Is ¥18,000 per month a good salary for a teacher in China?

Housing: if rent is not covered, subtract 2,000–6,000 RMB/month in tier 1 cities. A ¥20,000 offer with no housing can be worth less than an ¥18,000 offer with an apartment.
Tax treatment: confirm whether the figure is 税前 (pre-tax) or 税后 (after tax) — the gap can be 20–30%.
Split salary: if the contract says ¥8,000 base + ¥10,000 allowance, severance and social insurance may be calculated on the smaller number. Why it matters →
Social insurance: employers must enroll foreign teachers; check it actually happens. How to verify →
Hours: 12 classes/week vs 22 classes/week changes the effective hourly rate enormously.

Question

Accepted Answer

¥18,000 per month is above 68% of 19 self-reported foreign teachers in China, where the median is ¥22,000. Whether it is genuinely good depends on whether housing is covered, whether social insurance is actually paid, how teaching hours are counted, and whether the contract hides deductions.

City	Median (¥/mo)	Reports
Shanghai	¥34,000	1
Shenzhen	¥28,000	3
Xiamen	¥25,000	1
Chongqing	¥23,000	1
Nanjing	¥19,500	1
Beijing	¥18,000	1
Dalian	¥12,000	1

Is ¥18,000 a month good in China?

By city, for reference

The headline number is not the whole story