Cost of living comparison
compared to
Shanghai vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary
Shanghai is 40.1% cheaper than Madrid.
Shanghai vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Shanghai instead of Madrid, you would:
pay 71.2% less for restaurants
|
Madrid
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.92
€15.99
|
$4.47
CN¥29.95
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.20
€9.99
|
$5.22
CN¥34.94
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
€2.95
|
$0.60
CN¥4.01
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
€2.05
|
$0.37
CN¥2.48
|
|
Madrid vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants
pay 32.2% less for groceries
|
Madrid
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.57
€1.40
|
$1.98
CN¥13.22
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.35
€7.46
|
$8.60
CN¥57.54
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.25
€4.69
|
$6.88
CN¥46.03
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.15
€3.70
|
$1.70
CN¥11.36
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.23
€3.77
|
$1.48
CN¥9.89
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.17
€1.05
|
$0.99
CN¥6.65
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.96
€0.86
|
$0.77
CN¥5.16
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.15
€1.03
|
$0.90
CN¥6.05
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.16
€1.03
|
$0.77
CN¥5.15
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.00
€0.89
|
$0.36
CN¥2.40
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.97
€0.86
|
$0.43
CN¥2.90
|
|
Madrid vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries
pay 36.2% less for transportation
|
Madrid
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.88
€6.14
|
$4.96
CN¥33.22
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$36.95
€32.98
|
$29.83
CN¥199.65
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,271.67
€31,484.13
|
$19,374.76
CN¥130K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.84
€14.14
|
$5.67
CN¥37.93
|
|
Madrid vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation
pay 48.6% less for housing
|
Madrid
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$34.86
€31.12
|
$10.55
CN¥70.61
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,491.38
€1,331.23
|
$1,036.96
CN¥6,940.04
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,193.86
€1,065.66
|
$588.71
CN¥3,940.05
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$144.11
€128.63
|
$44.06
CN¥294.86
|
|
Madrid vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing
pay 81.0% more for childcare
|
Madrid
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$668.48
€596.70
|
$1,413.50
CN¥9,460.10
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$17,859.91
€15,942.08
|
$27,686.22
CN¥185K
|
|
Madrid vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare
pay 23.7% less for entertainment and sports
|
Madrid
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.92
€3.50
|
$1.19
CN¥7.99
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.07
€2.74
|
$3.35
CN¥22.42
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.72
€6.00
|
$3.73
CN¥24.96
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.67
€45.23
|
$65.69
CN¥439.64
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.20
€9.99
|
$8.95
CN¥59.89
|
|
Madrid vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 23.0% less for clothing
|
Madrid
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$86.50
€77.21
|
$54.37
CN¥363.89
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$42.98
€38.37
|
$37.09
CN¥248.26
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$108.99
€97.28
|
$75.49
CN¥505.23
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$112.77
€100.66
|
$105.70
CN¥707.45
|
|
Madrid 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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