Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

Spain

San Sebastian vs. Shenzhen Cost of Living Summary

San Sebastian is 65.9% more expensive than Shenzhen.

Restaurants: pay 3.5 times more in San Sebastian
Groceries: pay 41.7% more in San Sebastian
Transportation: pay 64.7% more in San Sebastian
Housing: pay 98.3% more in San Sebastian
Childcare: pay 30.3% less in San Sebastian
Entertainment and Sports: pay 9.8% more in San Sebastian
Clothing: pay 12.8% more in San Sebastian

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

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San Sebastian vs. Shenzhen Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Sebastian instead of Shenzhen, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.5 times more for restaurants

	Shenzhen	San Sebastian
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.73 CN¥24.95	$16.80 €14.95	+350.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.93	$10.64 €9.47	+103.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 CN¥3.72	$2.80 €2.49	+403.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 CN¥2.27	$1.60 €1.42	+371.1%
Average			+246.6%

Shenzhen vs. San Sebastian - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.7% more for groceries

	Shenzhen	San Sebastian
Bread 1 loaf	$1.60 CN¥10.72	$1.03 €0.92	-35.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.53 CN¥70.43	$11.34 €10.09	+7.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 CN¥39.92	$4.42 €3.93	-25.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.72 CN¥11.52	$3.64 €3.24	+111.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.22	$3.68 €3.28	+141.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 CN¥6.90	$1.16 €1.04	+12.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 CN¥4.82	$1.07 €0.95	+48.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 CN¥5.79	$1.49 €1.32	+71.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.66 CN¥4.39	$1.30 €1.16	+98.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 CN¥3.21	$0.95 €0.84	+97.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 CN¥3.85	$0.90 €0.81	+57.5%
Average			+41.7%

Shenzhen vs. San Sebastian - Cost of groceries

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pay 64.7% more for transportation

	Shenzhen	San Sebastian
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.01 CN¥33.51	$6.62 €5.89	+32.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.37 CN¥149.69	$33.59 €29.90	+50.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$36,315.82 €32,322.39	+87.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.65 CN¥31.14	$14.15 €12.60	+204.1%
Average			+64.7%

Shenzhen vs. San Sebastian - Cost of transportation

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pay 98.3% more for housing

	Shenzhen	San Sebastian
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.39 CN¥109.66	$35.27 €31.39	+115.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$759.98 CN¥5,084.90	$1,404.47 €1,250.03	+84.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$476.09 CN¥3,185.43	$973.61 €866.55	+104.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$48.84 CN¥326.76	$104.82 €93.29	+114.6%
Average			+98.3%

Shenzhen vs. San Sebastian - Cost of housing

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pay 30.3% less for childcare

	Shenzhen	San Sebastian
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$528.93 CN¥3,539.00	$447.89 €398.64	-15.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,029.94 CN¥161K	$13,784.69 €12,268.87	-42.6%
Average			-30.3%

Shenzhen vs. San Sebastian - Cost of childcare

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pay 9.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Shenzhen	San Sebastian
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.49 CN¥9.98	$3.36 €2.99	+125.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.31 CN¥22.16	$2.05 €1.83	-38.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.47 CN¥29.94	$6.16 €5.48	+37.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.66 CN¥332.26	$42.83 €38.12	-13.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.45 CN¥49.85	$8.45 €7.52	+13.5%
Average			+9.8%

Shenzhen vs. San Sebastian - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.8% more for clothing

	Shenzhen	San Sebastian
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$54.66 CN¥365.75	$72.78 €64.78	+33.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.75 CN¥265.95	$32.19 €28.65	-19.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.46 CN¥484.85	$74.46 €66.27	+2.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.98 CN¥615.39	$134.37 €119.59	+46.1%
Average			+12.8%

Shenzhen vs. San Sebastian - 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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