Cost of living comparison

Moldova

compared to

Russia

Russia vs. Moldova Cost of Living Summary

Russia is 9.5% more expensive than Moldova overall.

Restaurants: pay 4.2% less in Russia
Groceries: pay 14.0% more in Russia
Transportation: pay 12.4% less in Russia
Housing: pay 4.8% more in Russia
Childcare: pay 83.3% more in Russia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.3% more in Russia
Clothing: pay 51.3% more in Russia

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

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Russia vs. Moldova Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Russia instead of Moldova, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 4.2% less for restaurants

	Moldova	Russia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.35 MDL167.98	$10.83 RUB894.72	+15.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.74 MDL157.06	$6.39 RUB528.16	-26.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.02 MDL18.32	$1.16 RUB95.62	+13.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.67 MDL12.05	$0.60 RUB49.27	-11.1%
Average			-4.2%

Moldova vs. Russia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.0% more for groceries

	Moldova	Russia
Bread 1 loaf	$0.51 MDL9.13	$0.77 RUB63.38	+50.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.87 MDL69.59	$5.51 RUB455.14	+42.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.41 MDL79.21	$4.39 RUB362.53	-0.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MDL41.48	$1.57 RUB129.78	-32.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.20 MDL39.50	$2.44 RUB201.91	+11.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.45 MDL8.11	$0.84 RUB69.40	+86.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.93 MDL16.65	$0.80 RUB66.30	-13.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.87 MDL15.67	$0.81 RUB67.22	-6.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.04 MDL18.65	$1.33 RUB109.55	+27.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MDL5.63	$0.35 RUB29.18	+12.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.23 MDL4.22	$0.28 RUB23.52	+21.3%
Average			+14.0%

Moldova vs. Russia - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.4% less for transportation

	Moldova	Russia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.15 MDL110.50	$3.08 RUB254.77	-49.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.07 MDL306.73	$24.17 RUB1,997.57	+41.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,274.90 MDL580K	$32,081.81 RUB3M	-0.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.30 MDL77.27	$5.45 RUB450.28	+26.7%
Average			-12.4%

Moldova vs. Russia - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.8% more for housing

	Moldova	Russia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$10.64 MDL191.11	$8.47 RUB700.03	-20.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$414.42 MDL7,445.70	$496.53 RUB41,028.91	+19.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$301.91 MDL5,424.26	$335.29 RUB27,705.54	+11.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$134.34 MDL2,413.65	$92.30 RUB7,626.55	-31.3%
Average			+4.8%

Moldova vs. Russia - Cost of housing

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pay 83.3% more for childcare

	Moldova	Russia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$219.48 MDL3,943.33	$402.75 RUB33,279.52	+83.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,438.11 MDL97,703.64	$9,958.40 RUB823K	+83.1%
Average			+83.3%

Moldova vs. Russia - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Moldova	Russia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 MDL26.88	$2.06 RUB170.10	+37.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.77 MDL31.77	$2.73 RUB225.71	+54.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.38 MDL60.81	$2.85 RUB235.62	-15.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.66 MDL568.73	$37.43 RUB3,092.83	+18.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.45 MDL115.91	$6.26 RUB517.18	-3.0%
Average			+18.3%

Moldova vs. Russia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 51.3% more for clothing

	Moldova	Russia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.78 MDL948.25	$83.60 RUB6,907.85	+58.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.13 MDL685.02	$55.20 RUB4,561.14	+44.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.27 MDL1,657.83	$125.97 RUB10,408.90	+36.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$66.57 MDL1,196.02	$111.42 RUB9,206.92	+67.4%
Average			+51.3%

Moldova vs. Russia - 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

Compare further: Moldova vs. Russia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Russia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 2.0 times more money in Russia

Size Comparison · See true size

Moldova is about 505 times smaller than Russia.

Moving from Moldova to Russia · UN DESA 2020

294,152 people born in Moldova live in Russia.

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