Cost of living comparison

Ukraine

compared to

Romania

Bucharest vs. Kiev Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 26.3% more expensive than Kiev.

Restaurants: pay 41.7% more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 17.4% more in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 20.1% more in Bucharest
Housing: pay 28.6% more in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 20.6% more in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 80.5% more in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 8.1% less in Bucharest

The cost of entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, childcare, transportation, and groceries in Bucharest are more expensive than in Kiev. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Bucharest.

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Bucharest vs. Kiev Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bucharest instead of Kiev, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 41.7% more for restaurants

	Kiev	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.14 UAH500.55	$14.64 RON69.25	+31.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.80 UAH350.38	$7.32 RON34.63	-6.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 UAH35.91	$2.42 RON11.44	+202.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 UAH25.60	$2.25 RON10.65	+295.1%
Average			+41.7%

Kiev vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.4% more for groceries

	Kiev	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 UAH39.33	$1.32 RON6.24	+50.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.12 UAH230.15	$4.36 RON20.63	-14.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.04 UAH226.38	$6.22 RON29.40	+23.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.02 UAH90.80	$3.67 RON17.35	+81.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.41 UAH108.20	$3.05 RON14.45	+26.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.55 UAH24.86	$0.57 RON2.70	+3.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 UAH31.93	$0.72 RON3.43	+1.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.84 UAH37.91	$0.69 RON3.25	-18.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.27 UAH56.96	$1.15 RON5.42	-9.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 UAH12.73	$0.36 RON1.73	+28.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.21 UAH9.54	$0.34 RON1.62	+61.3%
Average			+17.4%

Kiev vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

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pay 20.1% more for transportation

	Kiev	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.69 UAH300.55	$7.45 RON35.25	+11.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.14 UAH500.55	$20.91 RON98.93	+87.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,407.28 UAH1M	$28,531.98 RON135K	-3.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.79 UAH260.28	$5.65 RON26.71	-2.5%
Average			+20.1%

Kiev vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.6% more for housing

	Kiev	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$6.61 UAH297.04	$9.27 RON43.83	+40.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$632.91 UAH28,431.03	$677.15 RON3,203.34	+7.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$343.71 UAH15,439.93	$451.32 RON2,135.02	+31.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$76.57 UAH3,439.65	$147.83 RON699.33	+93.1%
Average			+28.6%

Kiev vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

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pay 20.6% more for childcare

	Kiev	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$411.05 UAH18,464.59	$627.11 RON2,966.59	+52.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,064.36 UAH677K	$14,371.87 RON67,987.54	-4.6%
Average			+20.6%

Kiev vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

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pay 80.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Kiev	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.34 UAH60.07	$3.76 RON17.81	+181.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.70 UAH76.44	$3.51 RON16.59	+106.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 UAH155.17	$6.43 RON30.42	+86.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.41 UAH1,635.74	$49.22 RON232.83	+35.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.57 UAH250.27	$8.37 RON39.57	+50.1%
Average			+80.5%

Kiev vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.1% less for clothing

	Kiev	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$74.25 UAH3,335.45	$88.76 RON419.90	+19.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.74 UAH1,785.28	$38.43 RON181.80	-3.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.27 UAH4,324.72	$77.83 RON368.20	-19.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$120.00 UAH5,390.50	$91.69 RON433.74	-23.6%
Average			-8.1%

Kiev vs. Bucharest - 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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