Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Mexico

Chihuahua vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Chihuahua is 1.6% cheaper than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Chihuahua
Groceries: pay 41.8% more in Chihuahua
Transportation: pay 15.9% more in Chihuahua
Housing: pay 18.2% less in Chihuahua
Childcare: pay 84.6% less in Chihuahua
Entertainment and Sports: pay 22.8% less in Chihuahua
Clothing: pay 7.7% less in Chihuahua

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

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Chihuahua vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Chihuahua
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.86	$11.13 MX$207.71	+148.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.84	$11.13 MX$207.71	+113.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$1.25 MX$23.26	+107.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.79 MX$14.75	+113.6%
Average			+127.9%

Shanghai vs. Chihuahua - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.8% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Chihuahua
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.18	$3.25 MX$60.59	+64.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.38	$4.82 MX$89.99	-43.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.90	$6.31 MX$117.84	-8.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$2.65 MX$49.40	+55.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.86	$3.15 MX$58.76	+113.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$1.12 MX$20.94	+12.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$0.72 MX$13.50	-6.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$0.95 MX$17.64	+4.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.13	$1.29 MX$24.03	+67.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$1.13 MX$21.18	+216.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$1.22 MX$22.82	+182.2%
Average			+41.8%

Shanghai vs. Chihuahua - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.9% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Chihuahua
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$5.59 MX$104.28	+12.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.09	$33.38 MX$623.13	+11.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$21,528.95 MX$402K	+11.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$9.01 MX$168.25	+59.0%
Average			+15.9%

Shanghai vs. Chihuahua - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.2% less for housing

	Shanghai	Chihuahua
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.41	$24.12 MX$450.32	+128.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,920.65	$618.90 MX$11,553.94	-40.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.04	$466.19 MX$8,703.10	-20.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.03	$64.66 MX$1,207.06	+46.8%
Average			-18.2%

Shanghai vs. Chihuahua - Cost of housing

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pay 84.6% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Chihuahua
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,433.67	$270.74 MX$5,054.31	-80.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$3,430.63 MX$64,044.31	-87.6%
Average			-84.6%

Shanghai vs. Chihuahua - Cost of childcare

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pay 22.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Chihuahua
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$2.40 MX$44.74	+100.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$2.45 MX$45.74	-26.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$4.45 MX$83.08	+19.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.41	$28.50 MX$532.00	-56.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.73	$5.01 MX$93.47	-44.1%
Average			-22.8%

Shanghai vs. Chihuahua - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.7% less for clothing

	Shanghai	Chihuahua
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.87	$49.93 MX$932.10	-8.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.57	$25.03 MX$467.35	-32.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.82	$102.92 MX$1,921.33	+36.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.47	$90.85 MX$1,695.96	-14.1%
Average			-7.7%

Shanghai vs. Chihuahua - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this

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