Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Sydney and Kaifeng

For one person, living is cheaper in Kaifeng: $501 a month against $3,152 in Sydney, rent and utilities included – about $31,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

155

Cost of Living Index in Sydney
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Sydney Living Index
24

Cost of Living Index in Kaifeng
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Kaifeng Living Index

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Sydney

🇦🇺 Australia

$3,152

/mo nomad

Kaifeng

🇨🇳 China

$501

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Sydney and in Kaifeng

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Sydney and in Kaifeng actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,152 in Sydney versus $501 in Kaifeng.

Sydney $3,152
Kaifeng $501

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,710 in Sydney versus $791 in Kaifeng.

Sydney $4,710
Kaifeng $791

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $6,268 in Sydney versus $1,081 in Kaifeng.

Sydney $6,268
Kaifeng $1,081

Living in Sydney is roughly 529% more expensive than in Kaifeng, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Sydney is 133% above, Kaifeng is 63% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.57 A$25.29

$1.77 ¥11.83

892.66%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$91.5 A$132

$13.50 ¥90.3

577.63%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.96 A$17.21

$4.15 ¥27.74

188.19%

Cappuccino

$4.07 A$5.85

$2.41 ¥16.12

68.88%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.85 A$4.10

$0.38 ¥2.54

650.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.25 A$3.24

$0.16 ¥1.06

1306.25%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.60 A$10.94

$0.92 ¥6.12

726.09%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$7.43 A$10.69

$1.61 ¥10.78

361.49%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 A$2.38

$1.50 ¥10.03

10.67%

White Bread (500g)

$2.78 A$4.00

$1.52 ¥10.18

82.89%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.42 A$3.49

$0.87 ¥5.79

178.16%

Eggs

$5.64 A$8.12

$0.90 ¥6.03

526.67%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.71 A$16.85

$6.85 ¥45.78

70.95%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.66 A$13.89

$2.36 ¥15.81

309.32%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.75 A$24.10

$9.73 ¥65.0

72.15%

Apples (1kg)

$4.07 A$5.85

$0.83 ¥5.58

390.36%

Banana (1kg)

$3.25 A$4.68

$1.01 ¥6.75

221.78%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.44 A$4.96

$0.60 ¥3.98

473.33%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.28 A$6.16

$0.60 ¥4.03

613.33%

Potato (1kg)

$3.28 A$4.72

$0.62 ¥4.12

429.03%

Onion (1kg)

$2.30 A$3.30

$0.73 ¥4.88

215.07%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.30 A$3.31

$0.21 ¥1.40

995.24%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.21 A$1.74

$0.52 ¥3.48

132.69%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$43.71 A$62.9

$2.90 ¥19.39

1407.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.88 A$19.97

$14.76 ¥98.7

-5.96%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.90 A$5.62

$0.99 ¥6.62

293.94%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.91 A$5.63

$2.10 ¥14.05

86.19%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.04 A$4.38

$0.15 ¥0.98

1926.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$150 A$216

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.38 A$4.86

$1.17 ¥7.79

188.89%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.56 A$2.24

$0.16 ¥1.08

875.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$40.01 A$57.6

$3.58 ¥23.91

1017.60%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.40 A$2.01

$1.26 ¥8.40

11.11%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$29.1K A$41.9K

$19.0K ¥127.3K

52.98%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$30.1K A$43.4K

$15.0K ¥100.2K

101.05%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$223 A$320

$45.41 ¥304

390.20%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$27.16 A$39.08

$4.89 ¥32.70

455.42%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$55.8 A$80.3

$5.17 ¥34.55

979.69%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$74.6 A$107

$29.40 ¥197

153.78%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$23.99 A$34.52

$10.52 ¥70.4

128.04%

Cinema Ticket

$17.56 A$25.27

$3.69 ¥24.65

375.88%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$2,196 A$3,160

$382 ¥2,553

475.21%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$28.2K A$40.6K

$31.2K ¥208.6K

-9.66%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$78.4 A$113

$43.28 ¥289

81.22%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$68.4 A$98.5

$33.17 ¥222

106.33%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$111 A$160

$72.1 ¥482

54.22%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$134 A$193

$45.68 ¥305

194.26%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,500 A$3,598

$120 ¥803

1982.37%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,709 A$2,460

$89.7 ¥600

1804.58%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$4,946 A$7,117

$225 ¥1,506

2095.07%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,022 A$4,349

$178 ¥1,192

1594.98%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$13.2K A$18.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$8,370 A$12.0K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,113 A$5,919

$577 ¥3,861

612.30%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.84

3.1

88.39%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Sydney: October 11, 2026

Last update for Kaifeng: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Sydney

$1.7K 54.2%

Kaifeng

$90 17.9% 94.7% $1.6K

Groceries & Markets

Sydney

$379 12%

Kaifeng

$164 32.7% 56.8% $215

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Sydney

$306 9.7%

Kaifeng

$55 11.1% 81.8% $250

Eating Out

Sydney

$299 9.5%

Kaifeng

$65 13.1% 78.1% $233

Clothing & Footwear

Sydney

$177 5.6%

Kaifeng

$87 17.5% 50.5% $89

Getting Around

Sydney

$174 5.5%

Kaifeng

$2.6 * 0.5% 98.5% $171

Sport & Entertainment

Sydney

$110 3.5%

Kaifeng

$37 7.3% 66.5% $73

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $2,500 in Sydney and $120 in Kaifeng. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sydney pays 612% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $91.0 in Sydney vs $14.00 in Kaifeng for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $379 vs $164 per month, with Kaifeng cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇺 Sydney

🇨🇳 Kaifeng

🕒 Local time

20:33 8:33 PM

17:33 5:33 PM

3 h behind Sydney

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

4,840,600

4,676,159

💱 Currency

Australian Dollar AUD $

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

📈 Exchange rate

1 AUD = 0.695 USD

1 AUD = 0.618 EUR

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.133 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

CNY, USD, EUR to AUD – Australian Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇺 Australian Dollar ($)

Australian Dollar exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 1.44 AUD (1 AUD = 0.695 USD). 1 EUR = 1.62 AUD (1 AUD = 0.618 EUR).

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 6.69 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.52 CNY (1 CNY = 0.133 EUR).

USD to AUD in detail →

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Between locations

Sydney Kaifeng 8,550 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

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Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Sydney vs Kaifeng: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Kaifeng wins on cost – living expenses run 529% lower than in Sydney. Housing and daily spending are where you'll feel the difference most, making Kaifeng the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

Average pay runs 612% higher in Sydney, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $2,500 in Sydney versus $120 in Kaifeng. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 131% higher in Sydney. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $3,152 per month in Sydney versus $501 in Kaifeng – a 529% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $501 in Kaifeng versus $3,152 in Sydney, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Kaifeng but tight or insufficient in Sydney. The gap between the two cities makes Kaifeng the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Sydney and Kaifeng are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Kaifeng gentler on the wallet – expenses run 529% less than in Sydney. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.