Cost of living comparison

compared to

Ashland vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Ashland is 2.0 times more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants
pay 3.8 times more in Ashland
Groceries
pay 92.0% more in Ashland
Transportation
pay 10.3% more in Ashland
Housing
pay 3.0 times more in Ashland
Childcare
pay 51.3% more in Ashland
Entertainment and Sports
pay 92.4% more in Ashland
Clothing
pay 25.5% less in Ashland

The cost of restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, childcare, and transportation in Ashland are more expensive than in Shanghai. Notably, restaurants, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Ashland.

Ashland vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

 
Shanghai
Ashland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.47
CN¥29.87
$20.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.22
CN¥34.85
$13.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.60
CN¥4.00
$2.83
 

Improve prices ·

pay 92.0% more for groceries

 
Shanghai
Ashland
Bread
1 loaf
$1.98
CN¥13.19
$4.59
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.60
CN¥57.39
$5.29
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.88
CN¥45.91
$3.90
 

Improve prices ·

pay 10.3% more for transportation

 
Shanghai
Ashland
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.96
CN¥33.13
$3.50
 
Monthly public transit pass $29.83
CN¥199.12
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $19,374.76
CN¥129K
$36,000.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 3.0 times more for housing

 
Shanghai
Ashland
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$10.55
CN¥70.42
$55.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,036.96
CN¥6,921.79
$1,875.00
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $588.71
CN¥3,929.69
$2,673.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 51.3% more for childcare

 
Shanghai
Ashland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,413.50
CN¥9,435.22
$2,138.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $27,686.22
CN¥185K
??

Improve prices ·

pay 92.4% more for entertainment and sports

 
Shanghai
Ashland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.19
CN¥7.96
$6.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.35
CN¥22.36
$5.20
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.73
CN¥24.89
$13.24
 

Improve prices ·

pay 25.5% less for clothing

 
Shanghai
Ashland
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$54.37
CN¥362.93
$38.50
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$37.09
CN¥247.61
$16.33
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$75.49
CN¥503.90
$100.00
 

Improve prices ·

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

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in China vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within China and United States.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Ashland or Shanghai. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.