Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Bulgaria

Sofia vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Sofia is 7.3% cheaper than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 57.8% more in Sofia
Groceries: pay 24.2% more in Sofia
Transportation: pay 6.7% more in Sofia
Housing: pay 30.7% less in Sofia
Childcare: pay 32.8% less in Sofia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.5% less in Sofia
Clothing: pay 30.5% less in Sofia

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

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Sofia vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sofia instead of Moscow, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 57.8% more for restaurants

	Moscow	Sofia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB966.60	$16.80 BGN29.23	+43.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB579.96	$11.61 BGN20.20	+65.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB133.67	$2.42 BGN4.21	+49.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB69.07	$1.80 BGN3.14	+115.7%
Average			+57.8%

Moscow vs. Sofia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 24.2% more for groceries

	Moscow	Sofia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB84.09	$1.53 BGN2.66	+50.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB589.78	$5.70 BGN9.92	-20.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB381.19	$7.46 BGN12.99	+61.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB154.04	$4.37 BGN7.60	+134.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB246.54	$3.92 BGN6.81	+31.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB77.02	$0.99 BGN1.72	+6.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB67.24	$0.92 BGN1.60	+12.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB74.52	$0.86 BGN1.49	-5.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB147.60	$1.93 BGN3.36	+8.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB33.58	$0.48 BGN0.84	+18.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB26.73	$0.41 BGN0.71	+25.7%
Average			+24.2%

Moscow vs. Sofia - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.7% more for transportation

	Moscow	Sofia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB273.63	$6.58 BGN11.46	+98.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,358.95	$28.55 BGN49.69	-29.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$30,149.36 BGN52,468.33	-22.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB831.28	$9.05 BGN15.75	-10.1%
Average			+6.7%

Moscow vs. Sofia - Cost of transportation

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pay 30.7% less for housing

	Moscow	Sofia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB816.43	$15.37 BGN26.74	+55.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB120K	$780.20 BGN1,357.77	-46.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB66,468.30	$603.04 BGN1,049.46	-25.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB11,803.57	$121.09 BGN210.73	-15.2%
Average			-30.7%

Moscow vs. Sofia - Cost of housing

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pay 32.8% less for childcare

	Moscow	Sofia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB66,848.36	$763.67 BGN1,328.99	-5.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$12,650.99 BGN22,016.26	-52.1%
Average			-32.8%

Moscow vs. Sofia - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Sofia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB386.64	$3.44 BGN5.98	-26.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB305.66	$3.53 BGN6.15	-4.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB285.15	$4.25 BGN7.40	+23.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,471.49	$46.61 BGN81.12	+10.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB773.28	$10.08 BGN17.54	+7.7%
Average			-0.5%

Moscow vs. Sofia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 30.5% less for clothing

	Moscow	Sofia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB8,962.59	$89.18 BGN155.21	-17.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,161.67	$40.94 BGN71.25	-34.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB12,006.61	$106.72 BGN185.72	-26.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB14,889.43	$106.41 BGN185.18	-40.9%
Average			-30.5%

Moscow vs. Sofia - 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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