Barcelona vs. Thessaloniki Cost of Living Summary

Barcelona is 39.9% more expensive than Thessaloniki.

Restaurants
pay 21.0% more in Barcelona
Groceries
pay 10.1% more in Barcelona
Transportation
pay 9.0% more in Barcelona
Housing
pay 2.1 times more in Barcelona
Childcare
pay 91.7% more in Barcelona
Entertainment and Sports
pay 7.3% less in Barcelona
Clothing
pay 11.5% less in Barcelona

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

Barcelona vs. Thessaloniki Cost Breakdown

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

pay 21.0% more for restaurants

 
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $16.80
€14.95
$17.92
€15.95
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.20
€9.97
$13.44
€11.96
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.94
€2.62
$2.98
€2.65

Improve prices ·

pay 10.1% more for groceries

 
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
Bread
1 loaf
$1.74
€1.55
$1.99
€1.78
Local cheese (8 oz) $7.09
€6.31
$8.79
€7.83
Milk (1 gallon) $6.57
€5.85
$4.83
€4.29

Improve prices ·

pay 9.0% more for transportation

 
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
Gasoline (1 gallon) $8.75
€7.79
$6.87
€6.12
Monthly public transit pass $17.92
€15.95
$25.53
€22.72
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $27,970.99
€24,895.19
$35,271.67
€31,393.06

Improve prices ·

pay 2.1 times more for housing

 
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$30.47
€27.12
$35.30
€31.42
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $627.05
€558.10
$1,671.42
€1,487.62
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $492.02
€437.92
$1,296.44
€1,153.88

Improve prices ·

pay 91.7% more for childcare

 
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $476.59
€424.18
$951.83
€847.16
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $9,030.67
€8,037.62
$16,609.14
€14,782.73

Improve prices ·

pay 7.3% less for entertainment and sports

 
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.60
€4.98
$3.92
€3.49
Cappuccino in mid-range area $4.21
€3.75
$3.23
€2.88
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$5.60
€4.98
$7.00
€6.23

Improve prices ·

pay 11.5% less for clothing

 
Thessaloniki
Barcelona
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$96.78
€86.14
$87.34
€77.74
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$45.46
€40.46
$39.19
€34.88
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$121.17
€107.85
$105.13
€93.57

Improve prices ·

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

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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