Shenzhen vs Surabaya - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Shenzhen	Surabaya
🚶 Cost of living one person	$878	$551
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2307	$1391
🏠 One person rent	$456	$222
🏘️ Family rent	$808	$373
🍽️ Food expenses	$253	$219
🚐 Transport expenses	$83.4	$49.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$969	$360
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	16 km
🎓 Higher education	96	75
😀 Quality of life	78	68
🏙️ Population	17.5M	3.01M

The cost of living in Shenzhen is 59% more expensive than in Surabaya. Cities ranked 6334th and 8275th ($878 vs $551) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 17th and 14th in China and Indonesia, respectively. Check China vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Shenzhen compared to 0.7 months in Surabaya. Shenzhen ranked 3rd best city to live in China vs Surabaya ranked 1st in Indonesia, while ranked 1094th and 4631st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Shenzhen vs Surabaya infographic

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Prices in Shenzhen vs Surabaya

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

	Shenzhen	Surabaya
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.52	$1.65
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.1	$13.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.93	$3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.26	$2.41
☕ Cappuccino	$3.12	$1.74
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.5	$0.69
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$619	$230
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$350	$138
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1122	$410
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$637	$251
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.2	$46.3
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.5	$70.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.1	$19.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.84%	7.45%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12494	$2226
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5776	$1338
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$0.48
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21	$8.97
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.58	$4.26
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.16	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.76	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.92	$1.45
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$0.95
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.82	$1.41
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$9.51
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$3.24
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$8.17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$2.46
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.54
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.25
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.63
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.01	$1.32
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.9
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.08	$1.2
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.3	$30
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.86	$1.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.51	$2.41
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.34	$2.58
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$2.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.65	$0.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.96	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$43.9	$21.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.06	$2.98
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$34	$12
💇 Haircut, simple	$9.65	$3.27
👖 Brand Jeans	$47.5	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$73.2	$76.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$444	$185
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22402	$9160

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 Surabaya

Distance	City	Cost of living
42 km or 26 mi	Mojokerto	$413
48 km or 30 mi	Pasuruan	$457
73 km or 45 mi	Batu	$409
77 km or 48 mi	Probolinggo	$470
83 km or 51 mi	Malang	$384
102 km or 63 mi	Kediri	$447
115 km or 71 mi	Blitar	$440
141 km or 87 mi	Madiun	$456
215 km or 133 mi	Surakarta	$409
247 km or 153 mi	Salatiga	$422
258 km or 160 mi	Semarang	$488
269 km or 167 mi	Yogyakarta	$445
286 km or 177 mi	Bali	$1134
311 km or 194 mi	Ubud	$834
315 km or 196 mi	Denpasar	$489
340 km or 211 mi	Pekalongan	$471
400 km or 249 mi	Tegal	$482
401 km or 249 mi	Mataram	$402
414 km or 257 mi	Cilacap	$478
464 km or 288 mi	Banjar	$488
464 km or 288 mi	Cirebon	$523
476 km or 296 mi	Banjarbaru	$449
481 km or 299 mi	Banjarmasin	$459
501 km or 311 mi	Tasikmalaya	$367
572 km or 355 mi	Bandung	$534
575 km or 357 mi	Palangka Raya	$470
576 km or 358 mi	Cimahi	$490
642 km or 399 mi	Sukabumi	$561
644 km or 400 mi	Bekasi	$555
659 km or 410 mi	Bogor	$480
660 km or 410 mi	Depok	$400
661 km or 411 mi	Jakarta	$699
672 km or 418 mi	Bima	$588
673 km or 418 mi	South Tangerang	$567
685 km or 425 mi	Tangerang	$665
738 km or 459 mi	Serang	$517
756 km or 470 mi	Cilegon	$511
774 km or 481 mi	Makassar	$523
820 km or 510 mi	Balikpapan	$598
842 km or 523 mi	Parepare	$502