Cost of living comparison

Latvia

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Riga Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 8.1% more expensive than Riga.

Restaurants: pay 1.4% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 3.7% more in Budapest
Transportation: pay 3.8% less in Budapest
Housing: pay 25.3% more in Budapest
Childcare: pay 11.1% less in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.9% less in Budapest
Clothing: pay 8.6% more in Budapest

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

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Budapest vs. Riga Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 1.4% more for restaurants

	Riga	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	-18.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.24 €8.22	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	+10.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.61 €1.44	$2.08 HUF673.49	+29.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 €1.05	$1.83 HUF591.19	+55.2%
Average			+1.4%

Riga vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.7% more for groceries

	Riga	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.43 €1.27	$1.80 HUF580.67	+25.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.22 €4.65	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	+6.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.41 €3.92	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-0.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.76 €3.34	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	+3.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.91 €3.48	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	-20.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.00 €0.89	$0.85 HUF274.62	-14.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.73	$0.94 HUF303.05	+13.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 €1.00	$1.06 HUF341.51	-6.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.40 €1.24	$1.73 HUF558.38	+23.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.40 €0.36	$0.45 HUF144.57	+11.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.42 €0.37	$0.46 HUF147.52	+8.5%
Average			+3.7%

Riga vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.8% less for transportation

	Riga	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.75 €6.90	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	-8.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.59 €29.90	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	-18.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,308.11 €24,305.20	$29,374.56 HUF9M	+7.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.42 €10.17	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	+23.8%
Average			-3.8%

Riga vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.3% more for housing

	Riga	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$20.41 €18.17	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	+15.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$582.45 €518.40	$817.66 HUF264K	+40.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$385.02 €342.68	$631.44 HUF204K	+64.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$286.52 €255.02	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	-53.7%
Average			+25.3%

Riga vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 11.1% less for childcare

	Riga	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$645.25 €574.29	$539.65 HUF174K	-16.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,635.84 €15,696.53	$16,674.34 HUF5M	-5.5%
Average			-11.1%

Riga vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Riga	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	-34.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.72 €3.31	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	-10.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+18.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.91 €44.42	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+34.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.75 €9.57	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	-13.2%
Average			-4.9%

Riga vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.6% more for clothing

	Riga	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.42 €61.79	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	+44.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.39 €44.85	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	-14.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.85 €76.41	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	+32.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.10 €122.91	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	-14.4%
Average			+8.6%

Riga 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

Compare further: Riga vs. Budapest

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Size Comparison · See true size

Riga is about 1.7 times smaller than Budapest.

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