Cost of living comparison

compared to

Santiago vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Santiago is 9.4% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 62.1% more in Santiago
Groceries: pay 8.5% more in Santiago
Transportation: pay 79.3% more in Santiago
Housing: pay 15.5% more in Santiago
Childcare: pay 78.8% less in Santiago
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.2% less in Santiago
Clothing: pay 12.9% less in Santiago

The cost of transportation, restaurants, housing, and groceries in Santiago are more expensive than in Beijing. Expenses including childcare, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Santiago. Notably, transportation is significantly more expensive in Santiago.

Santiago vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Santiago instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 62.1% more for restaurants

	Beijing	Santiago
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.61	$5.25 DOP328.72	+24.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.55	$5.65 DOP354.01	+15.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.38	$0.98 DOP61.11	+103.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.16	$0.63 DOP39.45	+105.1%
Average			+62.1%

Beijing vs. Santiago - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.5% more for groceries

	Beijing	Santiago
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.02	$1.50 DOP93.99	-12.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.59	$3.11 DOP194.98	-58.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.76	$4.07 DOP255.25	-38.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.51	$1.24 DOP77.68	-30.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.78	$2.15 DOP134.60	+40.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.92	$1.02 DOP63.72	+3.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.42	$0.39 DOP24.15	-49.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.64	$0.75 DOP46.86	-6.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.24	$0.81 DOP50.57	+34.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.45	$0.58 DOP36.52	+67.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.90	$1.01 DOP63.17	+144.4%
Average			+8.5%

Beijing vs. Santiago - Cost of groceries

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pay 79.3% more for transportation

	Beijing	Santiago
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.65	$4.65 DOP291.52	+10.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥222.11	$29.48 DOP1,846.99	-6.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,328.71	$15,338.47 DOP960,872.49	-15.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.58	$19.86 DOP1,244.08	+329.2%
Average			+79.3%

Beijing vs. Santiago - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.5% more for housing

	Beijing	Santiago
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.05	$34.99 DOP2,191.91	+170.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,585.07	$371.35 DOP23,263.23	-60.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,551.57	$242.19 DOP15,171.67	-52.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥276.47	$40.80 DOP2,556.06	+3.9%
Average			+15.5%

Beijing vs. Santiago - Cost of housing

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pay 78.8% less for childcare

	Beijing	Santiago
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,004.56	$213.93 DOP13,401.64	-69.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥163,654.36	$2,841.65 DOP178,014.27	-87.8%
Average			-78.8%

Beijing vs. Santiago - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Santiago
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.90	$2.42 DOP151.72	+115.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.43	$1.82 DOP113.79	-37.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.61	$3.23 DOP202.29	-23.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥407.23	$23.37 DOP1,464.07	-59.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.23	$5.33 DOP333.78	-36.7%
Average			-8.2%

Beijing vs. Santiago - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.9% less for clothing

	Beijing	Santiago
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥438.66	$49.65 DOP3,110.19	-20.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥256.10	$43.06 DOP2,697.19	+18.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥575.54	$72.66 DOP4,551.50	-11.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥743.05	$64.58 DOP4,045.78	-38.8%
Average			-12.9%

Beijing vs. Santiago - 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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