Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Mexico

Zacatecas vs. Shanghai Cost of Living Summary

Zacatecas is 37.9% cheaper than Shanghai.

Restaurants: pay 54.4% more in Zacatecas
Groceries: pay 11.3% more in Zacatecas
Transportation: pay 0.1% less in Zacatecas
Housing: pay 68.7% less in Zacatecas
Childcare: pay 85.2% less in Zacatecas
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.5% less in Zacatecas
Clothing: pay 16.8% less in Zacatecas

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

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Zacatecas vs. Shanghai Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 54.4% more for restaurants

	Shanghai	Zacatecas
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.47 CN¥29.86	$6.40 MX$119.43	+43.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.84	$7.51 MX$140.21	+43.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 CN¥4.00	$1.26 MX$23.54	+110.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.37 CN¥2.47	$0.76 MX$14.19	+105.5%
Average			+54.4%

Shanghai vs. Zacatecas - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.3% more for groceries

	Shanghai	Zacatecas
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 CN¥13.18	$2.20 MX$41.02	+11.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.60 CN¥57.38	$3.76 MX$70.10	-56.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.88 CN¥45.90	$5.41 MX$100.91	-21.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.70 CN¥11.33	$2.27 MX$42.30	+33.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.48 CN¥9.86	$2.75 MX$51.35	+86.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 CN¥6.63	$0.82 MX$15.31	-17.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.14	$0.75 MX$13.92	-3.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 CN¥6.03	$0.92 MX$17.19	+1.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.13	$0.67 MX$12.48	-13.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 CN¥2.39	$0.91 MX$16.96	+153.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 CN¥2.89	$0.83 MX$15.40	+90.5%
Average			+11.3%

Shanghai vs. Zacatecas - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.1% less for transportation

	Shanghai	Zacatecas
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.96 CN¥33.13	$5.64 MX$105.34	+13.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.83 CN¥199.09	$16.69 MX$311.57	-44.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥129K	$21,528.95 MX$402K	+11.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.67 CN¥37.83	$11.13 MX$207.71	+96.3%
Average			-0.1%

Shanghai vs. Zacatecas - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.7% less for housing

	Shanghai	Zacatecas
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.55 CN¥70.41	$25.96 MX$484.66	+146.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,036.96 CN¥6,920.65	$250.34 MX$4,673.50	-75.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$588.71 CN¥3,929.04	$166.90 MX$3,115.67	-71.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$44.06 CN¥294.03	$18.08 MX$337.53	-59.0%
Average			-68.7%

Shanghai vs. Zacatecas - Cost of housing

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pay 85.2% less for childcare

	Shanghai	Zacatecas
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,413.50 CN¥9,433.67	$258.29 MX$4,821.87	-81.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	$3,337.91 MX$62,313.39	-87.9%
Average			-85.2%

Shanghai vs. Zacatecas - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Shanghai	Zacatecas
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.96	$1.95 MX$36.35	+63.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.35 CN¥22.36	$3.06 MX$57.12	-8.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.73 CN¥24.89	$4.45 MX$83.08	+19.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.69 CN¥438.41	$25.03 MX$467.35	-61.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.95 CN¥59.73	$4.39 MX$82.05	-50.9%
Average			-27.5%

Shanghai vs. Zacatecas - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.8% less for clothing

	Shanghai	Zacatecas
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.37 CN¥362.87	$46.36 MX$865.46	-14.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.09 CN¥247.57	$40.78 MX$761.23	+9.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$75.49 CN¥503.82	$91.79 MX$1,713.62	+21.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.70 CN¥705.47	$44.51 MX$830.85	-57.9%
Average			-16.8%

Shanghai vs. Zacatecas - 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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