Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

Albania

Tirana vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

Tirana is 7.2% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 9.4% less in Tirana
Groceries: pay 26.8% more in Tirana
Transportation: pay 30.4% more in Tirana
Housing: pay 4.3% more in Tirana
Childcare: pay 43.9% less in Tirana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.9% less in Tirana
Clothing: pay 17.7% more in Tirana

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

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Tirana vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 9.4% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	Tirana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.64 RON69.25	$9.77 ALL794	-33.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.32 RON34.63	$10.99 ALL893	+50.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 RON11.44	$2.38 ALL193	-1.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.25 RON10.65	$1.26 ALL103	-43.9%
Average			-9.4%

Bucharest vs. Tirana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.8% more for groceries

	Bucharest	Tirana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.32 RON6.24	$1.18 ALL96	-10.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.36 RON20.63	$6.45 ALL524	+48.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.22 RON29.40	$8.47 ALL688	+36.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.67 RON17.35	$3.77 ALL306	+2.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.05 RON14.45	$4.12 ALL335	+34.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.57 RON2.70	$0.89 ALL72	+55.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 RON3.43	$1.12 ALL91	+54.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 RON3.25	$0.98 ALL80	+42.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.15 RON5.42	$0.84 ALL68	-26.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RON1.73	$0.47 ALL38	+27.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 RON1.62	$0.58 ALL47	+68.8%
Average			+26.8%

Bucharest vs. Tirana - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.4% more for transportation

	Bucharest	Tirana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.45 RON35.25	$8.77 ALL712	+17.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$20.91 RON98.93	$19.54 ALL1,587	-6.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$33,592.07 ALL3M	+17.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.65 RON26.71	$32.98 ALL2,678	+484.0%
Average			+30.4%

Bucharest vs. Tirana - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.3% more for housing

	Bucharest	Tirana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.27 RON43.83	$19.91 ALL1,617	+114.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$677.15 RON3,203.34	$828.78 ALL67,311	+22.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$451.32 RON2,135.02	$479.97 ALL38,982	+6.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.83 RON699.33	$74.95 ALL6,088	-49.3%
Average			+4.3%

Bucharest vs. Tirana - Cost of housing

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pay 43.9% less for childcare

	Bucharest	Tirana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$627.11 RON2,966.59	$344.43 ALL27,973	-45.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	$8,249.97 ALL670K	-42.6%
Average			-43.9%

Bucharest vs. Tirana - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	Tirana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.76 RON17.81	$3.54 ALL288	-5.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.51 RON16.59	$2.25 ALL183	-35.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.43 RON30.42	$4.76 ALL387	-25.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.22 RON232.83	$55.71 ALL4,525	+13.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.37 RON39.57	$9.77 ALL794	+16.8%
Average			-5.9%

Bucharest vs. Tirana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 17.7% more for clothing

	Bucharest	Tirana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.76 RON419.90	$69.87 ALL5,675	-21.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.43 RON181.80	$47.44 ALL3,853	+23.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.83 RON368.20	$122.26 ALL9,930	+57.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.69 RON433.74	$115.33 ALL9,367	+25.8%
Average			+17.7%

Bucharest vs. Tirana - 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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