Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Barcelona Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 26.0% cheaper than Barcelona.

Restaurants: pay 22.6% less in Budapest
Groceries: pay 23.4% less in Budapest
Transportation: pay 3.1% less in Budapest
Housing: pay 45.1% less in Budapest
Childcare: pay 24.6% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0% more in Budapest
Clothing: pay 7.5% more in Budapest

The cost of clothing and entertainment and sports in Budapest are more expensive than in Barcelona. Expenses including housing, childcare, groceries, restaurants, and transportation are lower in Budapest.

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Budapest vs. Barcelona Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Budapest instead of Barcelona, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 22.6% less for restaurants

	Barcelona	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.95	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	-23.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$13.44 €11.96	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	-24.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.98 €2.65	$2.08 HUF673.49	-30.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.91 €1.70	$1.83 HUF591.19	-4.3%
Average			-22.6%

Barcelona vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.4% less for groceries

	Barcelona	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.99 €1.78	$1.80 HUF580.67	-9.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.79 €7.83	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	-36.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.83 €4.29	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-8.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.93 €4.39	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	-21.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.13 €3.68	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	-24.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 €1.22	$0.85 HUF274.62	-38.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$0.94 HUF303.05	+2.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 €1.07	$1.06 HUF341.51	-11.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.21 €1.08	$1.73 HUF558.38	+42.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 €0.85	$0.45 HUF144.57	-53.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.46 HUF147.52	-53.7%
Average			-23.4%

Barcelona vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1% less for transportation

	Barcelona	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.87 €6.12	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	+2.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$25.53 €22.72	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	+7.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	$29,374.56 HUF9M	-16.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.90 €13.26	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	-5.1%
Average			-3.1%

Barcelona vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.1% less for housing

	Barcelona	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.30 €31.42	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	-33.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,671.42 €1,487.62	$817.66 HUF264K	-51.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,296.44 €1,153.88	$631.44 HUF204K	-51.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.62 €123.38	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	-4.2%
Average			-45.1%

Barcelona vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 24.6% less for childcare

	Barcelona	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$951.83 €847.16	$539.65 HUF174K	-43.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,609.14 €14,782.73	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+0.4%
Average			-24.6%

Barcelona vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Barcelona	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 €3.49	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	-6.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.23 €2.88	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	+3.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.00 €6.23	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+13.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$53.11 €47.27	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+26.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	-16.7%
Average			+2.0%

Barcelona vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.5% more for clothing

	Barcelona	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$87.34 €77.74	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	+14.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.19 €34.88	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	+9.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.13 €93.57	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	+7.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.81 €106.64	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	-1.4%
Average			+7.5%

Barcelona vs. Budapest - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Barcelona is about 5 times smaller than Budapest.

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