Cost of Living in Shanghai

This page summarises typical cost of living in Shanghai, China, expressed in CNY. A single person can expect to budget around 8,350 CNY per month before rent-driven variation, with an affordability score of 64/100 (higher means more affordable). On that scale Shanghai is moderate relative to other cities in the dataset. These are deterministic planning estimates derived from a country cost baseline adjusted for the city's affordability and size — they are not live market prices, not a ranking, and should be verified against current local sources before relocation or travel decisions.

Currency: CNY. Data year 2025; last updated 2026-05-16.

Shanghai has an affordability score of 64/100, which places it in the moderate range relative to other indexed cities. Because every city profile uses the same scale, this score is the most reliable cross-city comparison — local-currency totals above are not directly comparable between countries.

In Shanghai a single-person monthly budget is around 8,350 CNY and a one-bedroom rent around 4,440 CNY. Use the affordability score (64/100) to compare across countries, since amounts are shown in each city's local currency.

• Cost of living in Tokyo — affordability 68/100
• Cost of living in Hong Kong — affordability 50/100
• Cost of living in Singapore — affordability 60/100