Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

New Zealand

Queenstown vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Queenstown is 71.7% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in Queenstown
Groceries: pay 76.8% more in Queenstown
Transportation: pay 87.9% more in Queenstown
Housing: pay 87.3% more in Queenstown
Childcare: pay 56.8% less in Queenstown
Entertainment and Sports: pay 69.2% more in Queenstown
Clothing: pay 19.4% more in Queenstown

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

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Queenstown vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Queenstown
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.95	$14.01 NZ$24.96	+213.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.94	$8.96 NZ$15.97	+71.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$2.07 NZ$3.69	+245.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.48	$2.04 NZ$3.64	+452.8%
Average			+171.2%

Shanghai vs. Queenstown - Cost of restaurants

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pay 76.8% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Queenstown
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$1.96 NZ$3.48	-1.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.54	$4.17 NZ$7.43	-51.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.03	$8.05 NZ$14.35	+17.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$5.77 NZ$10.29	+240.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$4.50 NZ$8.02	+204.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$1.34 NZ$2.38	+34.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$1.05 NZ$1.88	+36.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$1.70 NZ$3.03	+88.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$2.44 NZ$4.36	+217.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$1.56 NZ$2.79	+337.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.82 NZ$1.46	+88.9%
Average			+76.8%

Shanghai vs. Queenstown - Cost of groceries

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pay 87.9% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Queenstown
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.22	$6.42 NZ$11.45	+29.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.65	$120.44 NZ$214.64	+303.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$25,209.21 NZ$44,924.20	+30.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.93	$17.47 NZ$31.13	+208.2%
Average			+87.9%

Shanghai vs. Queenstown - Cost of transportation

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pay 87.3% more for housing

	Shanghai	Queenstown
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.61	$51.87 NZ$92.44	+391.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,940.04	$1,488.74 NZ$2,653.02	+43.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,940.05	$1,267.18 NZ$2,258.19	+115.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.86	$84.02 NZ$149.73	+90.7%
Average			+87.3%

Shanghai vs. Queenstown - Cost of housing

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pay 56.8% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Queenstown
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,460.10	$964.30 NZ$1,718.43	-31.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$7,562.76 NZ$13,477.26	-72.7%
Average			-56.8%

Shanghai vs. Queenstown - Cost of childcare

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pay 69.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Queenstown
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.99	$6.72 NZ$11.98	+463.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.42	$3.22 NZ$5.74	-3.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.96	$26.89 NZ$47.92	+621.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.64	$55.32 NZ$98.58	-15.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.89	$10.22 NZ$18.22	+14.2%
Average			+69.2%

Shanghai vs. Queenstown - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.4% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Queenstown
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.89	$58.26 NZ$103.82	+7.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.26	$45.94 NZ$81.86	+23.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.23	$91.03 NZ$162.23	+20.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.45	$134.45 NZ$239.60	+27.2%
Average			+19.4%

Shanghai vs. Queenstown - 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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