Cost of living comparison
compared to
Shanghai vs. Manhattan Cost of Living Summary
Shanghai is 36.3% cheaper than Manhattan.
Shanghai vs. Manhattan Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Shanghai instead of Manhattan, you would:
pay 66.6% less for restaurants
|
Manhattan
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$15.00
|
$4.47
CN¥29.94
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$5.22
CN¥34.93
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$0.60
CN¥4.01
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.50
|
$0.37
CN¥2.47
|
|
Manhattan vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants
pay 49.3% less for groceries
|
Manhattan
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.12
|
$1.98
CN¥13.22
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.79
|
$8.60
CN¥57.52
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.23
|
$6.88
CN¥46.02
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.58
|
$1.70
CN¥11.36
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.84
|
$1.48
CN¥9.89
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.10
|
$0.99
CN¥6.65
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.97
|
$0.77
CN¥5.16
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$2.69
|
$0.90
CN¥6.05
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.94
|
$0.77
CN¥5.15
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.58
|
$0.36
CN¥2.40
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.70
|
$0.43
CN¥2.90
|
|
Manhattan vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries
pay 29.4% less for transportation
|
Manhattan
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.34
|
$4.96
CN¥33.21
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$60.00
|
$29.83
CN¥199.59
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$36,054.00
|
$19,374.76
CN¥130K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$19.91
|
$5.67
CN¥37.92
|
|
Manhattan vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation
pay 32.1% less for housing
|
Manhattan
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$65.33
|
$10.55
CN¥70.59
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$916.67
|
$1,036.96
CN¥6,938.07
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$987.50
|
$588.71
CN¥3,938.93
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$110.50
|
$44.06
CN¥294.77
|
|
Manhattan vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing
pay 2.0 times more for childcare
|
Manhattan
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$823.33
|
$1,413.50
CN¥9,457.42
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,440.00
|
$27,686.22
CN¥185K
|
|
Manhattan vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare
pay 47.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
Manhattan
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$1.19
CN¥7.98
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.50
|
$3.35
CN¥22.41
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.80
|
$3.73
CN¥24.95
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$75.00
|
$65.69
CN¥439.52
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$8.95
CN¥59.88
|
|
Manhattan vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 2.1% less for clothing
|
Manhattan
|
Shanghai
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$48.00
|
$54.37
CN¥363.79
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$35.00
|
$37.09
CN¥248.19
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$89.00
|
$75.49
CN¥505.08
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$117.25
|
$105.70
CN¥707.25
|
|
Manhattan 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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