Cost of living comparison

compared to

Los Angeles vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Los Angeles is 3.0 times more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 5.5 times more in Los Angeles
Groceries: pay 2.8 times more in Los Angeles
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Los Angeles
Housing: pay 4.1 times more in Los Angeles
Childcare: pay 82.1% more in Los Angeles
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0 times more in Los Angeles
Clothing: pay 21.0% more in Los Angeles

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

Los Angeles vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Los Angeles instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 5.5 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.76	$25.00	+494.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.72	$13.00	+164.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.39	$2.83	+489.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$2.26	+637.3%
Average			+446.5%

Beijing vs. Los Angeles - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.8 times more for groceries

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.07	$4.52	+164.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.84	$6.67	-10.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.99	$4.71	-29.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.57	$7.43	+318.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.83	$7.55	+393.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.95	$2.60	+164.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.44	$1.27	+64.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.66	$2.00	+149.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.26	$2.17	+259.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.47	$1.38	+295.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.92	$1.22	+195.9%
Average			+178.8%

Beijing vs. Los Angeles - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.80	$4.78	+13.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥223.19	$93.48	+196.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,952.02	$32,727.50	+79.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.73	$18.01	+289.3%
Average			+144.7%

Beijing vs. Los Angeles - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.1 times more for housing

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.49	$74.01	+472.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,617.06	$2,536.54	+171.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,568.82	$1,984.71	+293.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.81	$155.53	+296.1%
Average			+308.3%

Beijing vs. Los Angeles - Cost of housing

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pay 82.1% more for childcare

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,028.87	$1,762.50	+148.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥164,449.26	$27,000.00	+16.2%
Average			+82.1%

Beijing vs. Los Angeles - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.94	$8.00	+613.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.53	$5.76	+98.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.76	$11.50	+173.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥409.21	$47.45	-17.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.52	$18.00	+114.0%
Average			+196.2%

Beijing vs. Los Angeles - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.0% more for clothing

	Beijing	Los Angeles
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥440.79	$61.25	-1.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥257.35	$44.15	+21.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥578.34	$100.09	+22.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥746.66	$149.85	+42.0%
Average			+21.0%

Beijing vs. Los Angeles - 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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