Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Mexico

Puerto Vallarta vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Puerto Vallarta is 28.1% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.8 times more in Puerto Vallarta
Groceries: pay 48.2% more in Puerto Vallarta
Transportation: pay 18.8% more in Puerto Vallarta
Housing: pay 33.7% more in Puerto Vallarta
Childcare: pay 76.8% less in Puerto Vallarta
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.2% more in Puerto Vallarta
Clothing: pay 5.5% more in Puerto Vallarta

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

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Puerto Vallarta vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Puerto Vallarta instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.8 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Puerto Vallarta
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$13.91 MX$257.20	+210.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$11.13 MX$205.76	+113.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.94 MX$35.86	+223.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$1.42 MX$26.22	+283.4%
Average			+179.3%

Shanghai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of restaurants

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pay 48.2% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Puerto Vallarta
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$3.55 MX$65.67	+79.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$5.06 MX$93.52	-41.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$7.13 MX$131.83	+3.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$2.26 MX$41.74	+33.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$5.08 MX$93.87	+243.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.32 MX$24.34	+32.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.71 MX$13.21	-7.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.90 MX$16.70	-0.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$0.96 MX$17.69	+24.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$1.08 MX$19.94	+201.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$1.43 MX$26.48	+230.5%
Average			+48.2%

Shanghai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.8% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Puerto Vallarta
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$5.81 MX$107.37	+17.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$21.81 MX$403.29	-26.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$21,528.95 MX$398K	+11.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$29.21 MX$540.12	+415.3%
Average			+18.8%

Shanghai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of transportation

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pay 33.7% more for housing

	Shanghai	Puerto Vallarta
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$32.68 MX$604.29	+209.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$1,324.04 MX$24,485.27	+27.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$706.52 MX$13,065.67	+20.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$67.00 MX$1,239.09	+52.1%
Average			+33.7%

Shanghai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of housing

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pay 76.8% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Puerto Vallarta
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$333.79 MX$6,172.76	-76.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$6,316.08 MX$117K	-77.2%
Average			-76.8%

Shanghai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Puerto Vallarta
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$3.06 MX$56.58	+156.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$4.17 MX$77.16	+24.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$4.42 MX$81.79	+18.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$37.09 MX$685.86	-43.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$8.62 MX$159.46	-3.6%
Average			+10.2%

Shanghai vs. Puerto Vallarta - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.5% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Puerto Vallarta
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$55.63 MX$1,028.79	+2.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$35.23 MX$651.57	-5.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$104.31 MX$1,928.99	+38.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$97.36 MX$1,800.39	-7.9%
Average			+5.5%

Shanghai vs. Puerto Vallarta - 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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