Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

United Kingdom

Scarborough vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Scarborough is 2.2 times more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 3.3 times more in Scarborough
Groceries: pay 40.3% more in Scarborough
Transportation: pay 2.8 times more in Scarborough
Housing: pay 2.6 times more in Scarborough
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Scarborough
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Scarborough
Clothing: pay 7.9% more in Scarborough

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

Scarborough vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Scarborough
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥28.46	$14.36 £10.72	+241.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥33.21	$11.36 £8.48	+131.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.25	$2.07 £1.55	+331.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.08	$0.95 £0.71	+209.5%
Average			+228.6%

Beijing vs. Scarborough - Cost of restaurants

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pay 40.3% more for groceries

	Beijing	Scarborough
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥11.55	$1.67 £1.24	-2.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥50.54	$4.85 £3.62	-35.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥44.95	$5.56 £4.15	-16.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.02	$3.64 £2.71	+104.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.36	$4.26 £3.18	+178.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.65	$1.33 £1.00	+35.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.21	$0.65 £0.48	-15.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.42	$0.65 £0.48	-19.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.07	$0.97 £0.73	+61.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.36	$0.64 £0.48	+84.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.79	$0.69 £0.51	+66.4%
Average			+40.3%

Beijing vs. Scarborough - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.8 times more for transportation

	Beijing	Scarborough
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥28.50	$7.22 £5.38	+71.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥213.47	$92.50 £69.03	+193.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥123K	$35,874.41 £26,771.92	+96.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥31.31	$20.32 £15.17	+339.3%
Average			+175.2%

Beijing vs. Scarborough - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6 times more for housing

	Beijing	Scarborough
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥87.51	$33.41 £24.93	+158.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,329.10	$868.63 £648.23	-7.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,413.52	$835.22 £623.30	+65.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥265.72	$202.00 £150.75	+414.4%
Average			+157.8%

Beijing vs. Scarborough - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Beijing	Scarborough
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥4,810.03	$1,675.79 £1,250.59	+135.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥157K	??
Average			+135.8%

Beijing vs. Scarborough - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Scarborough
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.59	$5.75 £4.29	+412.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥19.64	$4.57 £3.41	+57.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥28.46	$11.31 £8.44	+168.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥391.40	$33.41 £24.93	-42.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥56.93	$10.77 £8.04	+28.0%
Average			+124.9%

Beijing vs. Scarborough - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.9% more for clothing

	Beijing	Scarborough
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥421.61	$67.31 £50.23	+8.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥246.15	$35.90 £26.79	-1.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥553.17	$107.71 £80.38	+31.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥714.17	$98.00 £73.13	-7.1%
Average			+7.9%

Beijing vs. Scarborough - 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: June 2026

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