Cost of living comparison

Bulgaria

compared to

Croatia

Zagreb vs. Sofia Cost of Living Summary

Zagreb is 5.6% more expensive than Sofia.

Restaurants: pay 18.6% less in Zagreb
Groceries: pay 0.8% more in Zagreb
Transportation: pay 22.5% more in Zagreb
Housing: pay 19.3% more in Zagreb
Childcare: pay 28.8% less in Zagreb
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.3% less in Zagreb
Clothing: pay 3.3% more in Zagreb

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

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Zagreb vs. Sofia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Zagreb instead of Sofia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.6% less for restaurants

	Sofia	Zagreb
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 BGN29.23	$12.32 HRK82.58	-26.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.61 BGN20.20	$8.12 HRK54.42	-30.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.42 BGN4.21	$3.04 HRK20.36	+25.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.80 BGN3.14	$2.59 HRK17.36	+43.6%
Average			-18.6%

Sofia vs. Zagreb - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.8% more for groceries

	Sofia	Zagreb
Bread 1 loaf	$1.53 BGN2.66	$1.63 HRK10.95	+7.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.70 BGN9.92	$7.46 HRK50.04	+30.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.46 BGN12.99	$4.78 HRK32.05	-35.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.37 BGN7.60	$3.93 HRK26.33	-10.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.92 BGN6.81	$5.41 HRK36.30	+38.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.99 BGN1.72	$1.04 HRK6.96	+5.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.92 BGN1.60	$0.79 HRK5.32	-13.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.86 BGN1.49	$0.95 HRK6.35	+10.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.93 BGN3.36	$1.15 HRK7.71	-40.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 BGN0.84	$0.60 HRK4.05	+26.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 BGN0.71	$0.53 HRK3.54	+29.7%
Average			+0.8%

Sofia vs. Zagreb - Cost of groceries

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pay 22.5% more for transportation

	Sofia	Zagreb
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.58 BGN11.46	$7.15 HRK47.92	+8.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$28.55 BGN49.69	$53.50 HRK358.68	+87.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,149.36 BGN52,468.33	$27,993.39 HRK188K	-7.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.05 BGN15.75	$13.44 HRK90.08	+48.5%
Average			+22.5%

Sofia vs. Zagreb - Cost of transportation

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pay 19.3% more for housing

	Sofia	Zagreb
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$15.37 BGN26.74	$40.80 HRK273.55	+165.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$780.20 BGN1,357.77	$869.66 HRK5,830.31	+11.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$603.04 BGN1,049.46	$659.99 HRK4,424.62	+9.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$121.09 BGN210.73	$167.33 HRK1,121.83	+38.2%
Average			+19.3%

Sofia vs. Zagreb - Cost of housing

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pay 28.8% less for childcare

	Sofia	Zagreb
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$763.67 BGN1,328.99	$494.08 HRK3,312.40	-35.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,650.99 BGN22,016.26	$9,918.06 HRK66,491.85	-21.6%
Average			-28.8%

Sofia vs. Zagreb - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Sofia	Zagreb
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.44 BGN5.98	$3.36 HRK22.52	-2.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.53 BGN6.15	$2.50 HRK16.73	-29.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.25 BGN7.40	$5.77 HRK38.66	+35.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.61 BGN81.12	$50.32 HRK337.34	+8.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.08 BGN17.54	$8.96 HRK60.05	-11.1%
Average			-5.3%

Sofia vs. Zagreb - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.3% more for clothing

	Sofia	Zagreb
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$89.18 BGN155.21	$105.08 HRK704.49	+17.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.94 BGN71.25	$43.32 HRK290.43	+5.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.72 BGN185.72	$94.92 HRK636.35	-11.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.41 BGN185.18	$109.43 HRK733.62	+2.8%
Average			+3.3%

Sofia vs. Zagreb - 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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