Cost of living comparison
compared to
Reading vs. Madrid Cost of Living Summary
Reading is 15.7% more expensive than Madrid.
Reading vs. Madrid Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Reading instead of Madrid, you would:
pay 7.1% more for restaurants
|
Madrid
|
Reading
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.92
€16.07
|
$24.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.20
€10.05
|
$11.50
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.30
€2.96
|
$2.42
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.30
€2.06
|
$1.53
|
|
Madrid vs. Reading - Cost of restaurants
pay 27.5% more for groceries
|
Madrid
|
Reading
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.57
€1.41
|
$3.28
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$8.35
€7.49
|
$6.61
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.25
€4.71
|
$4.90
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.15
€3.72
|
$5.14
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.23
€3.79
|
$6.00
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.17
€1.05
|
$1.95
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.96
€0.86
|
$0.90
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.15
€1.03
|
$2.05
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.16
€1.04
|
$1.51
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.00
€0.89
|
$1.14
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.97
€0.87
|
$1.25
|
|
Madrid vs. Reading - Cost of groceries
pay 22.5% less for transportation
|
Madrid
|
Reading
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.88
€6.17
|
$3.69
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$36.95
€33.15
|
?? | |
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,271.67
€31,643.98
|
$35,458.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.84
€14.21
|
$20.44
|
|
Madrid vs. Reading - Cost of transportation
pay 8.1% more for housing
|
Madrid
|
Reading
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$34.86
€31.28
|
$53.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,491.38
€1,337.99
|
$1,516.67
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,193.86
€1,071.07
|
$1,286.67
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$144.11
€129.28
|
$164.80
|
|
Madrid vs. Reading - Cost of housing
pay 4.2 times more for childcare
|
Madrid
|
Reading
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$668.48
€599.73
|
$3,379.10
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$17,859.91
€16,023.02
|
$60,882.67
|
|
Madrid vs. Reading - Cost of childcare
pay 34.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
Madrid
|
Reading
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$3.92
€3.52
|
$6.50
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.07
€2.76
|
$4.50
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$6.72
€6.03
|
$9.75
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$50.67
€45.46
|
$35.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$11.20
€10.05
|
$22.50
|
|
Madrid vs. Reading - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 9.2% more for clothing
|
Madrid
|
Reading
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$86.50
€77.60
|
$75.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$42.98
€38.56
|
$54.45
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$108.99
€97.78
|
$120.38
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$112.77
€101.17
|
$132.00
|
|
Madrid vs. Reading - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
Change currency:
Compare further: Madrid vs. Reading
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in Spain vs. United States.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Spain and United States.
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate.
Learn more
Ask the Elsewhere Community
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Reading or Madrid. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.