Cost of living comparison
compared to
Shanghai vs. Christiansted Cost of Living Summary
Shanghai is 45.0% cheaper than Christiansted.
Shanghai vs. Christiansted Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Shanghai instead of Christiansted, you would:
pay 75.2% less for restaurants
|
Christiansted
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$4.47
CN¥29.86
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$5.22
CN¥34.84
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.00
|
$0.60
CN¥4.00
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$0.37
CN¥2.47
|
|
Christiansted vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants
pay 67.5% less for groceries
|
Christiansted
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.64
|
$1.98
CN¥13.18
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) | ?? |
$8.60
CN¥57.38
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$11.00
|
$6.88
CN¥45.90
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$13.00
|
$1.70
CN¥11.33
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.50
|
$1.48
CN¥9.86
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.29
|
$0.99
CN¥6.63
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.77
CN¥5.14
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.99
|
$0.90
CN¥6.03
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.80
|
$0.77
CN¥5.13
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) | ?? |
$0.36
CN¥2.39
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$2.15
|
$0.43
CN¥2.89
|
|
Christiansted vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries
pay 31.0% more for transportation
|
Christiansted
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.79
|
$4.96
CN¥33.13
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$29.83
CN¥199.09
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$19,374.76
CN¥129K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$5.67
CN¥37.83
|
|
Christiansted vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation
pay 44.1% less for housing
|
Christiansted
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$50.50
|
$10.55
CN¥70.41
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,000.00
|
$1,036.96
CN¥6,920.65
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$800.00
|
$588.71
CN¥3,929.04
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$611.76
|
$44.06
CN¥294.03
|
|
Christiansted vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
Christiansted
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$1,413.50
CN¥9,433.67
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$27,686.22
CN¥185K
|
Christiansted vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare
pay 64.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
Christiansted
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$7.00
|
$1.19
CN¥7.96
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.50
|
$3.35
CN¥22.36
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
?? |
$3.73
CN¥24.89
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym | ?? |
$65.69
CN¥438.41
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$8.95
CN¥59.73
|
|
Christiansted vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 83.3% more for clothing
|
Christiansted
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$50.00
|
$54.37
CN¥362.87
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$12.00
|
$37.09
CN¥247.57
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$75.49
CN¥503.82
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$105.70
CN¥705.47
|
|
Christiansted vs. Shanghai - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
Change currency:
Compare further: Christiansted vs. Shanghai
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in Virgin Islands vs. China.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Virgin Islands and China.
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate.
Learn more
Ask the Elsewhere Community
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Shanghai or Christiansted. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.