Cost of living comparison

Italy

compared to

Spain

Barcelona vs. Rome Cost of Living Summary

Barcelona is 11.5% more expensive than Rome.

Restaurants: pay 12.6% more in Barcelona
Groceries: pay 4.2% more in Barcelona
Transportation: pay 17.7% less in Barcelona
Housing: pay 31.5% more in Barcelona
Childcare: pay 38.7% more in Barcelona
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.7% less in Barcelona
Clothing: pay 12.8% more in Barcelona

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

Planning a move to Spain? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Barcelona vs. Rome Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Barcelona instead of Rome, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.6% more for restaurants

	Rome	Barcelona
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$17.92 €15.95	+6.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$13.44 €11.96	+20.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.96 €2.63	$2.98 €2.65	+0.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.48 €1.32	$1.91 €1.70	+29.1%
Average			+12.6%

Rome vs. Barcelona - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 4.2% more for groceries

	Rome	Barcelona
Bread 1 loaf	$2.22 €1.98	$1.99 €1.78	-10.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.42 €6.61	$8.79 €7.83	+18.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.49 €5.77	$4.83 €4.29	-25.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.66 €4.15	$4.93 €4.39	+5.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.66 €5.03	$4.13 €3.68	-26.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 €1.04	$1.37 €1.22	+17.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 €0.94	$0.91 €0.81	-13.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.09 €0.97	$1.20 €1.07	+10.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.96	$1.21 €1.08	+13.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 €0.57	$0.95 €0.85	+48.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.72 €0.64	$0.99 €0.88	+37.6%
Average			+4.2%

Rome vs. Barcelona - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 17.7% less for transportation

	Rome	Barcelona
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.04 €7.16	$6.87 €6.12	-14.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$39.19 €34.88	$25.53 €22.72	-34.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,551.60 €31,642.21	$35,271.67 €31,393.06	-0.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.16 €17.94	$14.90 €13.26	-26.1%
Average			-17.7%

Rome vs. Barcelona - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.5% more for housing

	Rome	Barcelona
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.87 €28.36	$35.30 €31.42	+10.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,208.81 €1,075.88	$1,671.42 €1,487.62	+38.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$873.39 €777.35	$1,296.44 €1,153.88	+48.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$157.13 €139.85	$138.62 €123.38	-11.8%
Average			+31.5%

Rome vs. Barcelona - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 38.7% more for childcare

	Rome	Barcelona
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$487.21 €433.63	$951.83 €847.16	+95.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,862.20 €15,007.96	$16,609.14 €14,782.73	-1.5%
Average			+38.7%

Rome vs. Barcelona - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Rome	Barcelona
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$3.92 €3.49	-30.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.07 €1.84	$3.23 €2.88	+56.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.28 €6.48	$7.00 €6.23	-3.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$65.43 €58.24	$53.11 €47.27	-18.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 €9.97	$11.20 €9.97
Average			-3.7%

Rome vs. Barcelona - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.8% more for clothing

	Rome	Barcelona
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.31 €63.47	$87.34 €77.74	+22.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.31 €32.32	$39.19 €34.88	+7.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.63 €74.43	$105.13 €93.57	+25.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.17 €109.63	$119.81 €106.64	-2.7%
Average			+12.8%

Rome vs. Barcelona - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Rome vs. Barcelona

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Barcelona?

Size Comparison · See true size

Rome is about 13 times bigger than Barcelona.

More cost comparisons

Rome vs.

London

Rome vs.

Washington

Rome vs.

Canberra

Rome vs.

Berlin

Rome vs.

Cairo

Rome vs.

Hanoi

Rome vs.

Bangkok

Rome vs.

Madrid

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Italy vs. Spain. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Italy and Spain.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Rome

Add prices for Barcelona

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Barcelona or Rome. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.