Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

Russia

Moscow vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Moscow is 26.2% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 22.5% less in Moscow
Groceries: pay 5.7% more in Moscow
Transportation: pay 3.4% more in Moscow
Housing: pay 70.8% more in Moscow
Childcare: pay 54.0% more in Moscow
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.9% less in Moscow
Clothing: pay 64.3% more in Moscow

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

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Moscow vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 22.5% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Moscow
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$11.70 RUB966.60	-20.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$7.02 RUB579.96	-4.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$1.62 RUB133.67	-33.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$0.84 RUB69.07	-62.9%
Average			-22.5%

Bucharest vs. Moscow - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.7% more for groceries

	Bucharest	Moscow
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$1.02 RUB84.09	-22.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$7.14 RUB589.78	+63.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$4.61 RUB381.19	-25.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$1.86 RUB154.04	-49.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$2.98 RUB246.54	-2.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$0.93 RUB77.02	+63.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$0.81 RUB67.24	+12.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$0.90 RUB74.52	+31.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$1.79 RUB147.60	+56.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$0.41 RUB33.58	+11.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$0.32 RUB26.73	-5.5%
Average			+5.7%

Bucharest vs. Moscow - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.4% more for transportation

	Bucharest	Moscow
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$3.31 RUB273.63	-55.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	$40.65 RUB3,358.95	+94.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$38,895.19 RUB3M	+36.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$10.06 RUB831.28	+78.2%
Average			+3.4%

Bucharest vs. Moscow - Cost of transportation

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pay 70.8% more for housing

	Bucharest	Moscow
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$9.88 RUB816.43	+6.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$1,454.91 RUB120K	+114.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$804.40 RUB66,468.30	+78.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$142.85 RUB11,803.57	-3.4%
Average			+70.8%

Bucharest vs. Moscow - Cost of housing

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pay 54.0% more for childcare

	Bucharest	Moscow
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$809.00 RUB66,848.36	+29.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$26,421.03 RUB2M	+83.8%
Average			+54.0%

Bucharest vs. Moscow - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Moscow
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$4.68 RUB386.64	+24.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$3.70 RUB305.66	+5.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$3.45 RUB285.15	-46.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$42.01 RUB3,471.49	-14.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$9.36 RUB773.28	+11.9%
Average			-1.9%

Bucharest vs. Moscow - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 64.3% more for clothing

	Bucharest	Moscow
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$108.46 RUB8,962.59	+22.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$62.47 RUB5,161.67	+62.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$145.30 RUB12,006.61	+86.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$180.19 RUB14,889.43	+96.5%
Average			+64.3%

Bucharest vs. Moscow - 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

Bucharest is about 11 times smaller than Moscow.

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