Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 19.4% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 5.3% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 22.8% more in Budapest
Transportation: pay 16.3% more in Budapest
Housing: pay 27.2% more in Budapest
Childcare: pay 0.1% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.8% more in Budapest
Clothing: pay 24.0% more in Budapest

The cost of housing, clothing, groceries, transportation, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Budapest are more expensive than in Bucharest.

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Budapest vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 5.3% more for restaurants

	Bucharest	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	-5.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	+39.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$2.08 HUF673.49	-13.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$1.83 HUF591.19	-18.8%
Average			+5.3%

Bucharest vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.8% more for groceries

	Bucharest	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$1.80 HUF580.67	+36.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	+27.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-29.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	+5.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	+1.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$0.85 HUF274.62	+48.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$0.94 HUF303.05	+29.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$1.06 HUF341.51	+53.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$1.73 HUF558.38	+50.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$0.45 HUF144.57	+22.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$0.46 HUF147.52	+33.3%
Average			+22.8%

Bucharest vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.3% more for transportation

	Bucharest	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	-5.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	+31.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$29,374.56 HUF9M	+3.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	+150.4%
Average			+16.3%

Bucharest vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.2% more for housing

	Bucharest	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	+154.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$817.66 HUF264K	+20.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$631.44 HUF204K	+39.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	-10.2%
Average			+27.2%

Bucharest vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 0.1% less for childcare

	Bucharest	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$539.65 HUF174K	-13.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+16.0%
Average			-0.1%

Bucharest vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	-2.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	-4.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+23.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+36.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	+11.6%
Average			+11.8%

Bucharest vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 24.0% more for clothing

	Bucharest	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	+12.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	+11.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	+45.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	+28.9%
Average			+24.0%

Bucharest 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

Compare further: Bucharest vs. Budapest

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Size Comparison · See true size

Bucharest is about 2.3 times smaller than Budapest.

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