Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

Russia

Saint Petersburg vs. Balti Cost of Living Summary

Saint Petersburg is 36.9% more expensive than Balti.

Restaurants: pay 0.1% more in Saint Petersburg
Groceries: pay 17.1% more in Saint Petersburg
Transportation: pay 13.6% more in Saint Petersburg
Housing: pay 41.7% more in Saint Petersburg
Childcare: pay 4.0 times more in Saint Petersburg
Entertainment and Sports: pay 30.9% more in Saint Petersburg
Clothing: pay 2.1 times more in Saint Petersburg

The cost of childcare, clothing, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and transportation in Saint Petersburg are more expensive than in Balti. Notably, childcare and clothing are significantly more expensive in Saint Petersburg.

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Saint Petersburg vs. Balti Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Saint Petersburg instead of Balti, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.1% more for restaurants

	Balti	Saint Petersburg
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.41 MDL151.18	$11.46 RUB947.27	+36.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.52 MDL188.98	$6.43 RUB531.63	-38.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.08 MDL19.49	$1.49 RUB123.24	+37.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 MDL12.09	$0.69 RUB56.64	+1.8%
Average			+0.1%

Balti vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.1% more for groceries

	Balti	Saint Petersburg
Bread 1 loaf	$0.48 MDL8.57	$0.93 RUB76.85	+95.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.37 MDL60.47	$6.02 RUB497.41	+78.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.67 MDL83.94	$4.17 RUB344.70	-10.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.22 MDL39.91	$1.64 RUB135.56	-26.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.12 MDL38.08	$2.85 RUB235.33	+34.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.46 MDL8.23	$0.77 RUB63.36	+67.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 MDL18.29	$0.73 RUB60.03	-28.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 MDL15.06	$0.75 RUB62.16	-10.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 MDL18.95	$1.38 RUB114.37	+31.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.34 MDL6.03	$0.36 RUB29.64	+6.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 MDL4.11	$0.28 RUB23.17	+22.4%
Average			+17.1%

Balti vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.6% more for transportation

	Balti	Saint Petersburg
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.01 MDL107.94	$3.25 RUB268.89	-45.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.83 MDL302.36	$52.51 RUB4,339.09	+212.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,658.64 MDL605K	$35,093.40 RUB3M	+4.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.82 MDL86.68	$7.60 RUB628.29	+57.6%
Average			+13.6%

Balti vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.7% more for housing

	Balti	Saint Petersburg
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$11.22 MDL201.58	$8.55 RUB706.83	-23.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$392.43 MDL7,050.49	$730.46 RUB60,359.10	+86.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$280.49 MDL5,039.39	$437.21 RUB36,126.86	+55.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$171.59 MDL3,082.92	$112.08 RUB9,261.39	-34.7%
Average			+41.7%

Balti vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of housing

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pay 4.0 times more for childcare

	Balti	Saint Petersburg
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.20 MDL2,015.76	$549.43 RUB45,400.15	+389.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,236.33 MDL94,078.34	$17,234.08 RUB1M	+229.1%
Average			+301.5%

Balti vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of childcare

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pay 30.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Balti	Saint Petersburg
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 MDL20.16	$2.63 RUB217.49	+134.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.74 MDL31.24	$3.03 RUB250.18	+74.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.37 MDL60.47	$2.92 RUB241.65	-13.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.46 MDL655.12	$39.61 RUB3,273.15	+8.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.57 MDL136.06	$7.02 RUB579.96	-7.3%
Average			+30.9%

Balti vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

	Balti	Saint Petersburg
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.88 MDL806.30	$92.36 RUB7,631.78	+105.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.66 MDL604.73	$50.79 RUB4,197.10	+50.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$56.10 MDL1,007.88	$134.52 RUB11,115.96	+139.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.49 MDL907.09	$121.11 RUB10,007.20	+139.9%
Average			+105.6%

Balti vs. Saint Petersburg - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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