Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Mexico

Ajijic vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Ajijic is 0.6% cheaper than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 98.6% more in Ajijic
Groceries: pay 10.2% more in Ajijic
Transportation: pay 41.9% more in Ajijic
Housing: pay 0.3% more in Ajijic
Childcare: pay 87.2% less in Ajijic
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.9% less in Ajijic
Clothing: pay 30.8% less in Ajijic

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

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Ajijic vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 98.6% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Ajijic
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.79	$9.74 MX$182.89	+117.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.75	$7.23 MX$135.86	+38.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥3.99	$1.67 MX$31.35	+178.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.46	$1.22 MX$22.99	+230.9%
Average			+98.6%

Shanghai vs. Ajijic - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.2% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Ajijic
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.15	$2.24 MX$42.12	+13.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.24	$4.06 MX$76.29	-52.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.79	$5.62 MX$105.50	-18.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.30	$2.29 MX$43.06	+35.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.84	$3.85 MX$72.29	+160.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.62	$1.03 MX$19.32	+3.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.13	$0.60 MX$11.26	-22.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.02	$0.70 MX$13.10	-22.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.12	$0.79 MX$14.93	+3.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.38	$0.73 MX$13.63	+102.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.88	$0.63 MX$11.85	+45.6%
Average			+10.2%

Shanghai vs. Ajijic - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.9% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Ajijic
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.05	$5.62 MX$105.62	+13.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥198.59	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$21,528.95 MX$404K	+11.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.73	$36.86 MX$692.38	+550.3%
Average			+41.9%

Shanghai vs. Ajijic - Cost of transportation

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pay 0.3% more for housing

	Shanghai	Ajijic
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.24	$24.93 MX$468.38	+136.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,903.44	$861.90 MX$16,191.86	-16.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,919.27	$647.47 MX$12,163.46	+10.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥293.30	$42.83 MX$804.53	-2.8%
Average			+0.3%

Shanghai vs. Ajijic - Cost of housing

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pay 87.2% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Ajijic
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,410.21	$216.96 MX$4,075.92	-84.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥184K	$2,948.48 MX$55,390.68	-89.4%
Average			-87.2%

Shanghai vs. Ajijic - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Ajijic
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.94	$2.23 MX$41.80	+86.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.30	$3.60 MX$67.71	+7.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.82	$4.45 MX$83.61	+19.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥437.32	$25.03 MX$470.30	-61.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.58	$4.90 MX$91.97	-45.3%
Average			-20.9%

Shanghai vs. Ajijic - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.8% less for clothing

	Shanghai	Ajijic
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥361.97	$44.51 MX$836.09	-18.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥246.96	$16.69 MX$313.53	-55.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥502.56	$69.54 MX$1,306.38	-7.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥703.72	$71.63 MX$1,345.58	-32.2%
Average			-30.8%

Shanghai vs. Ajijic - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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