Cost of living comparison

Bulgaria

compared to

Macedonia

Macedonia vs. Bulgaria Cost of Living Summary

Macedonia is 15.2% cheaper than Bulgaria overall.

Restaurants: pay 30.4% less in Macedonia
Groceries: pay 22.8% less in Macedonia
Transportation: pay 3.1% more in Macedonia
Housing: pay 17.1% less in Macedonia
Childcare: pay 31.1% less in Macedonia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.5% less in Macedonia
Clothing: pay 21.4% more in Macedonia

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

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Macedonia vs. Bulgaria Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Macedonia instead of Bulgaria, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 30.4% less for restaurants

	Bulgaria	Macedonia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.15 BGN17.66	$6.53 MKD358.14	-35.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.64 BGN16.77	$5.60 MKD306.88	-41.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.44 BGN2.50	$1.62 MKD88.84	+12.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 BGN1.75	$1.16 MKD63.63	+15.4%
Average			-30.4%

Bulgaria vs. Macedonia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.8% less for groceries

	Bulgaria	Macedonia
Bread 1 loaf	$0.95 BGN1.65	$0.71 MKD38.75	-25.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 BGN8.16	$3.67 MKD201.39	-21.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.44 BGN11.21	$4.67 MKD256.29	-27.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.03 BGN5.28	$2.26 MKD123.77	-25.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.28 BGN5.70	$2.91 MKD159.35	-11.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.70 BGN1.22	$0.50 MKD27.49	-28.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85 BGN1.47	$0.63 MKD34.55	-25.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 BGN1.39	$0.57 MKD31.16	-28.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 BGN1.82	$0.80 MKD43.84	-23.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 BGN0.89	$0.40 MKD21.80	-21.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 BGN0.77	$0.40 MKD22.03	-8.7%
Average			-22.8%

Bulgaria vs. Macedonia - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1% more for transportation

	Bulgaria	Macedonia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.06 BGN10.54	$5.60 MKD306.85	-7.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.17 BGN40.33	$28.04 MKD1,537.62	+21.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,114.16 BGN52,407.07	$33,276.49 MKD2M	+10.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.01 BGN12.19	$5.79 MKD317.47	-17.4%
Average			+3.1%

Bulgaria vs. Macedonia - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.1% less for housing

	Bulgaria	Macedonia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.39 BGN23.30	$17.88 MKD980.35	+33.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$353.09 BGN614.48	$264.34 MKD14,495.35	-25.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$263.80 BGN459.09	$198.42 MKD10,880.86	-24.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.79 BGN144.08	$99.81 MKD5,473.34	+20.6%
Average			-17.1%

Bulgaria vs. Macedonia - Cost of housing

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pay 31.1% less for childcare

	Bulgaria	Macedonia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$384.45 BGN669.05	$287.04 MKD15,740.45	-25.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,445.67 BGN11,217.27	$4,102.29 MKD225K	-36.4%
Average			-31.1%

Bulgaria vs. Macedonia - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Bulgaria	Macedonia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.06 BGN3.59	$2.05 MKD112.36	-0.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 BGN3.77	$1.69 MKD92.77	-21.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.64 BGN6.33	$3.13 MKD171.51	-14.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.52 BGN54.86	$29.36 MKD1,609.84	-6.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.19 BGN12.52	$5.90 MKD323.66	-18.0%
Average			-12.5%

Bulgaria vs. Macedonia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.4% more for clothing

	Bulgaria	Macedonia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.90 BGN86.85	$61.13 MKD3,351.93	+22.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.26 BGN50.92	$35.04 MKD1,921.63	+19.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.75 BGN135.31	$88.54 MKD4,855.41	+13.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$76.05 BGN132.34	$98.76 MKD5,415.92	+29.9%
Average			+21.4%

Bulgaria vs. Macedonia - 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: Bulgaria vs. Macedonia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Macedonia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 16 statistics

Be 3.5 times more likely to be unemployed in Macedonia

Size Comparison · See true size

Bulgaria is about 4.3 times bigger than Macedonia.

Moving from Bulgaria to Macedonia · UN DESA 2020

1,075 people born in Bulgaria live in Macedonia.

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