Shenzhen vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Shenzhen	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$995	$526
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2526	$1270
🏠 One person rent	$552	$226
🏘️ Family rent	$975	$370
🍽️ Food expenses	$270	$222
🚐 Transport expenses	$87.1	$22.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$938	$181
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	95	1
😀 Quality of life	76	30
🏙️ Population	17.5M	63.4K

The cost of living in Shenzhen is 89% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 5618th and 8528th ($995 vs $526) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 10th 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 Shenzhen compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Shenzhen ranked 4th best city to live in China vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 1163rd and 8796th among best cities to live in the world.

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/shenzhen/south-tarawa.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Shenzhen vs South Tarawa infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/shenzhen/south-tarawa" target="_blank">Shenzhen vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$3.68	$3.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$29.5	$21.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.15	$5.11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.47	$1.82
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$1.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.53	$0.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$701	$214
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$456	$146
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1238	$385
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$826	$256
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$35.8	$41.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.6	$63.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$11.5	$25.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.45%	12.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$13122	$1342
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6054	$823
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.44	$0.38
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.2	$15.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.66	$7.19
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.69	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.82	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.76	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$7.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.65	$4.45
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$7.14
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$2.34
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.62
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.3	$1.03
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.38	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.14	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13	$7.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.96	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.24	$3.16
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.62	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.99	$3.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.72	$1.51
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.04	$1.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$23.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.37	$4.41
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34.9	$18.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$4.15
👖 Brand Jeans	$39.8	$31
👟 Brand Sneakers	$70.7	$65.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$510	$139
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21140	$4506

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	$2396
30 km or 19 mi	Hong Kong	$2663
58 km or 36 mi	Zhuhai	$678
65 km or 40 mi	Dongguan	$694
66 km or 41 mi	Macau	$1734
72 km or 45 mi	Zhongshan	$548
74 km or 46 mi	Huizhou	$638
100 km or 62 mi	Jiangmen	$873
105 km or 65 mi	Guangzhou	$785
112 km or 69 mi	Foshan	$627
134 km or 83 mi	Shanwei	$954
142 km or 88 mi	Kaiping	$858
150 km or 93 mi	Heyuan	$777
164 km or 102 mi	Qingyuan	$801
174 km or 108 mi	Zhaoqing	$807
212 km or 131 mi	Yunfu	$839
228 km or 142 mi	Yangjiang	$908
233 km or 145 mi	Puning	$600
256 km or 159 mi	Shaoguan	$793
262 km or 163 mi	Jieyang	$473
286 km or 178 mi	Shantou	$612
288 km or 179 mi	Meizhou	$682
292 km or 182 mi	Chaozhou	$474
299 km or 186 mi	Wuzhou	$828
303 km or 188 mi	Lianzhou	$766
330 km or 205 mi	Hezhou	$778
337 km or 209 mi	Gaozhou	$802
337 km or 210 mi	Maoming	$797
377 km or 234 mi	Ganzhou	$758
378 km or 235 mi	Chenzhou	$739
401 km or 249 mi	Yulin	$751
405 km or 252 mi	Zhanjiang	$824
415 km or 258 mi	Longyan	$705
428 km or 266 mi	Zhangzhou	$702
460 km or 286 mi	Guigang	$714
464 km or 288 mi	Xiamen	$729
477 km or 297 mi	Haikou	$711
485 km or 301 mi	Kinmen	$892
489 km or 304 mi	Guilin	$528
502 km or 312 mi	Yongzhou	$648

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