The life expectancy of Shanghai residents has already reached the level of economically developed countries in the world. In 1997, the average life expectancy of the population stood at 75.18 years for men and 79.21 years for women, up 4.49 and 4.43 years, respectively, from the 1978 figures. Today, the life expectancy of Shanghai residents is higher than the world's average and that of middle-income countries and reaches the level of major economically-developed countries in the world.

The living environment of the local residents keeps improving. By the end of 1997, the city's urban green area totalled 7,848.96 hectares, including 2,483.65 hectares of public green area, 9.3 times more than that of 1978. The average per capita green area among the urban residents was 2.3 square metres, 1.83 square metres more than in 1978. About 17.8% of the city's urban area was covered by trees and grass, 9.6 percentage points higher than the 1978 figure. Meanwhile, the proportion of urban households using cooking gas had catapulted from 38.7% in 1978 to above 90% in 1997. Housing conditions have been improving continuously. During the 1978-1997 period, Shanghai had built apartment buildings and houses with a total floor space of 110 million square metres, with 67.8637 million square metres being completed during the 1991-1997 period. As a result, the average per capita living space among local urban residents expanded from 4.5 square metres in 1978 to 9 square metres in 1997.

The income levels of urban and rural residents have kept rising. In 1997, the average per capita income among local urban families reached 8,439 yuan, 2.9 times over the 1990 figure of 2,182 yuan. After deducting the inflation factor, the 1997 figure represented a hike of 60.3% over 1990 or an average annual increase of 7%. In rural areas, the average per capita net income stood at 5,277 yuan, 2.2 times over the 1990 figure of 1,665 yuan. And after deducting the inflation factor, the 1997 figure represented a real increase of 31.4% or an average annual growth of 4%. Along with the increase in their incomes, local residents are spending more. In 1997, the average living expenses of a urban resident totalled 6,820 yuan, 2.5 times over the 1990 figure of 1,936 yuan. After deducting the inflation factor, the 1997 figure represented an increase of 46.1% over 1990 or an average annual growth of 5.6%. Following the rise in their incomes, the savings deposits of Shanghai's urban and rural residents have been growing rapidly. By the end of 1997, the balance of their savings deposits totalled 272.957 billion yuan, 271.139 billion yuan more than the year-end figure of 1978. The average per capita savings deposits among local residents had skyrocketed from 166 yuan in 1978 to 20,909 yuan in 1997.

The urban families in the city now own more and better electric appliances. In the past few years, a new generation of durable consumer goods, including tape recorder, hi-fi, air conditioner, microwave oven, motorcycle, and computer, has entered local families. At present, there are more than 3.7 million telephone owners in Shanghai, including 2.79 million home telephone owners. The figure indicates that on average there is a telephone owner among every two families in the city.