Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beijing vs. Saint Paul Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 38.8% cheaper than Saint Paul.

Restaurants: pay 74.3% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 31.9% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 39.1% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 58.6% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 36.8% less in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.3% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 6.4% more in Beijing

Expenses including restaurants, housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, childcare, and groceries are lower in Beijing.

Beijing vs. Saint Paul Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of Saint Paul, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 74.3% less for restaurants

	Saint Paul	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.00	$4.21 CN¥29.67	-76.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.00	$4.91 CN¥34.62	-50.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.74	$0.48 CN¥3.38	-82.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.43	$0.31 CN¥2.17	-87.4%
Average			-74.3%

Saint Paul vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.9% less for groceries

	Saint Paul	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$3.84	$1.71 CN¥12.04	-55.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.68	$7.47 CN¥52.69	+59.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.81	$6.64 CN¥46.85	+74.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.19	$1.78 CN¥12.53	-44.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.20	$1.53 CN¥10.80	-70.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.28	$0.98 CN¥6.93	-56.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.54	$0.77 CN¥5.43	+41.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.62	$0.80 CN¥5.65	-69.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.36	$0.60 CN¥4.25	-74.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.75	$0.35 CN¥2.46	-80.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.68	$0.41 CN¥2.91	-75.4%
Average			-31.9%

Saint Paul vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 39.1% less for transportation

	Saint Paul	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.04	$4.21 CN¥29.71	+38.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$120.00	$31.54 CN¥222.53	-73.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,165.86	$18,225.66 CN¥128,572.93	-49.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.18	$4.63 CN¥32.64	-71.4%
Average			-39.1%

Saint Paul vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 58.6% less for housing

	Saint Paul	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$75.00	$12.93 CN¥91.22	-82.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,244.20	$935.23 CN¥6,597.60	-24.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,008.00	$504.41 CN¥3,558.33	-50.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$170.84	$39.27 CN¥277.00	-77.0%
Average			-58.6%

Saint Paul vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 36.8% less for childcare

	Saint Paul	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,453.33	$710.76 CN¥5,014.09	-51.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,000.00	$23,242.73 CN¥163,965.81	-22.5%
Average			-36.8%

Saint Paul vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Saint Paul	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$1.12 CN¥7.91	-81.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.15	$2.90 CN¥20.47	-43.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$10.50	$4.21 CN¥29.67	-59.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.86	$57.84 CN¥408.00	+38.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.00	$8.41 CN¥59.34	-39.9%
Average			-37.3%

Saint Paul vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.4% more for clothing

	Saint Paul	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.00	$62.30 CN¥439.49	+59.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.00	$36.37 CN¥256.59	-13.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.60	$81.74 CN¥576.64	-3.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$127.50	$105.53 CN¥744.46	-17.2%
Average			+6.4%

Saint Paul vs. Beijing - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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