Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beijing vs. South Bend Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 19.4% cheaper than South Bend.

Restaurants: pay 64.8% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 15.7% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 25.1% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 54.5% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 7.2% less in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.0% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 63.6% more in Beijing

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, groceries, and childcare are lower in Beijing.

Beijing vs. South Bend Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of South Bend, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 64.8% less for restaurants

	South Bend	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$15.00	$4.21 CN¥29.67	-72.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.50	$4.91 CN¥34.62	-34.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.88	$0.48 CN¥3.38	-74.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.41	$0.31 CN¥2.17	-78.3%
Average			-64.8%

South Bend vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.7% less for groceries

	South Bend	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$2.66	$1.71 CN¥12.04	-35.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.87	$7.47 CN¥52.69	+27.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.02	$6.64 CN¥46.85	+120.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.97	$1.78 CN¥12.53	-40.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.33	$1.53 CN¥10.80	-64.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.00	$0.98 CN¥6.93	-50.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60	$0.77 CN¥5.43	+29.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.10	$0.80 CN¥5.65	-27.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80	$0.60 CN¥4.25	-24.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95	$0.35 CN¥2.46	-63.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72	$0.41 CN¥2.91	-42.7%
Average			-15.7%

South Bend vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 25.1% less for transportation

	South Bend	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.16	$4.21 CN¥29.71	+33.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$35.00	$31.54 CN¥222.53	-9.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,000.00	$18,225.66 CN¥128,572.93	-46.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.70	$4.63 CN¥32.64	-77.6%
Average			-25.1%

South Bend vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 54.5% less for housing

	South Bend	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$60.00	$12.93 CN¥91.22	-78.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,625.00	$935.23 CN¥6,597.60	-42.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$825.00	$504.41 CN¥3,558.33	-38.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$93.79	$39.27 CN¥277.00	-58.1%
Average			-54.5%

South Bend vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 7.2% less for childcare

	South Bend	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$950.00	$710.76 CN¥5,014.09	-25.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$21,000.00	$23,242.73 CN¥163,965.81	+10.7%
Average			-7.2%

South Bend vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.0% less for entertainment and sports

	South Bend	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.00	$1.12 CN¥7.91	-81.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.88	$2.90 CN¥20.47	-40.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.42	$4.21 CN¥29.67	-34.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.47	$57.84 CN¥408.00	+36.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.00	$8.41 CN¥59.34	-39.9%
Average			-32.0%

South Bend vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 63.6% more for clothing

	South Bend	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.33	$62.30 CN¥439.49	+58.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.99	$36.37 CN¥256.59	+21.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$50.00	$81.74 CN¥576.64	+63.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00	$105.53 CN¥744.46	+111.1%
Average			+63.6%

South Bend vs. Beijing - 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: December 2025

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