Cost of living comparison
compared to
Madrid vs. Budapest Cost of Living Summary
Madrid is 30.9% more expensive than Budapest.
Madrid vs. Budapest Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Madrid instead of Budapest, you would:
pay 24.7% more for restaurants
|
Budapest
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$13.77
HUF4,451.76
|
$17.92
€15.95
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.17
HUF3,289.36
|
$11.20
€9.97
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.08
HUF673.49
|
$3.30
€2.94
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.83
HUF591.19
|
$2.30
€2.05
|
|
Budapest vs. Madrid - Cost of restaurants
pay 24.4% more for groceries
|
Budapest
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.80
HUF580.67
|
$1.57
€1.39
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.57
HUF1,802.14
|
$8.35
€7.43
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.40
HUF1,421.11
|
$5.25
€4.67
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.88
HUF1,253.03
|
$4.15
€3.69
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.10
HUF1,003.00
|
$4.23
€3.76
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.85
HUF274.62
|
$1.17
€1.04
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.94
HUF303.05
|
$0.96
€0.85
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.06
HUF341.51
|
$1.15
€1.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.73
HUF558.38
|
$1.16
€1.03
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.45
HUF144.57
|
$1.00
€0.89
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.46
HUF147.52
|
$0.97
€0.86
|
|
Budapest vs. Madrid - Cost of groceries
pay 13.9% more for transportation
|
Budapest
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$7.07
HUF2,284.96
|
$6.88
€6.12
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$27.54
HUF8,903.52
|
$36.95
€32.89
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$29,374.56
HUF9M
|
$35,271.67
€31,393.06
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$14.14
HUF4,570.47
|
$15.84
€14.10
|
|
Budapest vs. Madrid - Cost of transportation
pay 69.4% more for housing
|
Budapest
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$23.57
HUF7,621.57
|
$34.86
€31.03
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$817.66
HUF264K
|
$1,491.38
€1,327.38
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$631.44
HUF204K
|
$1,193.86
€1,062.58
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$132.77
HUF42,926.20
|
$144.11
€128.26
|
|
Budapest vs. Madrid - Cost of housing
pay 15.2% more for childcare
|
Budapest
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$539.65
HUF174K
|
$668.48
€594.97
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$16,674.34
HUF5M
|
$17,859.91
€15,895.97
|
|
Budapest vs. Madrid - Cost of childcare
pay 4.4% less for entertainment and sports
|
Budapest
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.67
HUF1,187.14
|
$3.92
€3.49
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.35
HUF1,081.59
|
$3.07
€2.74
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.96
HUF2,572.13
|
$6.72
€5.98
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$67.07
HUF21,685.02
|
$50.67
€45.10
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$9.33
HUF3,017.30
|
$11.20
€9.97
|
|
Budapest vs. Madrid - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 5.6% less for clothing
|
Budapest
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$100.01
HUF32,333.83
|
$86.50
€76.99
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$42.98
HUF13,894.99
|
$42.98
€38.25
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$113.36
HUF36,650.47
|
$108.99
€97.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$118.19
HUF38,210.94
|
$112.77
€100.37
|
|
Budapest vs. Madrid - Cost of clothing
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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