Cost of living comparison

Bulgaria

compared to

Russia

Russia vs. Bulgaria Cost of Living Summary

Russia is 4.3% more expensive than Bulgaria overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.2% less in Russia
Groceries: pay 15.1% less in Russia
Transportation: pay 20.7% less in Russia
Housing: pay 25.3% more in Russia
Childcare: pay 27.2% more in Russia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0% more in Russia
Clothing: pay 65.5% more in Russia

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

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Russia vs. Bulgaria Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.2% less for restaurants

	Bulgaria	Russia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.15 BGN17.66	$10.83 RUB894.72	+6.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.64 BGN16.77	$6.39 RUB528.16	-33.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.44 BGN2.50	$1.16 RUB95.62	-19.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 BGN1.75	$0.60 RUB49.27	-40.7%
Average			-17.2%

Bulgaria vs. Russia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.1% less for groceries

	Bulgaria	Russia
Bread 1 loaf	$0.95 BGN1.65	$0.77 RUB63.38	-19.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.69 BGN8.16	$5.51 RUB455.14	+17.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.44 BGN11.21	$4.39 RUB362.53	-31.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.03 BGN5.28	$1.57 RUB129.78	-48.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.28 BGN5.70	$2.44 RUB201.91	-25.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.70 BGN1.22	$0.84 RUB69.40	+20.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.85 BGN1.47	$0.80 RUB66.30	-5.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 BGN1.39	$0.81 RUB67.22	+2.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.05 BGN1.82	$1.33 RUB109.55	+26.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 BGN0.89	$0.35 RUB29.18	-30.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 BGN0.77	$0.28 RUB23.52	-35.3%
Average			-15.1%

Bulgaria vs. Russia - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.7% less for transportation

	Bulgaria	Russia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.06 BGN10.54	$3.08 RUB254.77	-49.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.17 BGN40.33	$24.17 RUB1,997.57	+4.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,114.16 BGN52,407.07	$32,081.81 RUB3M	+6.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.01 BGN12.19	$5.45 RUB450.28	-22.2%
Average			-20.7%

Bulgaria vs. Russia - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.3% more for housing

	Bulgaria	Russia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.39 BGN23.30	$8.47 RUB700.03	-36.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$353.09 BGN614.48	$496.53 RUB41,028.91	+40.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$263.80 BGN459.09	$335.29 RUB27,705.54	+27.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.79 BGN144.08	$92.30 RUB7,626.55	+11.5%
Average			+25.3%

Bulgaria vs. Russia - Cost of housing

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pay 27.2% more for childcare

	Bulgaria	Russia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$384.45 BGN669.05	$402.75 RUB33,279.52	+4.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,445.67 BGN11,217.27	$9,958.40 RUB823K	+54.5%
Average			+27.2%

Bulgaria vs. Russia - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Bulgaria	Russia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.06 BGN3.59	$2.06 RUB170.10	-0.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.17 BGN3.77	$2.73 RUB225.71	+26.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.64 BGN6.33	$2.85 RUB235.62	-21.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.52 BGN54.86	$37.43 RUB3,092.83	+18.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.19 BGN12.52	$6.26 RUB517.18	-13.0%
Average			+3.0%

Bulgaria vs. Russia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 65.5% more for clothing

	Bulgaria	Russia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.90 BGN86.85	$83.60 RUB6,907.85	+67.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.26 BGN50.92	$55.20 RUB4,561.14	+88.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.75 BGN135.31	$125.97 RUB10,408.90	+62.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$76.05 BGN132.34	$111.42 RUB9,206.92	+46.5%
Average			+65.5%

Bulgaria vs. Russia - 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. Russia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Russia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 66.0% less likely to live below the poverty line in Russia

Size Comparison · See true size

Bulgaria is about 154 times smaller than Russia.

Moving from Bulgaria to Russia · UN DESA 2020

5,836 people born in Bulgaria live in Russia.

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