Cost of living in China

Search for a country, city, or state:

These numbers reflect the average prices of 36 cities in China, such as Jinan, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai, and more. To view the cost of living in a specific city in China, select a city on the right hand side.

Restaurants	Cost	Range
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.38 CN¥22.94	$2.31 - $6.01
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.09 CN¥34.49	$4.47 - $5.90
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 CN¥3.37	$0.39 - $0.76
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.09	$0.24 - $0.47

China - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

Groceries	Cost	Range
Bread 1 loaf	$1.67 CN¥11.34	$1.09 - $2.73
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.37 CN¥43.23	$4.04 - $10.91
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.30 CN¥49.52	$5.19 - $10.27
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 CN¥12.72	$1.15 - $2.62
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.90 CN¥12.89	$1.14 - $2.84
Apples (1 lb)	$0.88 CN¥5.94	$0.54 - $1.37
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 CN¥3.82	$0.38 - $0.78
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.85 CN¥5.77	$0.52 - $1.30
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 CN¥4.00	$0.31 - $0.97
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 CN¥2.97	$0.23 - $0.70
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 CN¥2.98	$0.25 - $0.61

China - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

Transportation	Cost	Range
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.98 CN¥27.02	$3.59 - $4.61
Monthly public transit pass	$17.52 CN¥118.82	$11.94 - $27.56
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,890.38 CN¥141,686.89	$19,226.33 - $24,076.62
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.09 CN¥27.77	$3.60 - $5.54

China - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

Housing	Cost	Range
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.68 CN¥92.76	$9.92 - $22.88
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$374.47 CN¥2,539.80	$277.41 - $545.18
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.99 CN¥1,587.05	$171.93 - $342.55
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$40.53 CN¥274.86	$24.93 - $79.53

China - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

Childcare	Cost	Range
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$428.59 CN¥2,906.85	$242.60 - $782.28
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,190.61 CN¥109,811.20	$10,106.56 - $30,635.24

China - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

Entertainment and Sports	Cost	Range
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.02 CN¥6.89	$0.68 - $2.26
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CN¥26.06	$2.42 - $5.55
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.18 CN¥21.54	$2.49 - $3.97
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.09 CN¥271.89	$21.74 - $78.16
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.20 CN¥42.03	$5.10 - $9.77

China - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

Clothing	Cost	Range
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$64.09 CN¥434.70	$31.31 - $108.94
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.80 CN¥256.39	$20.73 - $66.44
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.61 CN¥621.35	$59.19 - $131.67
Men's business shoes (leather)	$84.88 CN¥575.66	$48.26 - $153.52

China - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics on this page are calculated from 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 source collection.

Page last updated: November 2020

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location (Ashburn, VA, United States) to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Contribute prices for China

Compare China with another location

See the cost of living in a city within China

Select a city:

For example, see the cost of living in Beijing