Shenzhen vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Shenzhen	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$878	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2307	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$456	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$808	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$253	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$83.4	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$969	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	96	1
😀 Quality of life	78	25
🏙️ Population	17.5M	63.4K

The cost of living in Shenzhen is 65% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 6334th and 8428th ($878 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 1st in China and Kiribati, respectively. Check China vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Shenzhen compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Shenzhen ranked 3rd best city to live in China vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 1094th and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Shenzhen vs South Tarawa infographic

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Prices in Shenzhen vs South Tarawa

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

	Shenzhen	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.52	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.1	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.93	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.26	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$3.12	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$619	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$350	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1122	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$637	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.2	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.5	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.1	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.84%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12494	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5776	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.58	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.92	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.82	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.08	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.3	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.86	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.51	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.34	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.65	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.9	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.06	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.5	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.2	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$444	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22402	$3644

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Shenzhen

Distance	City	Cost of living
28 km or 17 mi	Kowloon	$2414
30 km or 19 mi	Hong Kong	$2718
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuhai	$662
65 km or 40 mi	Dongguan	$662
66 km or 41 mi	Macau	$1746
72 km or 45 mi	Zhongshan	$518
74 km or 46 mi	Huizhou	$608
100 km or 62 mi	Jiangmen	$829
105 km or 65 mi	Guangzhou	$758
112 km or 69 mi	Foshan	$589
134 km or 83 mi	Shanwei	$941
142 km or 88 mi	Kaiping	$827
150 km or 93 mi	Heyuan	$766
164 km or 102 mi	Qingyuan	$777
174 km or 108 mi	Zhaoqing	$794
212 km or 131 mi	Yunfu	$816
228 km or 142 mi	Yangjiang	$892
233 km or 145 mi	Puning	$579
256 km or 159 mi	Shaoguan	$818
262 km or 163 mi	Jieyang	$451
286 km or 178 mi	Shantou	$589
288 km or 179 mi	Meizhou	$669
292 km or 182 mi	Chaozhou	$454
299 km or 186 mi	Wuzhou	$809
303 km or 188 mi	Lianzhou	$765
330 km or 205 mi	Hezhou	$766
337 km or 209 mi	Gaozhou	$780
337 km or 210 mi	Maoming	$773
377 km or 234 mi	Ganzhou	$897
378 km or 235 mi	Chenzhou	$750
401 km or 249 mi	Yulin	$726
405 km or 252 mi	Zhanjiang	$790
415 km or 258 mi	Longyan	$697
428 km or 266 mi	Zhangzhou	$681
460 km or 286 mi	Guigang	$693
464 km or 288 mi	Xiamen	$707
477 km or 297 mi	Haikou	$677
485 km or 301 mi	Kinmen	$901
489 km or 304 mi	Guilin	$546
502 km or 312 mi	Yongzhou	$634

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