Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

United States

Mount Pleasant vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Mount Pleasant is 41.5% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 3.4 times more in Mount Pleasant
Groceries: pay 48.3% more in Mount Pleasant
Transportation: pay 24.4% more in Mount Pleasant
Housing: pay 30.5% more in Mount Pleasant
Childcare: pay 5.9% more in Mount Pleasant
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.7% more in Mount Pleasant
Clothing: pay 14.8% more in Mount Pleasant

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

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Mount Pleasant vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mount Pleasant instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.4 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Mount Pleasant
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.87	$18.00	+302.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.85	$13.00	+149.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$1.64	+173.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$1.98	+434.7%
Average			+236.7%

Shanghai vs. Mount Pleasant - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.3% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Mount Pleasant
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.19	$3.08	+55.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.39	$5.05	-41.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.91	$2.69	-60.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$1.79	+5.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.87	$5.14	+248.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$1.56	+57.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$0.71	-7.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$1.25	+38.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$2.17	+181.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$1.15	+219.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$1.39	+221.9%
Average			+48.3%

Shanghai vs. Mount Pleasant - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.4% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Mount Pleasant
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$3.88	-21.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.12	$40.00	+34.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$30,000.00	+54.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$15.40	+171.7%
Average			+24.4%

Shanghai vs. Mount Pleasant - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.5% more for housing

	Shanghai	Mount Pleasant
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.42	$68.92	+553.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,921.79	$799.67	-22.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.69	$716.33	+21.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.08	$164.69	+273.8%
Average			+30.5%

Shanghai vs. Mount Pleasant - Cost of housing

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pay 5.9% more for childcare

	Shanghai	Mount Pleasant
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,435.22	$1,368.37	-3.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$32,070.71	+15.8%
Average			+5.9%

Shanghai vs. Mount Pleasant - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Mount Pleasant
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$4.00	+235.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$4.00	+19.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$10.40	+178.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.48	$20.00	-69.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.74	$10.00	+11.7%
Average			+11.7%

Shanghai vs. Mount Pleasant - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 14.8% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Mount Pleasant
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.93	$59.09	+8.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.61	$41.44	+11.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.90	$96.30	+27.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.59	$118.63	+12.2%
Average			+14.8%

Shanghai vs. Mount Pleasant - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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