Lincoln vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Lincoln is 60.6% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants
pay 3.5 times more in Lincoln
Groceries
pay 97.4% more in Lincoln
Transportation
pay 29.6% more in Lincoln
Housing
pay 54.8% more in Lincoln
Childcare
pay 41.6% less in Lincoln
Entertainment and Sports
pay 76.3% more in Lincoln
Clothing
pay 2.2% more in Lincoln

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

Lincoln vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

pay 3.5 times more for restaurants

 
Shanghai
Lincoln
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.47
CN¥29.94
$20.00
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.22
CN¥34.93
$12.00
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.60
CN¥4.01
$2.32
 

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pay 97.4% more for groceries

 
Shanghai
Lincoln
Bread
1 loaf
$1.98
CN¥13.22
$3.12
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.60
CN¥57.52
$5.79
 
Milk (1 gallon) $6.88
CN¥46.02
$3.23
 

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pay 29.6% more for transportation

 
Shanghai
Lincoln
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.96
CN¥33.21
$3.81
 
Monthly public transit pass $29.83
CN¥199.59
$35.00
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $19,374.76
CN¥130K
$36,054.00
 

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pay 54.8% more for housing

 
Shanghai
Lincoln
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$10.55
CN¥70.59
$65.33
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,036.96
CN¥6,938.07
$1,071.67
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $588.71
CN¥3,938.93
$957.80
 

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pay 41.6% less for childcare

 
Shanghai
Lincoln
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,413.50
CN¥9,457.42
$825.00
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $27,686.22
CN¥185K
??

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pay 76.3% more for entertainment and sports

 
Shanghai
Lincoln
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.19
CN¥7.98
$5.00
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.35
CN¥22.41
$5.50
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$3.73
CN¥24.95
$9.80
 

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pay 2.2% more for clothing

 
Shanghai
Lincoln
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$54.37
CN¥363.79
$48.00
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$37.09
CN¥248.19
$35.00
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$75.49
CN¥505.08
$89.00
 

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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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