Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Canada

Edmonton vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Edmonton is 53.2% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 3.3 times more in Edmonton
Groceries: pay 58.7% more in Edmonton
Transportation: pay 43.6% more in Edmonton
Housing: pay 60.6% more in Edmonton
Childcare: pay 57.2% less in Edmonton
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.2% more in Edmonton
Clothing: pay 0.1% more in Edmonton

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

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Edmonton vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Edmonton
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$19.64 CA$27.80	+338.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$9.82 CA$13.90	+88.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$2.28 CA$3.23	+280.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$1.98 CA$2.80	+434.0%
Average			+228.0%

Shanghai vs. Edmonton - Cost of restaurants

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pay 58.7% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Edmonton
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$2.14 CA$3.02	+8.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$5.39 CA$7.63	-37.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$5.99 CA$8.49	-12.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$3.47 CA$4.92	+104.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$5.09 CA$7.20	+244.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.90 CA$2.69	+90.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.61 CA$0.87	-20.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$1.93 CA$2.74	+113.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$1.80 CA$2.54	+133.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.97 CA$1.38	+171.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.81 CA$1.15	+87.3%
Average			+58.7%

Shanghai vs. Edmonton - Cost of groceries

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pay 43.6% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Edmonton
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$4.27 CA$6.04	-14.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$71.54 CA$101.28	+139.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$27,760.48 CA$39,301.90	+43.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$13.70 CA$19.40	+141.8%
Average			+43.6%

Shanghai vs. Edmonton - Cost of transportation

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pay 60.6% more for housing

	Shanghai	Edmonton
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$53.71 CA$76.03	+409.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$1,079.59 CA$1,528.43	+4.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$901.37 CA$1,276.11	+53.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$173.46 CA$245.58	+293.7%
Average			+60.6%

Shanghai vs. Edmonton - Cost of housing

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pay 57.2% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Edmonton
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$755.66 CA$1,069.83	-46.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$9,493.63 CA$13,440.61	-65.7%
Average			-57.2%

Shanghai vs. Edmonton - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Edmonton
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$5.70 CA$8.07	+377.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$3.86 CA$5.47	+15.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$13.85 CA$19.61	+271.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$45.66 CA$64.64	-30.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$12.80 CA$18.12	+43.0%
Average			+60.2%

Shanghai vs. Edmonton - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.1% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Edmonton
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$43.41 CA$61.46	-20.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$45.86 CA$64.93	+23.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$84.98 CA$120.32	+12.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$95.59 CA$135.33	-9.6%
Average			+0.1%

Shanghai vs. Edmonton - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Shanghai is about 8 times bigger than Edmonton.

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