Cost of living comparison

Cambridge, United Kingdom

compared to

Beijing, China

Beijing vs. Cambridge Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 43.7% cheaper than Cambridge.

Restaurants: pay 73.3% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 37.9% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 55.4% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 64.8% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 10.2% less in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.8% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 21.3% less in Beijing

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

Beijing vs. Cambridge Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 73.3% less for restaurants

	Cambridge	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.37 £14.28	$4.17 CN¥29.98	-78.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.33 £7.62	$5.57 CN¥39.97	-46.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.91 £2.14	$0.50 CN¥3.56	-83.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.15 £1.58	$0.31 CN¥2.22	-85.6%
Average			-73.3%

Cambridge vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 37.9% less for groceries

	Cambridge	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$2.13 £1.57	$1.43 CN¥10.30	-32.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.09 £4.49	$7.31 CN¥52.48	+19.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.33 £5.40	$7.17 CN¥51.49	-2.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.53 £3.34	$1.74 CN¥12.48	-61.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.78 £3.53	$1.53 CN¥10.99	-68.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.43 £1.05	$0.92 CN¥6.59	-35.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.90 £0.67	$0.71 CN¥5.11	-21.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 £1.15	$0.89 CN¥6.37	-43.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.61 £1.19	$0.58 CN¥4.18	-63.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 £0.71	$0.37 CN¥2.65	-61.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.89 £0.66	$0.47 CN¥3.38	-47.0%
Average			-37.9%

Cambridge vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.4% less for transportation

	Cambridge	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.21 £5.31	$4.36 CN¥31.31	-39.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$76.20 £56.17	$33.40 CN¥239.83	-56.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,531.14 £26,930.43	$20,872.18 CN¥149,895.64	-42.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$27.12 £19.99	$4.59 CN¥32.98	-83.1%
Average			-55.4%

Cambridge vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.8% less for housing

	Cambridge	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.51 £26.91	$13.28 CN¥95.40	-63.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,765.10 £1,301.22	$929.88 CN¥6,678.01	-47.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,425.36 £1,050.76	$492.44 CN¥3,536.52	-65.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$247.58 £182.52	$42.04 CN¥301.92	-83.0%
Average			-64.8%

Cambridge vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 10.2% less for childcare

	Cambridge	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,131.68 £1,571.46	$763.49 CN¥5,483.11	-64.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,928.96 £11,742.69	$22,913.01 CN¥164,552.10	+43.8%
Average			-10.2%

Cambridge vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Cambridge	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.10 £5.24	$1.11 CN¥7.99	-84.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.70 £3.46	$3.60 CN¥25.87	-23.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$18.08 £13.33	$3.48 CN¥24.98	-80.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$54.29 £40.02	$65.46 CN¥470.08	+20.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.50 £11.43	$8.35 CN¥59.96	-46.1%
Average			-42.8%

Cambridge vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.3% less for clothing

	Cambridge	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$101.17 £74.58	$62.65 CN¥449.96	-38.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.82 £36.72	$34.69 CN¥249.11	-30.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.33 £67.33	$83.45 CN¥599.33	-8.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$117.05 £86.28	$107.64 CN¥773.00	-8.0%
Average			-21.3%

Cambridge 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: June 2025

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