Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Romania

Bucharest vs. Saint Petersburg Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 5.7% more expensive than Saint Petersburg.

Restaurants: pay 38.1% more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 8.9% more in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 3.1% less in Bucharest
Housing: pay 2.8% more in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 2.4% less in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.0% more in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 24.9% less in Bucharest

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

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Bucharest vs. Saint Petersburg Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bucharest instead of Saint Petersburg, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 38.1% more for restaurants

	Saint Petersburg	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.46 RUB976.26	$14.64 RON69.77	+27.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.43 RUB547.90	$7.32 RON34.89	+13.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.49 RUB127.01	$2.42 RON11.53	+62.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 RUB58.37	$2.25 RON10.73	+228.5%
Average			+38.1%

Saint Petersburg vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.9% more for groceries

	Saint Petersburg	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 RUB79.20	$1.32 RON6.29	+41.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.02 RUB512.63	$4.36 RON20.78	-27.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.17 RUB355.25	$6.22 RON29.62	+49.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 RUB139.71	$3.67 RON17.48	+123.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.85 RUB242.54	$3.05 RON14.55	+7.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.77 RUB65.29	$0.57 RON2.72	-25.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 RUB61.87	$0.72 RON3.45	-0.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RUB64.06	$0.69 RON3.28	-8.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.38 RUB117.87	$1.15 RON5.46	-17.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.36 RUB30.55	$0.36 RON1.74	+1.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 RUB23.88	$0.34 RON1.63	+22.1%
Average			+8.9%

Saint Petersburg vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1% less for transportation

	Saint Petersburg	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.25 RUB277.12	$7.45 RON35.52	+129.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$52.51 RUB4,471.85	$20.91 RON99.67	-60.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,093.40 RUB3M	$28,531.98 RON136K	-18.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$7.60 RUB647.52	$5.65 RON26.91	-25.7%
Average			-3.1%

Saint Petersburg vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8% more for housing

	Saint Petersburg	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.55 RUB728.46	$9.27 RON44.16	+8.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$730.46 RUB62,205.90	$677.15 RON3,227.32	-7.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$437.21 RUB37,232.22	$451.32 RON2,151.00	+3.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$112.08 RUB9,544.76	$147.83 RON704.56	+31.9%
Average			+2.8%

Saint Petersburg vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4% less for childcare

	Saint Petersburg	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$549.43 RUB46,789.24	$627.11 RON2,988.79	+14.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,234.08 RUB1M	$14,371.87 RON68,496.31	-16.6%
Average			-2.4%

Saint Petersburg vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Saint Petersburg	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.63 RUB224.14	$3.76 RON17.94	+43.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 RUB257.83	$3.51 RON16.71	+15.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.92 RUB249.04	$6.43 RON30.65	+119.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$39.61 RUB3,373.30	$49.22 RON234.57	+24.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.02 RUB597.71	$8.37 RON39.87	+19.2%
Average			+32.0%

Saint Petersburg vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 24.9% less for clothing

	Saint Petersburg	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$92.36 RUB7,865.29	$88.76 RON423.04	-3.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.79 RUB4,325.52	$38.43 RON183.17	-24.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$134.52 RUB11,456.07	$77.83 RON370.96	-42.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$121.11 RUB10,313.39	$91.69 RON436.99	-24.3%
Average			-24.9%

Saint Petersburg vs. Bucharest - 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Saint Petersburg is about 6 times bigger than Bucharest.

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