Cost of living comparison

Canada

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 25.3% cheaper than Ottawa.

Restaurants: pay 12.4% less in Budapest
Groceries: pay 31.0% less in Budapest
Transportation: pay 12.6% less in Budapest
Housing: pay 39.4% less in Budapest
Childcare: pay 22.0% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.8% less in Budapest
Clothing: pay 25.4% more in Budapest

Expenses including housing, groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, transportation, and restaurants are lower in Budapest.

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Budapest vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Budapest instead of Ottawa, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.4% less for restaurants

	Ottawa	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$18.24 CA$26.01	$13.77 HUF4,485.49	-24.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.52 CA$15.01	$10.17 HUF3,314.28	-3.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 CA$2.95	$2.08 HUF678.60	+0.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.74 CA$2.48	$1.83 HUF595.67	+5.4%
Average			-12.4%

Ottawa vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 31.0% less for groceries

	Ottawa	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$3.07 CA$4.38	$1.80 HUF585.07	-41.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 CA$7.52	$5.57 HUF1,815.79	+5.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.65 CA$12.33	$4.40 HUF1,431.88	-49.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.38 CA$4.81	$3.88 HUF1,262.53	+14.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.07 CA$7.23	$3.10 HUF1,010.60	-38.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.72 CA$2.45	$0.85 HUF276.70	-50.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CA$0.88	$0.94 HUF305.34	+52.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.75 CA$2.50	$1.06 HUF344.10	-39.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 CA$2.34	$1.73 HUF562.62	+5.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 CA$1.67	$0.45 HUF145.67	-61.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 CA$1.54	$0.46 HUF148.64	-57.8%
Average			-31.0%

Ottawa vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.6% less for transportation

	Ottawa	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.48 CA$6.39	$7.07 HUF2,302.27	+57.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$94.69 CA$135.06	$27.54 HUF8,970.99	-70.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,760.48 CA$39,598.93	$29,374.56 HUF10M	+5.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.45 CA$20.61	$14.14 HUF4,605.11	-2.2%
Average			-12.6%

Ottawa vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.4% less for housing

	Ottawa	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.74 CA$70.95	$23.57 HUF7,679.33	-52.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,478.74 CA$2,109.34	$817.66 HUF266K	-44.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,220.86 CA$1,741.50	$631.44 HUF206K	-48.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$103.40 CA$147.49	$132.77 HUF43,251.49	+28.4%
Average			-39.4%

Ottawa vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 22.0% less for childcare

	Ottawa	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$927.38 CA$1,322.85	$539.65 HUF176K	-41.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,956.31 CA$22,760.88	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+4.5%
Average			-22.0%

Ottawa vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Ottawa	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.61 CA$8.00	$3.67 HUF1,196.13	-34.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.04 CA$5.77	$3.35 HUF1,089.79	-17.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.31 CA$20.41	$7.96 HUF2,591.62	-44.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.45 CA$64.83	$67.07 HUF21,849.34	+47.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.65 CA$18.05	$9.33 HUF3,040.17	-26.2%
Average			-14.8%

Ottawa vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.4% more for clothing

	Ottawa	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.13 CA$85.77	$100.01 HUF32,578.86	+66.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.89 CA$54.04	$42.98 HUF14,000.28	+13.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.98 CA$151.17	$113.36 HUF36,928.20	+7.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.50 CA$137.65	$118.19 HUF38,500.50	+22.5%
Average			+25.4%

Ottawa vs. Budapest - 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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Ottawa is about 5 times bigger than Budapest.

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