Cape Girardeau vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Cape Girardeau is 40.5% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants
pay 2.8 times more in Cape Girardeau
Groceries
pay 2.2 times more in Cape Girardeau
Transportation
pay 4.6% less in Cape Girardeau
Housing
pay 39.5% more in Cape Girardeau
Childcare
pay 41.4% less in Cape Girardeau
Entertainment and Sports
pay 22.5% more in Cape Girardeau
Clothing
pay 21.5% less in Cape Girardeau

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

Cape Girardeau vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cape Girardeau instead of Shanghai, you would:

pay 2.8 times more for restaurants

 
Shanghai
Cape Girardeau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.47
CN¥29.87
$17.50
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.22
CN¥34.85
$7.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.60
CN¥4.00
$2.67
 

Improve prices ·

pay 2.2 times more for groceries

 
Shanghai
Cape Girardeau
Bread
1 loaf
$1.98
CN¥13.19
$2.20
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.60
CN¥57.39
$7.72
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.88
CN¥45.91
$3.83
 

Improve prices ·

pay 4.6% less for transportation

 
Shanghai
Cape Girardeau
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.96
CN¥33.13
$3.13
 
Monthly public transit pass $29.83
CN¥199.12
??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $19,374.76
CN¥129K
$30,000.00
 

Improve prices ·

pay 39.5% more for housing

 
Shanghai
Cape Girardeau
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$10.55
CN¥70.42
$81.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,036.96
CN¥6,921.79
$789.75
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $588.71
CN¥3,929.69
$862.50
 

Improve prices ·

pay 41.4% less for childcare

 
Shanghai
Cape Girardeau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,413.50
CN¥9,435.22
$828.33
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $27,686.22
CN¥185K
??

Improve prices ·

pay 22.5% more for entertainment and sports

 
Shanghai
Cape Girardeau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.19
CN¥7.96
$3.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.35
CN¥22.36
$6.00
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.73
CN¥24.89
$7.50
 

Improve prices ·

pay 21.5% less for clothing

 
Shanghai
Cape Girardeau
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$54.37
CN¥362.93
$45.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$37.09
CN¥247.61
$40.00
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$75.49
CN¥503.90
$85.00
 

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