Overview
Estimate your monthly cost of living by city tier (tier1 / newTier1 / tier2 / tier3), housing mode (shared / whole-rent / owned), meal preference (takeout / cooking / mixed), one-way commute distance, and whether you have a child or a pet. The tool computes housing, food, transport, telecom & entertainment and flexible spending, then back-solves the after-tax monthly salary required to hit your savings rate target. All math runs locally.
How to use
- Pick a city tier (tier1 / newTier1 / tier2 / tier3) — each maps to different rent and baseline costs.
- Pick a housing mode: shared room, whole-rent one-bedroom, or owned (rent = 0, utilities only).
- Pick a meal preference: full takeout (100% baseline), cooking (55%), or mixed (78%).
- Enter your one-way commute distance (km) — the tool assumes 22 working days with round-trip transit fare.
- Toggle has child or has pet to add food and flexible-spending surcharges.
- Set a target savings rate (default 30%) to see monthly total and required after-tax salary.
Formula
housingCost = rentTable[tier][mode] + utilitiesTable[tier]; foodCost = dailyMealCost × 30 × mealDiscount + petAddon×hasPet + childAddon×hasChild; transportCost = commuteKm × 2 × singleFare × 22 + weekendTransport; telecomEntertainmentCost = phonePlan + streamingSubscription + weekendEntertainment; flexibleCost = (sum of four) × 0.15 + childExtra/petExtra (each capped at 50% of base); monthlyTotal = housing + food + transport + telecom + flexible; annualTotal = monthly × 12; requiredMonthlySalary = monthlyTotal ÷ (1 − savingsRateTarget/100).
Common scenarios
Shanghai shared room + takeout + 8km commute
Tier1 + shared: rent 2800 + utilities 600 = 3400; takeout 95×30 = 2850; commute 8×2×5×22 + 320 = 2080; telecom & entertainment 89+60+800 = 949; flexible ~1392. Monthly ≈ ¥10,671, requiring ~¥15,244 after-tax salary for a 30% savings rate.
Chengdu whole-rent + cooking + 5km commute
NewTier1 + whole-rent: rent 3800 + utilities 450 = 4250; cooking 75×30×0.55 = 1238; commute 5×2×4×22 + 240 = 1120; telecom & ent. 749; flexible ~1104. Monthly ≈ ¥8,461, requiring ~¥12,087 after-tax for 30% savings.
Tier3 owned + mixed meals + has child
Tier3 + owned (no rent): utilities 300; mixed 50×30×0.78 + 600 child meal = 1770; commute 3×2×2×22 + 140 = 404; telecom & ent. 449; flexible ~1234. Monthly ≈ ¥4,157.
FAQ
How are city tiers defined? Which cities belong to each tier?
The tiering follows YiCai's New First-Tier City rankings. Tier1 covers Beijing/Shanghai/Guangzhou/Shenzhen; newTier1 includes Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan, Suzhou, Xi'an, Tianjin, Nanjing, etc.; tier2 includes Qingdao, Ningbo, Dongguan, Changsha, etc.; tier3 covers most prefecture-level cities. The rent and baseline values use the median for each tier.
Where does the rent estimate come from? How often is it updated?
The rent baseline uses Beike, Lianjia and Ziroom's 2024-2025 monthly reports (shared per-room median, whole-rent one-bedroom median). We refresh coefficients twice a year — see RENT_TABLE in the math module. Actual rent varies heavily by neighborhood, building age and decoration; the tool gives a rough median only.
How is the takeout price estimated? What discount does cooking apply?
Tier1 daily 3-meal baseline (breakfast 15 + lunch 35 + dinner 45) is roughly ¥95; newTier1 ¥75; tier2 ¥60; tier3 ¥50. Meal multipliers are takeout 1.0, cooking 0.55, mixed 0.78, based on the heuristic that ingredient cost is about half of takeout. ¥800-1000/month for home cooking in a tier3 city is reasonable.
How is the salary back-solved from a 30% savings rate? Why ignore social insurance?
Required salary = monthlyTotal ÷ (1 − savingsRate%). E.g. ¥10,000/month spending and a 30% savings rate needs ¥14,286 after-tax. The tool computes after-tax (take-home) salary, so social-insurance deductions are already excluded. To back-solve gross salary, combine with our income-tax calculator.
Why does my actual spending differ from the estimate? How can I calibrate locally?
Discrepancies usually stem from: (1) housing in a pricier or cheaper district; (2) different meal mix (dining out vs canteen); (3) ride-hailing instead of transit; (4) flexible spending (travel/shopping/medical) exceeding 15%. Use this tool as a baseline and calibrate against your last 3 months of bank statements; adjust RENT_TABLE / MEAL_BASE_PER_DAY in the math module if you fork an internal version.
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