Cost of living comparison

compared to

Beijing vs. York Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 39.3% cheaper than York.

Restaurants: pay 73.5% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 56.0% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 29.2% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 55.9% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 35.4% less in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.1% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 6.2% more in Beijing

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

Beijing vs. York Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of York, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 73.5% less for restaurants

	York	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.00	$4.21 CN¥29.74	-79.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.50	$4.91 CN¥34.69	-53.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42	$0.48 CN¥3.39	-80.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.67	$0.31 CN¥2.17	-81.6%
Average			-73.5%

York vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.0% less for groceries

	York	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$3.56	$1.71 CN¥12.07	-52.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.55	$7.47 CN¥52.80	-21.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.38	$6.64 CN¥46.96	+51.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.45	$1.78 CN¥12.56	-72.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.17	$1.53 CN¥10.83	-83.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.45	$0.98 CN¥6.95	-71.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.32	$0.77 CN¥5.44	-41.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.67	$0.80 CN¥5.66	-78.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$5.00	$0.60 CN¥4.26	-88.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.17	$0.35 CN¥2.46	-83.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.67	$0.41 CN¥2.92	-75.2%
Average			-56.0%

York vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 29.2% less for transportation

	York	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.09	$4.21 CN¥29.77	+36.2%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$31.54 CN¥223.02
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,231.99	$18,225.66 CN¥128,857.25	-46.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.16	$4.63 CN¥32.71	-77.0%
Average			-29.2%

York vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 55.9% less for housing

	York	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$60.00	$12.93 CN¥91.43	-78.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,156.00	$935.23 CN¥6,612.19	-19.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,000.00	$504.41 CN¥3,566.20	-49.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$166.32	$39.27 CN¥277.61	-76.4%
Average			-55.9%

York vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 35.4% less for childcare

	York	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,100.00	$710.76 CN¥5,025.17	-35.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$23,242.73 CN¥164,328.40
Average			-35.4%

York vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.1% less for entertainment and sports

	York	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.00	$1.12 CN¥7.93	-77.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.29	$2.90 CN¥20.52	-45.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00	$4.21 CN¥29.74	-47.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$38.49	$57.84 CN¥408.91	+50.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.00	$8.41 CN¥59.47	-35.3%
Average			-31.1%

York vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.2% more for clothing

	York	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.50	$62.30 CN¥440.46	+31.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.33	$36.37 CN¥257.16	-24.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.50	$81.74 CN¥577.91	+12.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$100.00	$105.53 CN¥746.11	+5.5%
Average			+6.2%

York 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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