Cost of living comparison

compared to

HsinChu vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary

HsinChu is 45.1% cheaper than Madrid.

Restaurants
pay 71.4% less in HsinChu
Groceries
pay 16.7% more in HsinChu
Transportation
pay 26.1% less in HsinChu
Housing
pay 70.4% less in HsinChu
Childcare
pay 2.5% more in HsinChu
Entertainment and Sports
pay 20.4% less in HsinChu
Clothing
pay 21.9% less in HsinChu

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

HsinChu vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown

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

pay 71.4% less for restaurants

 
Madrid
HsinChu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $17.92
€16.25
$3.77
NT$123.89
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.20
€10.16
$4.71
NT$154.87
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $3.30
€3.00
$0.94
NT$30.80

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pay 16.7% more for groceries

 
Madrid
HsinChu
Bread
1 loaf
$1.57
€1.42
$1.70
NT$55.96
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.35
€7.58
$18.05
NT$593.66
Milk (1 gallon) $5.25
€4.76
$10.87
NT$357.60

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pay 26.1% less for transportation

 
Madrid
HsinChu
Gasoline (1 gallon) $6.88
€6.24
$3.83
NT$125.84
Monthly public transit pass $36.95
€33.52
$40.18
NT$1,321.53
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $35,271.67
€31,996.70
$33,523.97
NT$1M

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pay 70.4% less for housing

 
Madrid
HsinChu
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$34.86
€31.63
$21.44
NT$705.33
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,491.38
€1,352.91
$436.10
NT$14,344.09
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,193.86
€1,083.01
$259.67
NT$8,540.89

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pay 2.5% more for childcare

 
Madrid
HsinChu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $668.48
€606.41
$753.35
NT$24,778.66
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $17,859.91
€16,201.62
$16,663.11
NT$548K

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pay 20.4% less for entertainment and sports

 
Madrid
HsinChu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $3.92
€3.56
$1.88
NT$61.95
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.07
€2.79
$2.98
NT$98.08
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$6.72
€6.09
$3.92
NT$129.06

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pay 21.9% less for clothing

 
Madrid
HsinChu
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$86.50
€78.47
$57.29
NT$1,884.21
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$42.98
€38.99
$35.71
NT$1,174.41
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$108.99
€98.87
$78.47
NT$2,581.11

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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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