Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Dhahran Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 15.4% more expensive than Dhahran.

Restaurants: pay 8.5% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 8.0% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 23.3% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 53.8% more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 6.6 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.9% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 2.2% more in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Dhahran Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shanghai instead of Dhahran, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.5% less for restaurants

	Dhahran	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.33 SAR20.00	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-16.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.26 SAR23.50	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-16.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.71 SAR2.67	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-15.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 SAR0.68	$0.37 CN¥2.47	+103.1%
Average			-8.5%

Dhahran vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.0% less for groceries

	Dhahran	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 SAR3.67	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+102.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.31 SAR16.16	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+99.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.05 SAR22.71	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+13.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.84 SAR14.40	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-55.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.04 SAR18.90	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-70.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.97 SAR3.63	$0.99 CN¥6.65	+2.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 SAR2.42	$0.77 CN¥5.16	+19.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.81 SAR3.02	$0.90 CN¥6.05	+12.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.81 SAR3.02	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-4.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.68 SAR2.57	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-47.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 SAR1.66	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-2.3%
Average			-8.0%

Dhahran vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.3% less for transportation

	Dhahran	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.82	$4.96 CN¥33.21	+111.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$29.83 CN¥199.59
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$52,762.41 SAR198K	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-63.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.98 SAR105.00	$5.67 CN¥37.92	-79.7%
Average			-23.3%

Dhahran vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.8% more for housing

	Dhahran	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.22 SAR248.51	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-84.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$359.74 SAR1,350.06	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+188.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$453.01 SAR1,700.08	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+30.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.85 SAR172.07	$44.06 CN¥294.77	-3.9%
Average			+53.8%

Dhahran vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 6.6 times more for childcare

	Dhahran	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$66.62 SAR250.01	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+2021.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,323.88 SAR50,002.33	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+107.8%
Average			+564.0%

Dhahran vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Dhahran	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.87 SAR7.00	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-36.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.91 SAR14.67	$3.35 CN¥22.41	-14.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.60 SAR21.00	$3.73 CN¥24.95	-33.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$195.42 SAR733.37	$65.69 CN¥439.52	-66.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.66 SAR40.00	$8.95 CN¥59.88	-16.0%
Average			-37.9%

Dhahran vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.2% more for clothing

	Dhahran	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.52 SAR193.34	$54.37 CN¥363.79	+5.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.64 SAR160.01	$37.09 CN¥248.19	-13.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.50 SAR283.35	$75.49 CN¥505.08
Men's business shoes (leather)	$88.83 SAR333.35	$105.70 CN¥707.25	+19.0%
Average			+2.2%

Dhahran vs. Shanghai - Cost of clothing

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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

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