Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kingston Upon Thames vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Kingston Upon Thames is 2.5 times more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 3.8 times more in Kingston Upon Thames
Groceries: pay 44.4% more in Kingston Upon Thames
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in Kingston Upon Thames
Housing: pay 3.9 times more in Kingston Upon Thames
Childcare: pay 66.3% more in Kingston Upon Thames
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.2 times more in Kingston Upon Thames
Clothing: pay 9.8% more in Kingston Upon Thames

The cost of housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, childcare, and groceries in Kingston Upon Thames are more expensive than in Beijing. Notably, housing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Kingston Upon Thames.

Kingston Upon Thames vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kingston Upon Thames instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Kingston Upon Thames
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$17.36 £13.01	+312.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.69	$10.02 £7.51	+104.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.39	$2.30 £1.73	+380.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$1.33 £1.00	+334.2%
Average			+282.8%

Beijing vs. Kingston Upon Thames - Cost of restaurants

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pay 44.4% more for groceries

	Beijing	Kingston Upon Thames
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.07	$1.41 £1.06	-17.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.80	$4.07 £3.05	-45.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.96	$5.98 £4.48	-9.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.56	$3.67 £2.75	+106.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.83	$3.68 £2.76	+140.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.95	$1.37 £1.03	+39.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.44	$0.68 £0.51	-11.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.66	$1.31 £0.99	+64.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.26	$0.96 £0.72	+59.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.46	$0.68 £0.51	+95.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.92	$0.69 £0.52	+67.1%
Average			+44.4%

Beijing vs. Kingston Upon Thames - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Beijing	Kingston Upon Thames
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.77	$7.18 £5.38	+70.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥223.02	$42.73 £32.03	+35.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	$37,772.71 £28,315.37	+107.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.71	$14.69 £11.01	+217.5%
Average			+107.7%

Beijing vs. Kingston Upon Thames - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.9 times more for housing

	Beijing	Kingston Upon Thames
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.43	$36.50 £27.36	+182.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	$2,036.53 £1,526.64	+117.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	$1,847.35 £1,384.82	+266.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.61	$276.32 £207.13	+603.7%
Average			+292.5%

Beijing vs. Kingston Upon Thames - Cost of housing

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pay 66.3% more for childcare

	Beijing	Kingston Upon Thames
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	$1,832.88 £1,373.97	+157.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40	$17,360.62 £13,013.96	-25.3%
Average			+66.3%

Beijing vs. Kingston Upon Thames - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Kingston Upon Thames
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.93	$6.68 £5.01	+495.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.52	$4.67 £3.50	+61.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.74	$20.03 £15.02	+376.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥408.91	$77.01 £57.73	+33.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.47	$20.03 £15.02	+138.1%
Average			+220.8%

Beijing vs. Kingston Upon Thames - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.8% more for clothing

	Beijing	Kingston Upon Thames
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥440.46	$86.80 £65.07	+39.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥257.16	$40.06 £30.03	+10.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥577.91	$80.13 £60.06	-2.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥746.11	$96.82 £72.58	-8.3%
Average			+9.8%

Beijing vs. Kingston Upon Thames - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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