Cost of living comparison
compared to
Boulder vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary
Boulder is 31.6% more expensive than Madrid.
Boulder vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Boulder instead of Madrid, you would:
pay 8.3% more for restaurants
|
Madrid
|
Boulder
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.92
€15.95
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.20
€9.97
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
€2.94
|
$2.71
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
€2.05
|
$2.25
|
|
Madrid vs. Boulder - Cost of restaurants
pay 23.0% more for groceries
|
Madrid
|
Boulder
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.57
€1.39
|
$3.23
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.35
€7.43
|
$5.88
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.25
€4.67
|
$3.58
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.15
€3.69
|
$5.60
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.23
€3.76
|
$5.00
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.17
€1.04
|
$2.50
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.96
€0.85
|
$0.63
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.15
€1.02
|
$2.02
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.16
€1.03
|
$2.14
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.00
€0.89
|
$1.12
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.97
€0.86
|
$1.16
|
|
Madrid vs. Boulder - Cost of groceries
pay 16.2% more for transportation
|
Madrid
|
Boulder
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.88
€6.12
|
$4.04
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$36.95
€32.89
|
$150.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,271.67
€31,393.06
|
$35,405.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.84
€14.10
|
$13.68
|
|
Madrid vs. Boulder - Cost of transportation
pay 49.7% more for housing
|
Madrid
|
Boulder
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$34.86
€31.03
|
$74.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,491.38
€1,327.38
|
$2,396.00
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,193.86
€1,062.58
|
$1,812.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$144.11
€128.26
|
$153.05
|
|
Madrid vs. Boulder - Cost of housing
pay 2.0 times more for childcare
|
Madrid
|
Boulder
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$668.48
€594.97
|
$1,601.39
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$17,859.91
€15,895.97
|
$30,700.00
|
|
Madrid vs. Boulder - Cost of childcare
pay 55.4% more for entertainment and sports
|
Madrid
|
Boulder
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.92
€3.49
|
$6.00
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.07
€2.74
|
$5.50
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.72
€5.98
|
$10.67
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.67
€45.10
|
$81.86
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.20
€9.97
|
$15.00
|
|
Madrid vs. Boulder - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 12.3% less for clothing
|
Madrid
|
Boulder
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$86.50
€76.99
|
$58.36
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$42.98
€38.25
|
$35.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$108.99
€97.00
|
$92.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$112.77
€100.37
|
$143.75
|
|
Madrid vs. Boulder - 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 October 2026). How we calculate this
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Compare further: Madrid vs. Boulder
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