85 mi	Jumilla	$1316
138 km or 86 mi	Albacete	$1303
165 km or 102 mi	Cuenca	$1246
168 km or 104 mi	Ibiza	$2775
168 km or 104 mi	Torrevieja	$1279
177 km or 110 mi	Murcia	$1272
193 km or 120 mi	Villarrobledo	$1397
199 km or 123 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1351
214 km or 133 mi	Cartagena	$1195
223 km or 139 mi	Mazarron	$1173
229 km or 142 mi	Lorca	$1313
229 km or 143 mi	Tarragona	$1524
247 km or 153 mi	Zaragoza	$1436
254 km or 158 mi	Lleida	$1245
260 km or 161 mi	Palma de Mallorca	$2017
264 km or 164 mi	Vilanova i la Geltru	$1455
271 km or 168 mi	Guadalajara	$1200
279 km or 173 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1678
287 km or 178 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1643
292 km or 181 mi	Coslada	$1721
292 km or 182 mi	Sant Boi de Llobregat	$1586
295 km or 183 mi	Cornella de Llobregat	$1626