Cost of living comparison

Slovakia

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Bratislava Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 13.7% cheaper than Bratislava.

Restaurants: pay 7.0% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 17.8% less in Budapest
Transportation: pay 12.9% less in Budapest
Housing: pay 21.4% less in Budapest
Childcare: pay 25.0% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% less in Budapest
Clothing: pay 6.4% more in Budapest

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

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Budapest vs. Bratislava Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 7.0% more for restaurants

	Bratislava	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.20 €9.97	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	+23.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.64 €9.47	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	-4.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 €2.10	$2.08 HUF673.49	-11.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.78 €1.58	$1.83 HUF591.19	+2.8%
Average			+7.0%

Bratislava vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.8% less for groceries

	Bratislava	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.94 €1.73	$1.80 HUF580.67	-7.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.71 €6.86	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	-27.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.29 €3.82	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	+2.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.50 €4.00	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	-13.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.04 €3.59	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	-23.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.01 €0.90	$0.85 HUF274.62	-16.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 €0.78	$0.94 HUF303.05	+7.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 €1.11	$1.06 HUF341.51	-15.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.09 €1.86	$1.73 HUF558.38	-17.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.75 €0.67	$0.45 HUF144.57	-40.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.67 €0.60	$0.46 HUF147.52	-31.9%
Average			-17.8%

Bratislava vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.9% less for transportation

	Bratislava	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.30 €6.50	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	-3.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$45.35 €40.36	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	-39.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,078.64 €23,210.93	$29,374.56 HUF9M	+12.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.72 €18.44	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	-31.8%
Average			-12.9%

Bratislava vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.4% less for housing

	Bratislava	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$18.65 €16.60	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	+26.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,055.75 €939.66	$817.66 HUF264K	-22.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$786.21 €699.76	$631.44 HUF204K	-19.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$200.86 €178.77	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	-33.9%
Average			-21.4%

Bratislava vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 25.0% less for childcare

	Bratislava	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$859.09 €764.62	$539.65 HUF174K	-37.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,610.01 €16,563.57	$16,674.34 HUF5M	-10.4%
Average			-25.0%

Bratislava vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Bratislava	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.36 €2.99	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	+9.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.57 €3.17	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	-6.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+18.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.89 €49.75	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+20.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.32 €10.96	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	-24.2%
Average			-0.2%

Bratislava vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.4% more for clothing

	Bratislava	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$101.18 €90.06	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	-1.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.44 €35.99	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	+6.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.82 €90.62	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	+11.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$107.72 €95.87	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	+9.7%
Average			+6.4%

Bratislava 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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