Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

Russia

Moscow vs. Chisinau Cost of Living Summary

Moscow is 41.0% more expensive than Chisinau.

Restaurants: pay 3.3% less in Moscow
Groceries: pay 23.3% more in Moscow
Transportation: pay 21.7% more in Moscow
Housing: pay 66.0% more in Moscow
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Moscow
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.8% more in Moscow
Clothing: pay 37.6% more in Moscow

The cost of childcare, housing, clothing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and transportation in Moscow are more expensive than in Chisinau. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Moscow.

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Moscow vs. Chisinau Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Moscow instead of Chisinau, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.3% less for restaurants

	Chisinau	Moscow
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.22 MDL201.58	$11.70 RUB966.60	+4.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.70 MDL156.22	$7.02 RUB579.96	-19.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.21 MDL21.71	$1.62 RUB133.67	+33.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MDL16.00	$0.84 RUB69.07	-6.1%
Average			-3.3%

Chisinau vs. Moscow - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.3% more for groceries

	Chisinau	Moscow
Bread 1 loaf	$0.71 MDL12.77	$1.02 RUB84.09	+43.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.89 MDL87.82	$7.14 RUB589.78	+46.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MDL85.03	$4.61 RUB381.19	-2.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.79 MDL50.06	$1.86 RUB154.04	-33.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.36 MDL42.34	$2.98 RUB246.54	+26.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 MDL7.87	$0.93 RUB77.02	+112.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.68	$0.81 RUB67.24	-6.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.94 MDL16.87	$0.90 RUB74.52	-4.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.01 MDL18.06	$1.79 RUB147.60	+77.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.61	$0.41 RUB33.58	+30.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.25 MDL4.42	$0.32 RUB26.73	+31.5%
Average			+23.3%

Chisinau vs. Moscow - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.7% more for transportation

	Chisinau	Moscow
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.44 MDL115.64	$3.31 RUB273.63	-48.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.52 MDL242.90	$40.65 RUB3,358.95	+200.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,507.41 MDL530K	$38,895.19 RUB3M	+31.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.94 MDL88.69	$10.06 RUB831.28	+103.8%
Average			+21.7%

Chisinau vs. Moscow - Cost of transportation

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pay 66.0% more for housing

	Chisinau	Moscow
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.59 MDL190.33	$9.88 RUB816.43	-6.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$679.74 MDL12,212.58	$1,454.91 RUB120K	+114.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$435.34 MDL7,821.60	$804.40 RUB66,468.30	+84.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$185.85 MDL3,339.13	$142.85 RUB11,803.57	-23.1%
Average			+66.0%

Chisinau vs. Moscow - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Chisinau	Moscow
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$434.06 MDL7,798.47	$809.00 RUB66,848.36	+86.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,841.67 MDL105K	$26,421.03 RUB2M	+352.3%
Average			+190.3%

Chisinau vs. Moscow - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Chisinau	Moscow
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.24 MDL40.32	$4.68 RUB386.64	+108.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 MDL38.87	$3.70 RUB305.66	+71.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.42 MDL61.48	$3.45 RUB285.15	+0.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$41.67 MDL748.71	$42.01 RUB3,471.49	+0.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 MDL151.18	$9.36 RUB773.28	+11.2%
Average			+32.8%

Chisinau vs. Moscow - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 37.6% more for clothing

	Chisinau	Moscow
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.80 MDL1,433.71	$108.46 RUB8,962.59	+35.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.07 MDL845.61	$62.47 RUB5,161.67	+32.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$114.14 MDL2,050.64	$145.30 RUB12,006.61	+27.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.56 MDL2,076.23	$180.19 RUB14,889.43	+55.9%
Average			+37.6%

Chisinau vs. Moscow - 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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