Shanghai vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Shanghai	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1128	$3328
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3104	$7867
🏠 One person rent	$605	$2171
🏘️ Family rent	$1067	$3805
🍽️ Food expenses	$289	$759
🚐 Transport expenses	$110	$156
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$931	$6208
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	77	96
🏙️ Population	24.9M	690K

The cost of living in Shanghai is 66% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 4879th and 73rd ($1128 vs $3328) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 58th in China and the United States, respectively. Check China vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.8 months in Shanghai compared to 1.9 months in Washington. Shanghai ranked 4th best city to live in China vs Washington ranked 4th in the United States, while ranked 1383rd and 26th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Shanghai vs Washington infographic

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Prices in Shanghai vs Washington

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

	Shanghai	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.7	$21.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$40	$100
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.69	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$8.68
☕ Cappuccino	$3.79	$6.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.51	$3.25
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$848	$2374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$485	$1874
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1510	$4381
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$875	$3331
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.2	$127
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.8	$70.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.36%	6.47%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$14877	$6387
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7318	$4905
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.56	$2.75
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$31.8	$98.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.41	$18.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.13	$0.9
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.11	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.88	$3.84
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$5.04
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.88	$4.6
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$18.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$16.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.6	$19.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$5.55
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$2.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$4.89
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.54	$6.42
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.81	$2.83
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$3.61
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$1.7
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.27	$3.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.9	$16.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.86	$4.27
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$13.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.07	$9.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6	$4.82
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.02	$4.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.12	$2.56
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$59.6	$108
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.24	$16.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$92.7	$196
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.1	$35
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.8	$72.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$75.1	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1172	$2676
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$27624	$24065

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 Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$3054
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2576
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2919
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2710
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2287
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$2563
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2355
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2482
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2612
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2495
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2338
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2697
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2509
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2522
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2773
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2582
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2506
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3275
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2601
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2788
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2693
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2755
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2940
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2450
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2288
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2494
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2323
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2581
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2339
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2347
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1845
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$3069
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2824
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2699
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2255
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2066
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2400
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$1935
122 km or 76 mi	York	$1949