Shanghai

Quality of life in Shanghai

Shanghai, China, is among the leading cities with a higher number of accelerators or available funding. According to our city rankings, this is a good place to live with high ratings in cost of living, travel connectivity and safety.

Shanghai is one of the top ten city matches for 4.3% of Teleport users.

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Life quality score

City ranking

Housing

6
182/265
Details
Large apartment$1800.00
Medium apartment$1300.00
Rent index [score]0.56
Small apartment$800.00

Cost of Living

7
78/248
Details
5km taxi ride$4.10
A Cappuccino$5.00
A beer$0.84
A kilogram of Apples$2.20
Bread$1.30
Inflation [score]0.72
Lunch$6.20
Monthly fitness club membership$59.00
Monthly public transport$31.00
Movie ticket$10.00
Price of a meal at a restaurant$39.74

Startups

6
70/264
Details
Average monthly increase in number of startups6
Average monthly increase in number of startups [score]0.44
Coworking spaces [score]0.45
Coworking spaces on WorkFrom.co8
Meetups [score]0.54
Meetups groups162
Meetups members46968
Number of investors209
Number of startup events in the last 12 months142
Number of upcoming meetup events12
Startup climate scene [score]0.68
Startup events32
Startup events [score]0.50
Startups [score]0.70
Total number of startups352

Venture Capital

9
8/192
Details
Funding accelerator namesChinaccelerator
Number of funding accelerators1
Venture capital [score]0.93

Travel Connectivity

7
20/266
Details
Airport hub180
Airport hub [score]0.77
Intercity train connectivity [score]0.60

Commute

5
131/255
Details
Human city pagehttp://cities.human.co/details/China/Shanghai
Traffic handling [score]0.47

Business Freedom

4
242/264
Details
Business freedom54.20
Business freedom [score]0.24
Freedom from corruption36.00
Freedom from corruption [score]0.25
Lack of labor restrictions62.00
Lack of labor restrictions [score]0.48
Time to open a business28.00
Time to open a business [score]0.68

Safety

7
132/266
Details
Crime rate [score]0.47
Gun-related deaths per 100,000 residents per year0
Guns per 100 residents5
Lack of gun related deaths [score]1.00
Lack of guns [score]0.98
Lack of guns and gun-related deaths [score]0.99

Healthcare

5
214/265
Details
Healthcare expenditure [score]0.35
Healthcare quality [score]0.63
Life expectancy (years)76.07
Life expectancy [score]0.56

Education

6
39/240
Details
Best university in rankingFudan University
Best university ranking155
Country mean scores in PISA math test590.90
Country mean scores in PISA reading test569.59
Country mean scores in PISA science test580.12
PISA math ranking (high school)5
PISA ranking8
PISA ranking (high school) [score]0.90
PISA reading (high school)19
PISA science (high school)9
Percent of happy students0.84
Percent of low performers in PISA math test0.04
Percent of low performers in PISA reading test0.03
Percent of low performers in PISA science test0.03
Percent of top performers in PISA math test0.55
Percent of top performers in PISA reading test0.25
Percent of top performers in PISA science test0.27
University quality [score]0.24

Environmental Quality

3
240/266
Details
Air quality [score]0.18
Cleanliness [score]0.48
Drinking water quality [score]0.11
Urban greenery [score]0.37

Economy

6
84/263
Details
Currency exchange rate per US dollar for urban area6.70
Currency for urban areaCNY
GDP growth rate0.07
GDP growth rate [score]1.00
GDP per capita$12879.85
GDP per capita [score]0.22

Taxation

1
264/266
Details
Effective company profit tax rate on payouts as dividends [score]0.11
Income tax level [score]0.19
Profit tax (% of profit)0.68
Time overhead to file company taxes263
VAT (Sales Tax)0.17

Internet Access

3
236/266
Details
Download speed (Mbps)12.12
Internet access (download) [score]0.23
Internet access (upload) [score]0.30
Upload speed (Mbps)6.42

Leisure & Culture

7
91/264
Details
Art galleries104
Art galleries [score]0.72
Cinemas247
Cinemas [score]0.47
Comedy clubs42
Comedy clubs [score]0.67
Concert venues106
Concerts [score]0.54
Historical sites165
Historical sites [score]0.74
Museums180
Museums [score]0.60
Performing art venues69
Performing arts [score]0.56
Sport venues92
Sports [score]0.55
Zoos32
Zoos [score]0.73

Tolerance

3
261/266
Details
Homosexuality acceptance (percent of the surveyed population in favor)0.21
LGBT Equality Index32.33
LGBT Equality Index [score]0.30
LGBT adoption rights✖ Illegal
LGBT age of consent✔ Equal
LGBT blood donation regulations✖ Banned (indefinite deferral)
LGBT conversion therapy regulations✔ Banned
LGBT discrimination legality✖ No protections
LGBT employment discrimination legality✖ No protections
LGBT gender changing rights✔ Legal, but requires surgery
LGBT homosexuality rights✔ Legal
LGBT housing discrimination legality✖ No protections
LGBT marriage rights✖ Not legal
Tolerance towards minorities [score]0.24

Outdoors

6
50/266
Details
Elevation (hills or mountains) [score]0.27
Median peak in meters705.85
Seaside access1.00
Urban area elevation (meters)10.00
Water access [score]0.87
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Cost of living

Costs of living in Shanghai are in the 78th place of all 248 Teleport cities. Sign up for free to get access to our cost of living index and use our international  cost of living calculator to do cost comparison by city.

Housing costs (USD)

$1,200$2,500
$1800
Median rent for
apartments in city center

Daily living costs (USD)

Monthly fitness club membership$59
Movie ticket$10
Broadband internet connection$18
Monthly public transport$31
Lunch$6
-46%
compared to
San Francisco
See more prices and detailed cost of living data in Shanghai

Job salary calculator

Software Engineer salaries in Shanghai are below average. For this job type, Shanghai ranks 173rd for salaries among 265 cities. Get access to our salary comparison calculator by signing up. Compare salaries city by city with our free salary wizard and convert your own salary to a local salary in Shanghai.

Estimated annual salary (in USD)

$32,271
Median salary
See more details and salary rankings for all job types in Shanghai

Locals review Shanghai

Do locals recommend living in Shanghai?

What could Shanghai do better?#improveShanghai

How could Shanghai improve to make it a more liveable city? We will make sure that the local government will know about the suggestions that reach enough votes*.
*Suggestions will be delivered to: Mayor of Shanghai - Yang Xiong
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something that can be improved about your city.

What makes Shanghai a special place?#praiseShanghai

Is Shanghai a great place to live? What makes it special for you? What makes it liveable? What should others know about? Why should they move here? Why do you love it?
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something nice about your city.

Taxation

Personal taxation

Effective income tax rate

21%
For annual salary of $40000
24%
For annual salary of $80000

Value added tax (VAT)

17%
Standard tax rate. Different rates might apply for certain product categories.

Compared to other cities

253/266

Corporate taxation

Compared to other cities

253/263
See more details on taxation in Shanghai
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Safety

Gun crimes & Ownership

4.90
Guns per 100 people
0.06
Gun deaths per 100k people / year
HIGH GUN CRIMELOW GUN CRIMEFEW GUNSMANY GUNS
North America
Europe
Asia
South America
Africa
Oceania

Overall crime rate city ranking

The overall crime rate puts Shanghai in position 189 of 266 Teleport Cities in a ranking for the safest cities.

WORSTBEST
See more details on gun crime and safety in Shanghai

Visa

For visits up to 90 days

Required with citizenship of
Get more information about visas in Shanghai here
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People in Shanghai

Population of Shanghai

50,883,400
1,208 /km²
109/264
Density (people per unit of area)
9%
Growth in 2015-2020
Shanghai

Demographics of China

Median age
37
Elderly people
10%
Life expectancy at birth
76
GDP per capita (in USD)
$12,880
228/263
Unemployment
4%
30/264

Languages

English proficiency score
51
195/228
Common spoken languages
Chinese

Friends living in Shanghai

Find out which of your friends are living in Shanghai. Nothing is better than knowing a local 😉

Teleport Users  X  Shanghai

Teleport users who are      Shanghai

Work in:

Founder
8.10%
Software Engineer
6.88%
Marketing Manager
6.07%
Business Development
4.05%
Operations Manager
2.43%
UX Designer
2.43%
Business Analyst
2.02%
Other
68.02%

Come from:

Climate

Average day length (hours)

12.6

Climate type

Humid Subtropical

Average daily maximum temperature

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Impressions from Shanghai

2:23 This is Shanghai

A video by Rob Whitworth

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On living in Shanghai

Shanghai (上海 Shànghǎi) is the largest and most developed city in China, the country's main center for finance and fashion, and one of the world's most populous and important cities.

Shanghai has existed for centuries but grew enormously after it became a major center of the China trade in the 1840s. By the early 20th century, Shanghai was the largest and most prosperous city in the Far East, and one of the wildest. With the opening up of China in the past few decades, Shanghai has regained much of its former glory and has surpassed it in many ways; the pace of development in recent years has been absolutely furious. Today, Shanghai is back to being one of the largest and most prosperous cities in Asia, though not nearly as wild as it once was. It is now a very attractive city for travellers from all over the world, and a major destination for both tourism and business. A Forbes article ranks Shanghai as the world's 14th most visited city, with 6.5 million visitors in 2012.

Shanghai is definitely a cosmopolitan city by Chinese standards, although it is less diverse than many western cities. The population was 23 million as of the 2010 census; 9 million (almost 40%) of those were migrants, people from elsewhere in China who have come to find work or to attend one of Shanghai's many educational institutions. There is also a substantial international contingent: 208,300 foreigners lived in Shanghai as of 2010, slightly over a third of the national total of 594,000. There are services that cater to these markets — restaurants with food from anywhere in China for the migrants (in particular, lots of good cheap Sichuan food and West-of-China noodles) and a good range of grocery stores, restaurants and bars that cater to the foreigners.

Read more

Good Country Index

Every city comes with a country. How is this one doing in terms of giving back to the global community? Our friends at The Good Country Index measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, relative to its size.

Overall ranking

China
57th from a total of 163 countries

World Order

97th

Refugees hosted

Refugees generated

Charity giving

Birth rate

UN Treaties signed

International Peace & Security

16th

Dues in arrears to UN peace keeping budgets

International violent conflict

Peacekeeping troops

Arms exports

Internet security (2014)

Planet & Climate

121st

Ecological footprint

Reforestation since 1992

Hazardous pesticides exports

CO2 emissions

Ozone

Prosperity & Equality

118th

Development assistance

FDI outflows

Fairtrade market size

UN volunteers abroad

Open trading

Culture

102nd

Freedom of movement

Press freedom

Creative services exports

UNESCO dues in arrears as % of contribution

Creative goods exports

Science & Technology

60th

Nobel prizes

Patents

Journal exports

International publications

International Students

Health & Wellbeing

27th

Pharmaceutical exports

Voluntary excess donations to the WHO

Food aid

Humanitarian aid donations

International Health Regulations Compliance

See details ▽

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