Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

Moldova

Chisinau vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Chisinau is 10.5% cheaper than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 19.9% less in Chisinau
Groceries: pay 14.3% less in Chisinau
Transportation: pay 15.1% less in Chisinau
Housing: pay 2.9% more in Chisinau
Childcare: pay 47.0% less in Chisinau
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.2% less in Chisinau
Clothing: pay 19.4% more in Chisinau

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

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Chisinau vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.9% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Chisinau
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$11.22 MDL201.58	-23.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$8.70 MDL156.22	+18.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$1.21 MDL21.71	-50.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$0.89 MDL16.00	-60.5%
Average			-19.9%

Bucharest vs. Chisinau - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.3% less for groceries

	Bucharest	Chisinau
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$0.71 MDL12.77	-46.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$4.89 MDL87.82	+12.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$4.73 MDL85.03	-23.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$2.79 MDL50.06	-24.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$2.36 MDL42.34	-22.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$0.44 MDL7.87	-23.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$0.87 MDL15.68	+20.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$0.94 MDL16.87	+36.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$1.01 MDL18.06	-12.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$0.31 MDL5.61	-14.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$0.25 MDL4.42	-28.2%
Average			-14.3%

Bucharest vs. Chisinau - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.1% less for transportation

	Bucharest	Chisinau
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$6.44 MDL115.64	-13.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	$13.52 MDL242.90	-35.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$29,507.41 MDL530K	+3.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$4.94 MDL88.69	-12.6%
Average			-15.1%

Bucharest vs. Chisinau - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.9% more for housing

	Bucharest	Chisinau
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$10.59 MDL190.33	+14.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$679.74 MDL12,212.58	+0.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$435.34 MDL7,821.60	-3.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$185.85 MDL3,339.13	+25.7%
Average			+2.9%

Bucharest vs. Chisinau - Cost of housing

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pay 47.0% less for childcare

	Bucharest	Chisinau
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$434.06 MDL7,798.47	-30.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$5,841.67 MDL105K	-59.4%
Average			-47.0%

Bucharest vs. Chisinau - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Chisinau
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$2.24 MDL40.32	-40.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$2.16 MDL38.87	-38.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$3.42 MDL61.48	-46.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$41.67 MDL748.71	-15.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$8.41 MDL151.18	+0.6%
Average			-26.2%

Bucharest vs. Chisinau - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 19.4% more for clothing

	Bucharest	Chisinau
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$79.80 MDL1,433.71	-10.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$47.07 MDL845.61	+22.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$114.14 MDL2,050.64	+46.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$115.56 MDL2,076.23	+26.0%
Average			+19.4%

Bucharest vs. Chisinau - 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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