Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Mexico

Cancun vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Cancun is 9.5% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Cancun
Groceries: pay 41.0% more in Cancun
Transportation: pay 26.3% more in Cancun
Housing: pay 4.8% less in Cancun
Childcare: pay 82.8% less in Cancun
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.8% more in Cancun
Clothing: pay 8.4% more in Cancun

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

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Cancun vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Cancun
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.79	$11.13 MX$209.02	+148.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.75	$11.52 MX$216.51	+120.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥3.99	$1.34 MX$25.23	+124.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.46	$0.82 MX$15.50	+123.0%
Average			+133.5%

Shanghai vs. Cancun - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.0% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Cancun
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.15	$2.66 MX$49.94	+34.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.24	$4.94 MX$92.83	-42.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.79	$6.40 MX$120.23	-6.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.30	$2.75 MX$51.70	+62.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.84	$4.02 MX$75.45	+171.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.62	$1.31 MX$24.56	+31.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.13	$0.75 MX$14.07	-2.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.02	$1.42 MX$26.62	+56.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.12	$1.01 MX$19.01	+31.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.38	$0.91 MX$17.09	+154.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.88	$0.89 MX$16.73	+105.5%
Average			+41.0%

Shanghai vs. Cancun - Cost of groceries

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pay 26.3% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Cancun
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.05	$5.72 MX$107.40	+15.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥198.59	$29.03 MX$545.27	-2.7%
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	$27.96 MX$525.20	+393.3%
Average			+26.3%

Shanghai vs. Cancun - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.8% less for housing

	Shanghai	Cancun
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.24	$38.80 MX$728.96	+267.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,903.44	$663.13 MX$12,457.68	-36.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,919.27	$460.19 MX$8,645.13	-21.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥293.30	$130.28 MX$2,447.55	+195.7%
Average			-4.8%

Shanghai vs. Cancun - Cost of housing

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pay 82.8% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Cancun
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,410.21	$210.01 MX$3,945.28	-85.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥184K	$5,507.55 MX$103K	-80.1%
Average			-82.8%

Shanghai vs. Cancun - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Cancun
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.94	$3.17 MX$59.53	+165.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.30	$3.84 MX$72.12	+14.6%
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	$33.38 MX$627.06	-49.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.58	$7.51 MX$141.09	-16.1%
Average			+2.8%

Shanghai vs. Cancun - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.4% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Cancun
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥361.97	$55.63 MX$1,045.11	+2.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥246.96	$55.63 MX$1,045.11	+50.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥502.56	$76.03 MX$1,428.31	+0.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥703.72	$94.57 MX$1,776.68	-10.5%
Average			+8.4%

Shanghai vs. Cancun - 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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