Cost of living comparison

compared to

Seoul vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Seoul is 52.9% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Seoul
Groceries: pay 2.6 times more in Seoul
Transportation: pay 37.7% more in Seoul
Housing: pay 65.1% more in Seoul
Childcare: pay 49.0% less in Seoul
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.7% more in Seoul
Clothing: pay 1.4% more in Seoul

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

Seoul vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Seoul
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.07	$8.49 ₩12,805	+101.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.61 CN¥38.76	$6.30 ₩9,497	+12.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 CN¥3.63	$1.64 ₩2,471	+212.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 CN¥2.26	$0.78 ₩1,177	+139.0%
Average			+116.3%

Shanghai vs. Seoul - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.6 times more for groceries

	Shanghai	Seoul
Bread 1 loaf	$1.86 CN¥12.85	$3.24 ₩4,883	+74.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.08 CN¥55.84	$6.79 ₩10,244	-15.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.27 CN¥57.15	$7.85 ₩11,835	-5.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.74 CN¥12.06	$2.93 ₩4,421	+68.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.36 CN¥9.40	$4.67 ₩7,040	+243.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.00 CN¥6.93	$3.45 ₩5,196	+243.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 CN¥5.38	$1.52 ₩2,299	+95.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 CN¥5.80	$2.35 ₩3,546	+180.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 CN¥4.57	$2.77 ₩4,181	+319.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.39	$1.62 ₩2,442	+368.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 CN¥3.39	$1.30 ₩1,956	+164.7%
Average			+157.8%

Shanghai vs. Seoul - Cost of groceries

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pay 37.7% more for transportation

	Shanghai	Seoul
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.24 CN¥29.29	$4.43 ₩6,682	+4.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$35.05 CN¥242.26	$45.99 ₩69,359	+31.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,627.64 CN¥136K	$25,072.36 ₩38M	+27.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.61 CN¥38.76	$10.50 ₩15,835	+87.2%
Average			+37.7%

Shanghai vs. Seoul - Cost of transportation

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pay 65.1% more for housing

	Shanghai	Seoul
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.37 CN¥85.53	$20.56 ₩31,000	+66.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$926.30 CN¥6,402.48	$925.55 ₩1M	-0.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$551.44 CN¥3,811.49	$559.33 ₩844K	+1.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$40.55 CN¥280.25	$118.88 ₩179K	+193.2%
Average			+65.1%

Shanghai vs. Seoul - Cost of housing

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pay 49.0% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Seoul
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,229.70 CN¥8,499.51	$360.15 ₩543K	-70.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$29,777.93 CN¥206K	$21,667.04 ₩33M	-27.2%
Average			-49.0%

Shanghai vs. Seoul - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Seoul
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.40 CN¥9.69	$3.54 ₩5,335	+152.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.25 CN¥22.45	$3.70 ₩5,577	+13.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.80 CN¥19.38	$3.18 ₩4,802	+13.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.60 CN¥398.11	$56.34 ₩84,959	-2.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥58.14	$10.61 ₩16,006	+26.2%
Average			+40.7%

Shanghai vs. Seoul - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.4% more for clothing

	Shanghai	Seoul
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.70 CN¥322.82	$49.77 ₩75,049	+6.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.62 CN¥260.05	$39.49 ₩59,555	+5.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 CN¥499.94	$74.94 ₩113K	+3.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.50 CN¥756.88	$99.06 ₩149K	-9.5%
Average			+1.4%

Shanghai vs. Seoul - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2026

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