Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Japan

Tokyo vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Tokyo is 65.8% more expensive than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 89.8% more in Tokyo
Groceries: pay 2.2 times more in Tokyo
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Tokyo
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Tokyo
Childcare: pay 53.5% less in Tokyo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.8% more in Tokyo
Clothing: pay 0.4% less in Tokyo

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

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Tokyo vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 89.8% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Tokyo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥28.53	$8.02 ¥1,294	+90.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.61 CN¥38.05	$5.01 ¥809	-10.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 CN¥3.56	$1.16 ¥187	+121.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.33 CN¥2.22	$0.84 ¥136	+157.8%
Average			+89.8%

Shanghai vs. Tokyo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2 times more for groceries

	Shanghai	Tokyo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.86 CN¥12.61	$1.55 ¥251	-16.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.08 CN¥54.81	$7.21 ¥1,163	-10.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.27 CN¥56.09	$5.71 ¥922	-30.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.74 CN¥11.84	$2.33 ¥376	+33.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.36 CN¥9.23	$3.52 ¥568	+158.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.00 CN¥6.81	$2.38 ¥384	+137.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 CN¥5.28	$1.18 ¥190	+51.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 CN¥5.69	$2.48 ¥400	+195.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 CN¥4.48	$2.64 ¥426	+299.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.34	$1.43 ¥230	+313.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 CN¥3.32	$1.48 ¥239	+202.4%
Average			+121.2%

Shanghai vs. Tokyo - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Shanghai	Tokyo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.24 CN¥28.75	$4.50 ¥726	+6.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$35.05 CN¥237.79	$73.51 ¥11,861	+109.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,627.64 CN¥133K	$22,332.63 ¥4M	+13.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.61 CN¥38.05	$30.07 ¥4,852	+436.2%
Average			+141.5%

Shanghai vs. Tokyo - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Shanghai	Tokyo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.37 CN¥83.95	$33.44 ¥5,397	+170.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$926.30 CN¥6,284.33	$1,071.65 ¥173K	+15.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$551.44 CN¥3,741.16	$642.24 ¥104K	+16.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$40.55 CN¥275.08	$122.16 ¥19,713	+201.3%
Average			+101.0%

Shanghai vs. Tokyo - Cost of housing

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pay 53.5% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Tokyo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,229.70 CN¥8,342.66	$519.69 ¥83,859	-57.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$29,777.93 CN¥202K	$15,131.74 ¥2M	-49.2%
Average			-53.5%

Shanghai vs. Tokyo - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Tokyo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.40 CN¥9.51	$4.01 ¥647	+186.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.25 CN¥22.04	$3.43 ¥554	+5.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.80 CN¥19.02	$4.01 ¥647	+43.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.60 CN¥390.76	$68.19 ¥11,003	+18.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥57.07	$12.70 ¥2,049	+50.9%
Average			+60.8%

Shanghai vs. Tokyo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.4% less for clothing

	Shanghai	Tokyo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.70 CN¥316.86	$56.84 ¥9,172	+21.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.62 CN¥255.25	$40.48 ¥6,533	+7.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 CN¥490.71	$62.67 ¥10,113	-13.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.50 CN¥742.91	$90.37 ¥14,583	-17.5%
Average			-0.4%

Shanghai vs. Tokyo - 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: July 2026

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