Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Russia

Saint Petersburg vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Saint Petersburg is 1.1% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 91.4% more in Saint Petersburg
Groceries: pay 11.4% less in Saint Petersburg
Transportation: pay 22.3% more in Saint Petersburg
Housing: pay 12.2% less in Saint Petersburg
Childcare: pay 50.8% less in Saint Petersburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.1% less in Saint Petersburg
Clothing: pay 47.6% more in Saint Petersburg

The cost of restaurants, clothing, and transportation in Saint Petersburg are more expensive than in Shanghai. Expenses including childcare, housing, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Saint Petersburg. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Saint Petersburg.

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Saint Petersburg vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint Petersburg instead of Shanghai, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 91.4% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Saint Petersburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$11.46 RUB947.27	+156.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$6.43 RUB531.63	+23.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.01	$1.49 RUB123.24	+148.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.69 RUB56.64	+85.3%
Average			+91.4%

Shanghai vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.4% less for groceries

	Shanghai	Saint Petersburg
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.22	$0.93 RUB76.85	-52.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.52	$6.02 RUB497.41	-30.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥46.02	$4.17 RUB344.70	-39.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.36	$1.64 RUB135.56	-3.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.89	$2.85 RUB235.33	+92.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.65	$0.77 RUB63.36	-22.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.16	$0.73 RUB60.03	-5.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.05	$0.75 RUB62.16	-16.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.15	$1.38 RUB114.37	+79.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.40	$0.36 RUB29.64	+0.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.90	$0.28 RUB23.17	-35.3%
Average			-11.4%

Shanghai vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.3% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Saint Petersburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.21	$3.25 RUB268.89	-34.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.59	$52.51 RUB4,339.09	+76.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$35,093.40 RUB3M	+81.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.92	$7.60 RUB628.29	+34.2%
Average			+22.3%

Shanghai vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 12.2% less for housing

	Shanghai	Saint Petersburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.59	$8.55 RUB706.83	-18.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	$730.46 RUB60,359.10	-29.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	$437.21 RUB36,126.86	-25.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.77	$112.08 RUB9,261.39	+154.4%
Average			-12.2%

Shanghai vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of housing

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pay 50.8% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Saint Petersburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	$549.43 RUB45,400.15	-61.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$17,234.08 RUB1M	-37.8%
Average			-50.8%

Shanghai vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Saint Petersburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.98	$2.63 RUB217.49	+120.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.41	$3.03 RUB250.18	-9.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$2.92 RUB241.65	-21.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥439.52	$39.61 RUB3,273.15	-39.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.88	$7.02 RUB579.96	-21.6%
Average			-7.1%

Shanghai vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 47.6% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Saint Petersburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥363.79	$92.36 RUB7,631.78	+69.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥248.19	$50.79 RUB4,197.10	+36.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥505.08	$134.52 RUB11,115.96	+78.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥707.25	$121.11 RUB10,007.20	+14.6%
Average			+47.6%

Shanghai vs. Saint Petersburg - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Shanghai is about 4.4 times bigger than Saint Petersburg.

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