Cost of living comparison
compared to
Shanghai vs. Iowa City Cost of Living Summary
Shanghai is 36.7% cheaper than Iowa City.
Shanghai vs. Iowa City Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Shanghai instead of Iowa City, you would:
pay 64.5% less for restaurants
|
Iowa City
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$14.00
|
$4.47
CN¥29.94
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$9.00
|
$5.22
CN¥34.93
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.83
|
$0.60
CN¥4.01
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.19
|
$0.37
CN¥2.47
|
|
Iowa City vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants
pay 30.9% less for groceries
|
Iowa City
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.71
|
$1.98
CN¥13.22
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.65
|
$8.60
CN¥57.52
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.02
|
$6.88
CN¥46.02
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.51
|
$1.70
CN¥11.36
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.77
|
$1.48
CN¥9.89
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.52
|
$0.99
CN¥6.65
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.54
|
$0.77
CN¥5.16
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.24
|
$0.90
CN¥6.05
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.20
|
$0.77
CN¥5.15
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
|
$0.36
CN¥2.40
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.08
|
$0.43
CN¥2.90
|
|
Iowa City vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries
pay 5.9% less for transportation
|
Iowa City
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.83
|
$4.96
CN¥33.21
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$16.00
|
$29.83
CN¥199.59
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,473.37
|
$19,374.76
CN¥130K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.00
|
$5.67
CN¥37.92
|
|
Iowa City vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation
pay 46.9% less for housing
|
Iowa City
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$82.25
|
$10.55
CN¥70.59
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,199.75
|
$1,036.96
CN¥6,938.07
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,075.75
|
$588.71
CN¥3,938.93
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$206.36
|
$44.06
CN¥294.77
|
|
Iowa City vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing
pay 14.8% more for childcare
|
Iowa City
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,266.67
|
$1,413.50
CN¥9,457.42
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$23,429.75
|
$27,686.22
CN¥185K
|
|
Iowa City vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare
pay 39.9% less for entertainment and sports
|
Iowa City
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$1.19
CN¥7.98
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.67
|
$3.35
CN¥22.41
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$8.89
|
$3.73
CN¥24.95
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$49.33
|
$65.69
CN¥439.52
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.50
|
$8.95
CN¥59.88
|
|
Iowa City vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 19.0% less for clothing
|
Iowa City
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$64.22
|
$54.37
CN¥363.79
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$50.56
|
$37.09
CN¥248.19
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$100.00
|
$75.49
CN¥505.08
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$115.00
|
$105.70
CN¥707.25
|
|
Iowa City 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
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Compare further: Iowa City vs. Shanghai
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