Cost of living comparison
compared to
Shanghai vs. Dayton Cost of Living Summary
Shanghai is 36.2% cheaper than Dayton.
Shanghai vs. Dayton Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Shanghai instead of Dayton, you would:
pay 65.1% less for restaurants
|
Dayton
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.50
|
$4.47
CN¥29.79
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$5.22
CN¥34.75
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.26
|
$0.60
CN¥3.99
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.88
|
$0.37
CN¥2.46
|
|
Dayton vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants
pay 51.3% less for groceries
|
Dayton
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.75
|
$1.98
CN¥13.15
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.79
|
$8.60
CN¥57.24
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$2.91
|
$6.88
CN¥45.79
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.69
|
$1.70
CN¥11.30
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$11.17
|
$1.48
CN¥9.84
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.65
|
$0.99
CN¥6.62
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.86
|
$0.77
CN¥5.13
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.21
|
$0.90
CN¥6.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.42
|
$0.77
CN¥5.12
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.19
|
$0.36
CN¥2.38
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.41
|
$0.43
CN¥2.88
|
|
Dayton vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries
pay 30.5% less for transportation
|
Dayton
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.97
|
$4.96
CN¥33.05
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$50.00
|
$29.83
CN¥198.59
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,168.00
|
$19,374.76
CN¥129K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.91
|
$5.67
CN¥37.73
|
|
Dayton vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation
pay 39.6% less for housing
|
Dayton
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$58.00
|
$10.55
CN¥70.24
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,203.83
|
$1,036.96
CN¥6,903.44
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$900.80
|
$588.71
CN¥3,919.27
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$155.72
|
$44.06
CN¥293.30
|
|
Dayton vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing
pay 3.4 times more for childcare
|
Dayton
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$533.33
|
$1,413.50
CN¥9,410.21
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$6,500.00
|
$27,686.22
CN¥184K
|
|
Dayton vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare
pay 30.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
Dayton
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.50
|
$1.19
CN¥7.94
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.16
|
$3.35
CN¥22.30
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$10.79
|
$3.73
CN¥24.82
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$33.34
|
$65.69
CN¥437.32
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$14.25
|
$8.95
CN¥59.58
|
|
Dayton vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay about the same for clothing
|
Dayton
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$39.75
|
$54.37
CN¥361.97
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$47.75
|
$37.09
CN¥246.96
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$70.00
|
$75.49
CN¥502.56
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$121.25
|
$105.70
CN¥703.72
|
Dayton 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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