Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Japan

Kobe vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Kobe is 8.9% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 38.9% more in Kobe
Groceries: pay 92.3% more in Kobe
Transportation: pay 34.0% more in Kobe
Housing: pay 6.4% less in Kobe
Childcare: pay 77.5% less in Kobe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.4% more in Kobe
Clothing: pay 30.2% less in Kobe

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

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Kobe vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 38.9% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Kobe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$7.59 ¥1,200	+69.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$4.87 ¥770	-6.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.17 ¥184	+94.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.60 ¥95	+62.5%
Average			+38.9%

Shanghai vs. Kobe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 92.3% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Kobe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$1.29 ¥204	-34.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$6.33 ¥1,000	-26.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$5.78 ¥913	-16.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.05 ¥325	+21.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$3.16 ¥499	+113.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$3.53 ¥558	+255.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$1.36 ¥215	+76.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$2.28 ¥360	+151.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$3.54 ¥559	+360.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$1.72 ¥272	+380.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$1.58 ¥249	+264.3%
Average			+92.3%

Shanghai vs. Kobe - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.0% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Kobe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$4.10 ¥648	-17.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$63.27 ¥9,997	+112.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$20,061.49 ¥3M	+3.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$28.47 ¥4,499	+402.3%
Average			+34.0%

Shanghai vs. Kobe - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.4% less for housing

	Shanghai	Kobe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$31.16 ¥4,923	+195.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$687.49 ¥109K	-33.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$463.95 ¥73,311	-21.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$111.27 ¥17,583	+152.6%
Average			-6.4%

Shanghai vs. Kobe - Cost of housing

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pay 77.5% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Kobe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$322.65 ¥50,984	-77.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$6,149.41 ¥972K	-77.8%
Average			-77.5%

Shanghai vs. Kobe - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Kobe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$2.06 ¥326	+72.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$2.34 ¥370	-30.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$3.48 ¥550	-6.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$46.39 ¥7,331	-29.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$11.39 ¥1,799	+27.3%
Average			+0.4%

Shanghai vs. Kobe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.2% less for clothing

	Shanghai	Kobe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$50.30 ¥7,948	-7.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$25.31 ¥3,999	-31.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$45.97 ¥7,264	-39.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$65.37 ¥10,330	-38.2%
Average			-30.2%

Shanghai vs. Kobe - 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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