Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Zhangjiakou and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Zhangjiakou: $776 a month against $2,381 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $19,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

38

Cost of Living Index in Zhangjiakou
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Zhangjiakou Living Index
115

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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Zhangjiakou

🇨🇳 China

$776

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,381

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Zhangjiakou and in Barcelona

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $776 in Zhangjiakou versus $2,381 in Barcelona.

Zhangjiakou $776
Barcelona $2,381

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,223 in Zhangjiakou versus $3,406 in Barcelona.

Zhangjiakou $1,223
Barcelona $3,406

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,670 in Zhangjiakou versus $4,431 in Barcelona.

Zhangjiakou $1,670
Barcelona $4,431

Living in Zhangjiakou costs roughly 67% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Zhangjiakou is 43% below, Barcelona is 76% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.21 ¥14.72

$17.89 €15.98

-87.65%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.26 ¥161

$66.2 €59.1

-63.33%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.91 ¥39.37

$13.69 €12.23

-56.83%

Cappuccino

$3.50 ¥23.30

$3.06 €2.73

14.38%

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

$0.50 ¥3.35

$3.07 €2.74

-83.71%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.26 ¥1.72

$1.94 €1.73

-86.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$0.92 ¥6.14

$3.87 €3.45

-76.23%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.69 ¥11.27

$4.61 €4.12

-63.34%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.48 ¥9.86

$1.30 €1.16

13.85%

White Bread (500g)

$2.21 ¥14.73

$2.10 €1.88

5.24%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.06 ¥7.07

$1.83 €1.63

-42.08%

Eggs

$1.06 ¥7.03

$4.62 €4.13

-77.06%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$15.23 ¥101

$17.36 €15.50

-12.27%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$2.98 ¥19.80

$9.28 €8.29

-67.89%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.59 ¥63.8

$19.83 €17.71

-51.64%

Apples (1kg)

$1.66 ¥11.02

$3.01 €2.69

-44.85%

Banana (1kg)

$0.93 ¥6.16

$2.03 €1.81

-54.19%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.76 ¥11.70

$2.65 €2.37

-33.58%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.22 ¥8.10

$2.87 €2.56

-57.49%

Potato (1kg)

$0.81 ¥5.37

$2.16 €1.93

-62.50%

Onion (1kg)

$0.57 ¥3.80

$2.15 €1.92

-73.49%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.62 ¥4.13

$1.47 €1.32

-57.82%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.74 ¥4.93

$0.88 €0.79

-15.91%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.63 ¥24.17

$6.93 €6.19

-47.62%

Wine (Bottle)

$13.60 ¥90.5

$7.83 €6.99

73.69%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.07 ¥7.10

$1.39 €1.24

-23.02%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.43 ¥16.16

$2.63 €2.35

-7.60%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.29 ¥1.90

$2.91 €2.60

-90.03%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$17.61 ¥117

$25.46 €22.74

-30.83%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.08 ¥7.19

$3.00 €2.68

-64.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.33 ¥2.17

$1.44 €1.29

-77.08%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.21 ¥41.37

$33.20 €29.65

-81.30%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.18 ¥7.83

$1.86 €1.66

-36.56%

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

$19.6K ¥130.6K

$32.3K €28.9K

-39.33%

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

$17.0K ¥113.3K

$31.7K €28.3K

-46.31%

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

$95.7 ¥637

$183 €163

-47.64%

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

$6.22 ¥41.40

$13.61 €12.16

-54.30%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$7.68 ¥51.1

$32.93 €29.41

-76.68%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$42.01 ¥280

$54.7 €48.85

-23.19%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.20 ¥101

$16.52 €14.76

-7.99%

Cinema Ticket

$7.30 ¥48.57

$11.23 €10.03

-35.00%

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

$342 ¥2,275

$954 €852

-64.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,321 ¥35.4K

$16.6K €14.8K

-67.95%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$44.73 ¥298

$86.0 €76.8

-48.01%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.35 ¥189

$39.11 €34.93

-27.51%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$96.5 ¥643

$104 €92.6

-6.88%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$60.0 ¥399

$119 €106

-49.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$294 ¥1,954

$1,695 €1,514

-82.69%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$182 ¥1,214

$1,276 €1,140

-85.71%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$622 ¥4,142

$2,576 €2,300

-75.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$379 ¥2,523

$1,922 €1,717

-80.28%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,446 ¥22.9K

$7,281 €6,503

-52.68%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,966 ¥13.1K

$5,010 €4,474

-60.77%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$382 ¥2,544

$2,227 €1,989

-82.84%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.54

3.28

7.93%

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

Last update for Zhangjiakou: October 18, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Zhangjiakou

$214 27.6%

Barcelona

$325 13.7% 51.9% $111

Accommodation & Living

Zhangjiakou

$182 23.5%

Barcelona

$1.3K 53.6% 600% $1.1K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Zhangjiakou

$110 14.1%

Barcelona

$229 9.6% 109% $120

Clothing & Footwear

Zhangjiakou

$103 13.3%

Barcelona

$156 6.6% 51.3% $53

Eating Out

Zhangjiakou

$88 11.4%

Barcelona

$270 11.3% 205% $181

Sport & Entertainment

Zhangjiakou

$57 7.3%

Barcelona

$77 3.2% 36.3% $21

Getting Around

Zhangjiakou

$21 2.8%

Barcelona

$47 2% 121% $26

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $294 in Zhangjiakou and $1,695 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 5.8 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $24 in Zhangjiakou vs $66 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $214 vs $325 per month, with Zhangjiakou cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇳 Zhangjiakou

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

04:11 4:11 AM

21:11 9:11 PM

7 h behind Zhangjiakou

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

4,345,491

1,660,122

💱 Currency

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.134 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to CNY – Chinese Yuan Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇳 Chinese Yuan (¥)

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 6.66 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.45 CNY (1 CNY = 0.134 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 0.893 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to CNY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Zhangjiakou Barcelona 8,640 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Zhangjiakou
Barcelona

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

Zhangjiakou vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Zhangjiakou and Barcelona differ by about 207% in total monthly costs ($776 vs $2,381 including rent). Zhangjiakou is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 83% lower in Zhangjiakou. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $294 in Zhangjiakou versus $1,695 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $342 in Zhangjiakou versus $954 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 52% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $776 in Zhangjiakou versus $2,381 in Barcelona, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Zhangjiakou but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Zhangjiakou 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.

Expats usually find Zhangjiakou gentler on the wallet – expenses run 67% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.