Cost of living comparison
compared to
Bucharest vs. Romania Cost of Living Summary
Bucharest is 26.9% more expensive than Romania overall.
- Restaurants
-
pay 23.8% more in Bucharest
- Groceries
-
pay 19.4% more in Bucharest
- Transportation
-
pay 1.0% less in Bucharest
- Housing
-
pay 39.7% more in Bucharest
- Childcare
-
pay 56.0% more in Bucharest
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 29.8% more in Bucharest
- Clothing
-
pay 20.8% more in Bucharest
The cost of childcare, housing, entertainment and sports, restaurants, clothing, and groceries in Bucharest are more expensive than in Romania.
Bucharest vs. Romania Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Bucharest instead of Romania, you would:
pay 23.8% more for restaurants
|
Romania
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$10.04
RON43.55
|
$13.80
RON59.83
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$7.48
RON32.43
|
$8.05
RON34.90
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.94
RON8.41
|
$2.27
RON9.86
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.61
RON7.00
|
$2.15
RON9.31
|
|
Romania vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants
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pay 19.4% more for groceries
|
Romania
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.18
RON5.12
|
$1.44
RON6.26
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$4.01
RON17.40
|
$4.98
RON21.61
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.61
RON24.32
|
$6.67
RON28.91
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.05
RON13.21
|
$3.62
RON15.69
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.90
RON12.58
|
$3.38
RON14.66
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$0.51
RON2.20
|
$0.64
RON2.79
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.70
RON3.02
|
$0.79
RON3.41
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.70
RON3.05
|
$0.80
RON3.48
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.93
RON4.04
|
$1.18
RON5.14
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.39
RON1.70
|
$0.46
RON2.02
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.42
RON1.80
|
$0.47
RON2.04
|
|
Romania vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries
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pay 1.0% less for transportation
|
Romania
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.02
RON26.11
|
$6.36
RON27.56
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$23.52
RON101.97
|
$23.00
RON99.71
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$27,339.27
RON118,540.36
|
$28,745.54
RON124,637.81
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$7.08
RON30.70
|
$6.21
RON26.92
|
|
Romania vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation
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pay 39.7% more for housing
|
Romania
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$9.24
RON40.06
|
$11.39
RON49.38
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$390.19
RON1,691.84
|
$647.24
RON2,806.39
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$289.13
RON1,253.63
|
$432.85
RON1,876.81
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$116.41
RON504.74
|
$139.60
RON605.29
|
|
Romania vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing
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pay 56.0% more for childcare
|
Romania
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$526.34
RON2,282.14
|
$664.86
RON2,882.78
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$7,853.44
RON34,051.71
|
$14,582.52
RON63,228.34
|
|
Romania vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare
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pay 29.8% more for entertainment and sports
|
Romania
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.34
RON10.17
|
$3.45
RON14.96
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.50
RON10.85
|
$3.28
RON14.23
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$5.88
RON25.50
|
$6.67
RON28.92
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$42.19
RON182.95
|
$52.49
RON227.60
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$6.90
RON29.93
|
$9.20
RON39.88
|
|
Romania vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports
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pay 20.8% more for clothing
|
Romania
|
Bucharest
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$66.67
RON289.08
|
$80.54
RON349.21
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$38.50
RON166.92
|
$45.47
RON197.17
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$78.13
RON338.76
|
$93.98
RON407.47
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$88.57
RON384.04
|
$109.75
RON475.87
|
|
Romania vs. Bucharest - Cost of clothing
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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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