Cost of living comparison
compared to
Madrid vs. Chapel Hill Cost of Living Summary
Madrid is 12.4% cheaper than Chapel Hill.
Madrid vs. Chapel Hill Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Madrid instead of Chapel Hill, you would:
pay 6.7% more for restaurants
|
Chapel Hill
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$18.00
|
$17.92
€16.07
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.00
|
$11.20
€10.05
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.90
|
$3.30
€2.96
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.00
|
$2.30
€2.06
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Madrid - Cost of restaurants
pay 41.4% less for groceries
|
Chapel Hill
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.68
|
$1.57
€1.41
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.04
|
$8.35
€7.49
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.36
|
$5.25
€4.71
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.44
|
$4.15
€3.72
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$6.23
|
$4.23
€3.79
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.60
|
$1.17
€1.05
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.82
|
$0.96
€0.86
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$3.10
|
$1.15
€1.03
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.76
|
$1.16
€1.04
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$2.18
|
$1.00
€0.89
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.80
|
$0.97
€0.87
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Madrid - Cost of groceries
pay 29.2% more for transportation
|
Chapel Hill
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.68
|
$6.88
€6.17
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$36.95
€33.15
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,535.00
|
$35,271.67
€31,643.98
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$20.34
|
$15.84
€14.21
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Madrid - Cost of transportation
pay 14.9% less for housing
|
Chapel Hill
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$70.83
|
$34.86
€31.28
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,766.67
|
$1,491.38
€1,337.99
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,300.00
|
$1,193.86
€1,071.07
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$168.71
|
$144.11
€129.28
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Madrid - Cost of housing
pay 7.7% less for childcare
|
Chapel Hill
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,400.00
|
$668.48
€599.73
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$10,000.00
|
$17,859.91
€16,023.02
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Madrid - Cost of childcare
pay 29.1% less for entertainment and sports
|
Chapel Hill
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.00
|
$3.92
€3.52
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.75
|
$3.07
€2.76
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.95
|
$6.72
€6.03
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$78.00
|
$50.67
€45.46
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.50
|
$11.20
€10.05
|
|
Chapel Hill vs. Madrid - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 27.5% more for clothing
|
Chapel Hill
|
Madrid
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$39.00
|
$86.50
€77.60
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$31.25
|
$42.98
€38.56
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$103.33
|
$108.99
€97.78
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$137.50
|
$112.77
€101.17
|
|
Chapel Hill 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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