Cost of living comparison

compared to

Birmingham vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Birmingham is 2.3 times more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 3.9 times more in Birmingham
Groceries: pay 42.3% more in Birmingham
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Birmingham
Housing: pay 3.0 times more in Birmingham
Childcare: pay 42.5% more in Birmingham
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0 times more in Birmingham
Clothing: pay 15.1% more in Birmingham

The cost of restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, transportation, childcare, and groceries in Birmingham are more expensive than in Beijing. Notably, restaurants, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Birmingham.

Birmingham vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.9 times more for restaurants

	Beijing	Birmingham
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.17 CN¥30.56	$19.37 £15.59	+364.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.57 CN¥40.75	$9.04 £7.28	+62.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 CN¥3.63	$2.11 £1.70	+324.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.26	$1.57 £1.26	+407.6%
Average			+289.7%

Beijing vs. Birmingham - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.3% more for groceries

	Beijing	Birmingham
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 CN¥10.50	$1.60 £1.29	+11.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.31 CN¥53.49	$4.91 £3.95	-32.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.17 CN¥52.49	$6.22 £5.00	-13.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.74 CN¥12.72	$3.47 £2.79	+99.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥11.21	$3.37 £2.72	+120.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.92 CN¥6.72	$1.13 £0.91	+23.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 CN¥5.21	$0.84 £0.67	+17.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 CN¥6.49	$0.87 £0.70	-1.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 CN¥4.27	$1.20 £0.96	+105.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.37 CN¥2.70	$0.77 £0.62	+109.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.47 CN¥3.45	$0.59 £0.48	+25.9%
Average			+42.3%

Beijing vs. Birmingham - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Beijing	Birmingham
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.36 CN¥31.92	$7.07 £5.69	+62.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.40 CN¥244.47	$77.49 £62.38	+132.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,872.18 CN¥152,796.87	$36,531.14 £29,406.07	+75.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.59 CN¥33.62	$18.03 £14.51	+292.6%
Average			+140.5%

Beijing vs. Birmingham - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.0 times more for housing

	Beijing	Birmingham
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.28 CN¥97.24	$37.78 £30.41	+184.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$929.88 CN¥6,807.27	$1,287.50 £1,036.39	+38.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$492.44 CN¥3,604.97	$1,020.31 £821.31	+107.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$42.04 CN¥307.76	$247.07 £198.88	+487.7%
Average			+204.4%

Beijing vs. Birmingham - Cost of housing

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pay 42.5% more for childcare

	Beijing	Birmingham
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$763.49 CN¥5,589.24	$1,536.82 £1,237.08	+101.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$22,913.01 CN¥167,737.01	$19,157.81 £15,421.25	-16.4%
Average			+42.5%

Beijing vs. Birmingham - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Birmingham
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.11 CN¥8.15	$6.46 £5.20	+480.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60 CN¥26.38	$4.36 £3.51	+21.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.48 CN¥25.47	$18.73 £15.07	+438.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.46 CN¥479.18	$35.41 £28.50	-45.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.35 CN¥61.12	$15.50 £12.48	+85.6%
Average			+195.8%

Beijing vs. Birmingham - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.1% more for clothing

	Beijing	Birmingham
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.65 CN¥458.67	$84.31 £67.86	+34.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.69 CN¥253.93	$36.16 £29.11	+4.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.45 CN¥610.93	$100.56 £80.94	+20.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.64 CN¥787.96	$108.86 £87.63	+1.1%
Average			+15.1%

Beijing vs. Birmingham - 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: January 2025

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