Cost of living comparison

Romania

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Cluj-napoca Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 15.3% more expensive than Cluj-napoca.

Restaurants: pay 3.4% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 12.8% more in Budapest
Transportation: pay 3.2% more in Budapest
Housing: pay 27.3% more in Budapest
Childcare: pay 26.5% more in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.6% more in Budapest
Clothing: pay 6.9% more in Budapest

The cost of housing, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, clothing, and restaurants in Budapest are more expensive than in Cluj-napoca.

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Budapest vs. Cluj-napoca Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Budapest instead of Cluj-napoca, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.4% more for restaurants

	Cluj-napoca	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.55 RON59.36	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	+9.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.41 RON44.52	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	+8.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.36 RON11.17	$2.08 HUF673.49	-11.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.30 RON10.88	$1.83 HUF591.19	-20.5%
Average			+3.4%

Cluj-napoca vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.8% more for groceries

	Cluj-napoca	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.47 RON6.96	$1.80 HUF580.67	+22.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.67 RON22.07	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	+19.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.98 RON28.31	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-26.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 RON17.81	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	+3.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.26 RON15.44	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	-5.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.64 RON3.01	$0.85 HUF274.62	+33.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 RON3.58	$0.94 HUF303.05	+23.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 RON4.11	$1.06 HUF341.51	+21.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 RON5.19	$1.73 HUF558.38	+57.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.42 RON1.98	$0.45 HUF144.57	+6.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 RON2.02	$0.46 HUF147.52	+6.9%
Average			+12.8%

Cluj-napoca vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.2% more for transportation

	Cluj-napoca	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.15 RON33.82	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	-1.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.53 RON144.44	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	-9.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,531.98 RON135K	$29,374.56 HUF9M	+3.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.38 RON39.62	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	+68.8%
Average			+3.2%

Cluj-napoca vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 27.3% more for housing

	Cluj-napoca	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.59 RON45.38	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	+145.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$631.85 RON2,989.04	$817.66 HUF264K	+29.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$521.69 RON2,467.90	$631.44 HUF204K	+21.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.38 RON560.03	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	+12.2%
Average			+27.3%

Cluj-napoca vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 26.5% more for childcare

	Cluj-napoca	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$584.35 RON2,764.34	$539.65 HUF174K	-7.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,620.21 RON45,509.37	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+73.3%
Average			+26.5%

Cluj-napoca vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Cluj-napoca	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.24 RON15.33	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	+13.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RON17.50	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	-9.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.27 RON29.68	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+26.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.33 RON219.18	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+44.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.41 RON44.52	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	-0.8%
Average			+12.6%

Cluj-napoca vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.9% more for clothing

	Cluj-napoca	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$88.57 RON418.97	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	+12.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.13 RON218.20	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	-6.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.46 RON470.48	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	+14.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 RON513.35	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	+8.9%
Average			+6.9%

Cluj-napoca vs. Budapest - 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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