Cost of living comparison

Bulgaria

compared to

Romania

Cluj-napoca vs. Sofia Cost of Living Summary

Cluj-napoca is 11.5% cheaper than Sofia.

Restaurants: pay 16.7% less in Cluj-napoca
Groceries: pay 17.1% less in Cluj-napoca
Transportation: pay 2.2% more in Cluj-napoca
Housing: pay 15.6% less in Cluj-napoca
Childcare: pay 23.7% less in Cluj-napoca
Entertainment and Sports: pay 1.8% more in Cluj-napoca
Clothing: pay 1.5% more in Cluj-napoca

The cost of transportation, entertainment and sports, and clothing in Cluj-napoca are more expensive than in Sofia. Expenses including childcare, groceries, restaurants, and housing are lower in Cluj-napoca.

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Cluj-napoca vs. Sofia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Cluj-napoca instead of Sofia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.7% less for restaurants

	Sofia	Cluj-napoca
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 BGN29.23	$12.55 RON59.36	-25.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.61 BGN20.20	$9.41 RON44.52	-18.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 BGN4.21	$2.36 RON11.17	-2.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.80 BGN3.14	$2.30 RON10.88	+27.6%
Average			-16.7%

Sofia vs. Cluj-napoca - Cost of restaurants

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pay 17.1% less for groceries

	Sofia	Cluj-napoca
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 BGN2.66	$1.47 RON6.96	-3.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.70 BGN9.92	$4.67 RON22.07	-18.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.46 BGN12.99	$5.98 RON28.31	-19.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.37 BGN7.60	$3.76 RON17.81	-13.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.92 BGN6.81	$3.26 RON15.44	-16.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 BGN1.72	$0.64 RON3.01	-35.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 BGN1.60	$0.76 RON3.58	-17.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.86 BGN1.49	$0.87 RON4.11	+1.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93 BGN3.36	$1.10 RON5.19	-43.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 BGN0.84	$0.42 RON1.98	-12.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 BGN0.71	$0.43 RON2.02	+5.0%
Average			-17.1%

Sofia vs. Cluj-napoca - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2% more for transportation

	Sofia	Cluj-napoca
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.58 BGN11.46	$7.15 RON33.82	+8.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.55 BGN49.69	$30.53 RON144.44	+6.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,149.36 BGN52,468.33	$28,531.98 RON135K	-5.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.05 BGN15.75	$8.38 RON39.62	-7.4%
Average			+2.2%

Sofia vs. Cluj-napoca - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.6% less for housing

	Sofia	Cluj-napoca
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$15.37 BGN26.74	$9.59 RON45.38	-37.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$780.20 BGN1,357.77	$631.85 RON2,989.04	-19.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$603.04 BGN1,049.46	$521.69 RON2,467.90	-13.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$121.09 BGN210.73	$118.38 RON560.03	-2.2%
Average			-15.6%

Sofia vs. Cluj-napoca - Cost of housing

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pay 23.7% less for childcare

	Sofia	Cluj-napoca
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$763.67 BGN1,328.99	$584.35 RON2,764.34	-23.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,650.99 BGN22,016.26	$9,620.21 RON45,509.37	-24.0%
Average			-23.7%

Sofia vs. Cluj-napoca - Cost of childcare

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pay 1.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Sofia	Cluj-napoca
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.44 BGN5.98	$3.24 RON15.33	-5.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.53 BGN6.15	$3.70 RON17.50	+4.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.25 BGN7.40	$6.27 RON29.68	+47.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.61 BGN81.12	$46.33 RON219.18	-0.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.08 BGN17.54	$9.41 RON44.52	-6.6%
Average			+1.8%

Sofia vs. Cluj-napoca - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.5% more for clothing

	Sofia	Cluj-napoca
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$89.18 BGN155.21	$88.57 RON418.97	-0.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.94 BGN71.25	$46.13 RON218.20	+12.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.72 BGN185.72	$99.46 RON470.48	-6.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.41 BGN185.18	$108.52 RON513.35	+2.0%
Average			+1.5%

Sofia vs. Cluj-napoca - 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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