Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Brazil

Porto Alegre vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Porto Alegre is 12.5% cheaper than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 73.4% more in Porto Alegre
Groceries: pay 3.4% less in Porto Alegre
Transportation: pay 30.4% more in Porto Alegre
Housing: pay 41.0% less in Porto Alegre
Childcare: pay 41.9% less in Porto Alegre
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.9% less in Porto Alegre
Clothing: pay 10.0% more in Porto Alegre

The cost of restaurants, transportation, and clothing in Porto Alegre are more expensive than in Shanghai. Expenses including childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, and groceries are lower in Porto Alegre.

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Porto Alegre vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Porto Alegre instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 73.4% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Porto Alegre
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$7.96 R$40.32	+78.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$6.97 R$35.28	+33.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.38 R$6.96	+129.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$1.08 R$5.44	+190.6%
Average			+73.4%

Shanghai vs. Porto Alegre - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.4% less for groceries

	Shanghai	Porto Alegre
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$1.69 R$8.53	-14.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$5.08 R$25.73	-40.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$3.83 R$19.40	-44.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.46 R$12.44	+44.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$2.18 R$11.03	+47.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.09 R$5.53	+9.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.66 R$3.36	-13.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.63 R$3.17	-30.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$0.74 R$3.73	-4.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.56 R$2.83	+56.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.50 R$2.53	+15.4%
Average			-3.4%

Shanghai vs. Porto Alegre - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.4% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Porto Alegre
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$4.94 R$25.01	-0.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$59.73 R$302.37	+100.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$23,669.59 R$120K	+22.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$7.90 R$40.01	+39.5%
Average			+30.4%

Shanghai vs. Porto Alegre - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.0% less for housing

	Shanghai	Porto Alegre
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$21.90 R$110.86	+107.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$481.30 R$2,436.56	-53.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$279.01 R$1,412.50	-52.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$58.38 R$295.53	+32.5%
Average			-41.0%

Shanghai vs. Porto Alegre - Cost of housing

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pay 41.9% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Porto Alegre
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$557.40 R$2,821.85	-60.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$23,711.01 R$120K	-14.4%
Average			-41.9%

Shanghai vs. Porto Alegre - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Porto Alegre
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$2.39 R$12.09	+100.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$2.55 R$12.90	-23.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$2.48 R$12.58	-33.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$29.37 R$148.70	-55.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$7.27 R$36.79	-18.8%
Average			-18.9%

Shanghai vs. Porto Alegre - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.0% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Porto Alegre
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$50.34 R$254.82	-7.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$58.19 R$294.60	+56.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$101.92 R$515.98	+35.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$79.07 R$400.27	-25.2%
Average			+10.0%

Shanghai vs. Porto Alegre - 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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