Country guide · China
Moving to China: cost of living, salaries, taxes, visas
Shanghai and Beijing hold the highest salaries in Asia outside the city-states; tier-1 rents are steep; worldwide-income tax applies after residency.
China — anchored by Shanghai for our data — offers the deepest pool of high-paying multinational and tech roles in mainland Asia, concentrated in tier-1 cities. Overall cost indices look moderate, but central Shanghai and Beijing rents are steep, and the gap between local and international-standard housing or schooling is large.
Long-term residents become taxable on worldwide income on a progressive scale, though sourcing rules and the treatment of foreign-paid income are nuanced and changing. Work visas are employer-sponsored; the internet environment and language barrier are the main practical hurdles for newcomers.
Data signals
What the numbers say about China
The take-home math
Take-home pay in China is shaped by a roughly 21% effective payroll deduction (income tax + social security), with VAT at 13%.
The main hub
Its primary hub, Shanghai, carries a cost index of 24 (New York = 100).
Income per capita
Average income in China
China's income per capita is about $26,920 (GNI, PPP-adjusted US$), per the World Bank (2024). No comparable national wage survey is published for China, so this is an income proxy rather than an average-salary figure. Source: World Bank.
This is a country-wide figure. For what you actually need to earn in a specific city, see the salary-by-lifestyle breakdown on each city's cost-of-living page.
At a glance
China relocation profile
Vs the catalog average
Is Shanghai cheap or expensive, relatively?
Shanghai's cost and rent index against the mean across every city Mundevo covers.
Index base: New York = 100. Catalog average is the unweighted mean across all cities Mundevo tracks, recomputed on every build.
Tax and visa landscape
Headline tax model + entry-point visa overview for relocators.
- Effective income tax: 10.0%
- Social security (employee): 11.0%
- Total payroll deduction: 21.0%
- VAT: 13.0%
- Currency: CNY
Effective rates assume a single salaried filer at country median wage. Special regimes (e.g. expat-favoring schemes) are not applied here — see the visa guide for those.
A dedicated visa guide for China is not yet published. For current rules and category eligibility, contact the China consulate in your country of residence.
Salary bands at Shanghai — by role
Illustrative gross-salary bands for 6 senior IC roles in Shanghai. Derived from NYC anchor × China pay-tier multiplier. Cross-check Levels.fyi, Glassdoor before negotiating.
| Role | P25 | P50 | P75 | NYC anchor (P50) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineer | CN¥523,611 | CN¥650,000 | CN¥830,556 | $180,000 |
| Product manager | CN¥541,667 | CN¥704,167 | CN¥938,889 | $195,000 |
| UX / product designer | CN¥357,500 | CN¥471,250 | CN¥633,750 | $145,000 |
| Marketing manager | CN¥308,750 | CN¥422,500 | CN¥568,750 | $130,000 |
| Data scientist | CN¥487,500 | CN¥631,944 | CN¥830,556 | $175,000 |
| Finance analyst | CN¥397,222 | CN¥559,722 | CN¥794,444 | $155,000 |
Top relocation corridors
Closest peers by cost-of-living index — the moves most commonly considered alongside China.