Cost of living comparison

compared to

Aurora vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Aurora is 80.9% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants
pay 3.2 times more in Aurora
Groceries
pay 58.9% more in Aurora
Transportation
pay 64.5% more in Aurora
Housing
pay 2.2 times more in Aurora
Childcare
pay 5.2% less in Aurora
Entertainment and Sports
pay 43.7% more in Aurora
Clothing
pay 6.0% more in Aurora

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

Aurora vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

pay 3.2 times more for restaurants

 
Shanghai
Aurora
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.47
CN¥29.87
$14.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.22
CN¥34.85
$12.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.60
CN¥4.00
$2.95
 

Improve prices ·

pay 58.9% more for groceries

 
Shanghai
Aurora
Bread
1 loaf
$1.98
CN¥13.19
$3.50
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.60
CN¥57.39
$4.41
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.88
CN¥45.91
$3.28
 

Improve prices ·

pay 64.5% more for transportation

 
Shanghai
Aurora
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.96
CN¥33.13
$3.99
 
Monthly public transit pass $29.83
CN¥199.12
$135.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $19,374.76
CN¥129K
$24,500.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 2.2 times more for housing

 
Shanghai
Aurora
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
$1,681.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $588.71
CN¥3,929.69
$1,448.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 5.2% less for childcare

 
Shanghai
Aurora
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,413.50
CN¥9,435.22
$1,500.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $27,686.22
CN¥185K
$23,429.75
 

Improve prices ·

pay 43.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
Shanghai
Aurora
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.19
CN¥7.96
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.35
CN¥22.36
$5.33
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.73
CN¥24.89
$10.73
 

Improve prices ·

pay 6.0% more for clothing

 
Shanghai
Aurora
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$54.37
CN¥362.93
$56.67
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$37.09
CN¥247.61
$50.56
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$75.49
CN¥503.90
$88.50
 

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 Aurora or Shanghai. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.