Shenzhen vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Shenzhen	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$939	$538
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2444	$1303
🏠 One person rent	$507	$233
🏘️ Family rent	$900	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$261	$226
🚐 Transport expenses	$83.8	$22.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1024	$164
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	95	1
😀 Quality of life	77	28
🏙️ Population	17.5M	63.4K

The cost of living in Shenzhen is 74% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 6106th and 8474th ($939 vs $538) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 2nd 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 1113th and 8872nd 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 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	$3.57	$4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.6	$22.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.49	$5.15
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.45	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$3.3	$1.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.51	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$652	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$403	$151
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1182	$412
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$735	$274
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$41.3	$41
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$63.2	$63.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.65%	12.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$13180	$1374
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5913	$845
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.43	$0.41
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21.7	$15.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.54	$7.47
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.14	$1.01
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.86	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.17	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.86	$1.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$7.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$4.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$7.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.44	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.61	$1.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.16
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.04
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$1.24
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.3	$8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.94	$1.46
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.7	$2.98
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.47	$3.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7.02	$3.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.71	$1.6
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$49.9	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.18	$4.49
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34.1	$19.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$4.22
👖 Brand Jeans	$46.5	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.4	$65.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$510	$131
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22916	$4200

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	$2415
30 km or 19 mi	Hong Kong	$2674
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuhai	$674
65 km or 40 mi	Dongguan	$666
66 km or 41 mi	Macau	$1718
72 km or 45 mi	Zhongshan	$534
74 km or 46 mi	Huizhou	$621
100 km or 62 mi	Jiangmen	$848
105 km or 65 mi	Guangzhou	$782
112 km or 69 mi	Foshan	$611
134 km or 83 mi	Shanwei	$943
142 km or 88 mi	Kaiping	$844
150 km or 93 mi	Heyuan	$765
164 km or 102 mi	Qingyuan	$795
174 km or 108 mi	Zhaoqing	$807
212 km or 131 mi	Yunfu	$832
228 km or 142 mi	Yangjiang	$896
233 km or 145 mi	Puning	$589
256 km or 159 mi	Shaoguan	$807
262 km or 163 mi	Jieyang	$464
286 km or 178 mi	Shantou	$602
288 km or 179 mi	Meizhou	$673
292 km or 182 mi	Chaozhou	$465
299 km or 186 mi	Wuzhou	$816
303 km or 188 mi	Lianzhou	$760
330 km or 205 mi	Hezhou	$769
337 km or 209 mi	Gaozhou	$790
337 km or 210 mi	Maoming	$789
377 km or 234 mi	Ganzhou	$814
378 km or 235 mi	Chenzhou	$730
401 km or 249 mi	Yulin	$738
405 km or 252 mi	Zhanjiang	$805
415 km or 258 mi	Longyan	$698
428 km or 266 mi	Zhangzhou	$696
460 km or 286 mi	Guigang	$699
464 km or 288 mi	Xiamen	$723
477 km or 297 mi	Haikou	$694
485 km or 301 mi	Kinmen	$903
489 km or 304 mi	Guilin	$533
502 km or 312 mi	Yongzhou	$638

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1507
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1510
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$783
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$714
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$718
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1422
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1422
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$2062
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$633
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$1039
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$2068
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$857
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$879
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$790
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$791
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1865
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1865
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1928
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1033
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$558
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$572
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$539
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1415
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2401
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$3009
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1695
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$506
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1640
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1839
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2821
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1864
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1988
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2269
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2610