Cost of living comparison
compared to
Madrid vs. Barcelona Cost of Living Summary
Madrid is 3.2% cheaper than Barcelona.
Madrid vs. Barcelona Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Madrid instead of Barcelona, you would:
pay 3.4% less for restaurants
|
Barcelona
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.92
€15.99
|
$17.92
€15.99
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$13.44
€11.99
|
$11.20
€9.99
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.98
€2.66
|
$3.30
€2.95
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.91
€1.71
|
$2.30
€2.05
|
|
Barcelona vs. Madrid - Cost of restaurants
pay 4.7% less for groceries
|
Barcelona
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.99
€1.78
|
$1.57
€1.40
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.79
€7.85
|
$8.35
€7.46
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.83
€4.31
|
$5.25
€4.69
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.93
€4.40
|
$4.15
€3.70
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.13
€3.69
|
$4.23
€3.77
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.37
€1.22
|
$1.17
€1.05
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.91
€0.81
|
$0.96
€0.86
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.20
€1.07
|
$1.15
€1.03
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.21
€1.08
|
$1.16
€1.03
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.95
€0.85
|
$1.00
€0.89
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.99
€0.88
|
$0.97
€0.86
|
|
Barcelona vs. Madrid - Cost of groceries
pay 10.4% more for transportation
|
Barcelona
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.87
€6.13
|
$6.88
€6.14
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$25.53
€22.79
|
$36.95
€32.98
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,271.67
€31,484.13
|
$35,271.67
€31,484.13
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.90
€13.30
|
$15.84
€14.14
|
|
Barcelona vs. Madrid - Cost of transportation
pay 7.1% less for housing
|
Barcelona
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$35.30
€31.51
|
$34.86
€31.12
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,671.42
€1,491.94
|
$1,491.38
€1,331.23
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,296.44
€1,157.23
|
$1,193.86
€1,065.66
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$138.62
€123.74
|
$144.11
€128.63
|
|
Barcelona vs. Madrid - Cost of housing
pay 13.1% less for childcare
|
Barcelona
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$951.83
€849.62
|
$668.48
€596.70
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$16,609.14
€14,825.62
|
$17,859.91
€15,942.08
|
|
Barcelona vs. Madrid - Cost of childcare
pay 2.6% less for entertainment and sports
|
Barcelona
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.92
€3.50
|
$3.92
€3.50
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.23
€2.89
|
$3.07
€2.74
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.00
€6.25
|
$6.72
€6.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$53.11
€47.41
|
$50.67
€45.23
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.20
€9.99
|
$11.20
€9.99
|
|
Barcelona vs. Madrid - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 1.5% more for clothing
|
Barcelona
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$87.34
€77.96
|
$86.50
€77.21
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$39.19
€34.98
|
$42.98
€38.37
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$105.13
€93.84
|
$108.99
€97.28
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$119.81
€106.95
|
$112.77
€100.66
|
|
Barcelona vs. Madrid - Cost of clothing
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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