Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 23.6% cheaper than Madrid.

Restaurants: pay 19.8% less in Budapest
Groceries: pay 19.6% less in Budapest
Transportation: pay 12.2% less in Budapest
Housing: pay 41.0% less in Budapest
Childcare: pay 13.2% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.6% more in Budapest
Clothing: pay 6.0% more in Budapest

The cost of clothing and entertainment and sports in Budapest are more expensive than in Madrid. Expenses including housing, restaurants, groceries, childcare, and transportation are lower in Budapest.

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Budapest vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Budapest instead of Madrid, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.8% less for restaurants

	Madrid	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €15.95	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	-23.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	-9.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.30 €2.94	$2.08 HUF673.49	-36.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.30 €2.05	$1.83 HUF591.19	-20.5%
Average			-19.8%

Madrid vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 19.6% less for groceries

	Madrid	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.57 €1.39	$1.80 HUF580.67	+14.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.35 €7.43	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	-33.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.25 €4.67	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-16.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.15 €3.69	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	-6.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.23 €3.76	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	-26.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 €1.04	$0.85 HUF274.62	-27.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 €0.85	$0.94 HUF303.05	-2.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.15 €1.02	$1.06 HUF341.51	-8.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 €1.03	$1.73 HUF558.38	+49.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.00 €0.89	$0.45 HUF144.57	-55.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.97 €0.86	$0.46 HUF147.52	-52.9%
Average			-19.6%

Madrid vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.2% less for transportation

	Madrid	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.88 €6.12	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	+2.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$36.95 €32.89	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	-25.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	$29,374.56 HUF9M	-16.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.84 €14.10	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	-10.8%
Average			-12.2%

Madrid vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.0% less for housing

	Madrid	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.86 €31.03	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	-32.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,491.38 €1,327.38	$817.66 HUF264K	-45.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,193.86 €1,062.58	$631.44 HUF204K	-47.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$144.11 €128.26	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	-7.9%
Average			-41.0%

Madrid vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 13.2% less for childcare

	Madrid	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$668.48 €594.97	$539.65 HUF174K	-19.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,859.91 €15,895.97	$16,674.34 HUF5M	-6.6%
Average			-13.2%

Madrid vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Madrid	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 €3.49	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	-6.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.07 €2.74	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	+8.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+18.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.67 €45.10	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+32.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	-16.7%
Average			+4.6%

Madrid vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.0% more for clothing

	Madrid	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.50 €76.99	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	+15.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.98 €38.25	$42.98 HUF13,894.99
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.99 €97.00	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	+4.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.77 €100.37	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	+4.8%
Average			+6.0%

Madrid 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Madrid is around the same size as Budapest.

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