Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

United Kingdom

Cardiff vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary

Cardiff is 8.1% more expensive than Madrid.

Restaurants: pay 0.3% more in Cardiff
Groceries: pay 7.5% less in Cardiff
Transportation: pay 32.3% more in Cardiff
Housing: pay 3.8% less in Cardiff
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Cardiff
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.0% more in Cardiff
Clothing: pay 4.7% more in Cardiff

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

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Cardiff vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 0.3% more for restaurants

	Madrid	Cardiff
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.92 €16.07	$19.82 £14.84	+10.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €10.05	$10.57 £7.91	-5.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$3.30 €2.96	$3.00 £2.25	-9.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.30 €2.06	$2.02 £1.51	-12.3%
Average			+0.3%

Madrid vs. Cardiff - Cost of restaurants

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pay 7.5% less for groceries

	Madrid	Cardiff
Bread 1 loaf	$1.57 €1.41	$1.45 £1.08	-7.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.35 €7.49	$4.67 £3.49	-44.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.25 €4.71	$6.67 £4.99	+27.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.15 €3.72	$3.70 £2.77	-10.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.23 €3.79	$3.91 £2.92	-7.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 €1.05	$1.24 £0.93	+5.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.96 €0.86	$0.68 £0.51	-28.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.15 €1.03	$1.37 £1.03	+19.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.16 €1.04	$1.62 £1.21	+39.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.00 €0.89	$0.88 £0.66	-11.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.97 €0.87	$0.69 £0.52	-29.0%
Average			-7.5%

Madrid vs. Cardiff - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.3% more for transportation

	Madrid	Cardiff
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.88 €6.17	$7.98 £5.97	+16.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$36.95 €33.15	$79.29 £59.36	+114.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,271.67 €31,643.98	$38,182.92 £28,586.44	+8.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.84 €14.21	$18.16 £13.59	+14.6%
Average			+32.3%

Madrid vs. Cardiff - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.8% less for housing

	Madrid	Cardiff
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$34.86 €31.28	$44.27 £33.15	+27.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,491.38 €1,337.99	$1,148.33 £859.72	-23.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,193.86 €1,071.07	$1,093.71 £818.83	-8.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$144.11 €129.28	$260.37 £194.93	+80.7%
Average			-3.8%

Madrid vs. Cardiff - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Madrid	Cardiff
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$668.48 €599.73	$1,996.84 £1,494.97	+198.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,859.91 €16,023.02	$32,375.20 £24,238.38	+81.3%
Average			+132.7%

Madrid vs. Cardiff - Cost of childcare

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pay 28.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Madrid	Cardiff
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.92 €3.52	$7.60 £5.69	+93.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.07 €2.76	$4.52 £3.39	+47.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €6.03	$23.46 £17.56	+249.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.67 €45.46	$37.79 £28.29	-25.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €10.05	$10.57 £7.91	-5.6%
Average			+28.0%

Madrid vs. Cardiff - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.7% more for clothing

	Madrid	Cardiff
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$86.50 €77.60	$98.79 £73.96	+14.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.98 €38.56	$48.09 £36.01	+11.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.99 €97.78	$117.93 £88.29	+8.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$112.77 €101.17	$97.86 £73.27	-13.2%
Average			+4.7%

Madrid vs. Cardiff - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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