Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

United States

Colorado Springs vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Colorado Springs is 94.0% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 3.8 times more in Colorado Springs
Groceries: pay 90.1% more in Colorado Springs
Transportation: pay 31.6% more in Colorado Springs
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Colorado Springs
Childcare: pay 3.3% less in Colorado Springs
Entertainment and Sports: pay 87.5% more in Colorado Springs
Clothing: pay 1.6% more in Colorado Springs

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

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Colorado Springs vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Colorado Springs instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.8 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Colorado Springs
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.86	$20.00	+347.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.84	$13.00	+149.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$2.71	+352.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$2.25	+508.3%
Average			+276.1%

Shanghai vs. Colorado Springs - Cost of restaurants

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pay 90.1% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Colorado Springs
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.18	$3.23	+63.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.38	$7.44	-13.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.90	$3.58	-47.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$6.08	+258.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.86	$6.12	+313.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$2.50	+151.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$0.63	-18.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$2.02	+123.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.13	$2.14	+178.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$1.12	+212.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$1.16	+168.7%
Average			+90.1%

Shanghai vs. Colorado Springs - Cost of groceries

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pay 31.6% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Colorado Springs
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$3.89	-21.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.09	$63.00	+111.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$24,990.00	+29.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$14.88	+162.6%
Average			+31.6%

Shanghai vs. Colorado Springs - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Shanghai	Colorado Springs
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.41	$101.17	+858.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,920.65	$1,731.43	+67.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.04	$1,533.33	+160.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.03	$153.05	+247.4%
Average			+143.0%

Shanghai vs. Colorado Springs - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Colorado Springs
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,433.67	$1,493.33	+5.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$24,500.00	-11.5%
Average			-3.3%

Shanghai vs. Colorado Springs - Cost of childcare

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pay 87.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Colorado Springs
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$6.00	+402.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$5.58	+66.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$10.67	+186.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.41	$58.00	-11.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.73	$15.00	+67.6%
Average			+87.5%

Shanghai vs. Colorado Springs - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.6% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Colorado Springs
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.87	$58.36	+7.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.57	$35.00	-5.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.82	$82.00	+8.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.47	$102.50	-3.0%
Average			+1.6%

Shanghai vs. Colorado Springs - 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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