Cost of living comparison

Greece

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Thessaloniki Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 3.5% more expensive than Thessaloniki.

Restaurants: pay 6.3% less in Budapest
Groceries: pay 15.7% less in Budapest
Transportation: pay 5.6% more in Budapest
Housing: pay 17.5% more in Budapest
Childcare: pay 44.6% more in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.4% less in Budapest
Clothing: pay 4.9% less in Budapest

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

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Budapest vs. Thessaloniki Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.3% less for restaurants

	Thessaloniki	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	-18.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	-9.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.94 €2.62	$2.08 HUF673.49	-29.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.73 €0.65	$1.83 HUF591.19	+151.2%
Average			-6.3%

Thessaloniki vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.7% less for groceries

	Thessaloniki	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 €1.55	$1.80 HUF580.67	+3.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.09 €6.31	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	-21.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.57 €5.85	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-33.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.55 €4.94	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	-30.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.12 €4.56	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	-39.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.16 €1.03	$0.85 HUF274.62	-26.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 €0.88	$0.94 HUF303.05	-5.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.96 €0.86	$1.06 HUF341.51	+9.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 €1.14	$1.73 HUF558.38	+34.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 €0.51	$0.45 HUF144.57	-21.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.55 €0.49	$0.46 HUF147.52	-16.6%
Average			-15.7%

Thessaloniki vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.6% more for transportation

	Thessaloniki	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.75 €7.79	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	-19.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.92 €15.95	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	+53.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,970.99 €24,895.19	$29,374.56 HUF9M	+5.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.16 €11.71	$14.14 HUF4,570.47	+7.4%
Average			+5.6%

Thessaloniki vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 17.5% more for housing

	Thessaloniki	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.47 €27.12	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	-22.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$627.05 €558.10	$817.66 HUF264K	+30.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$492.02 €437.92	$631.44 HUF204K	+28.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$164.11 €146.06	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	-19.1%
Average			+17.5%

Thessaloniki vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 44.6% more for childcare

	Thessaloniki	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$476.59 €424.18	$539.65 HUF174K	+13.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,030.67 €8,037.62	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+84.6%
Average			+44.6%

Thessaloniki vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Thessaloniki	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.60 €4.98	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	-34.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.21 €3.75	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	-20.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.60 €4.98	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+42.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.63 €45.95	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+29.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.36 €9.22	$9.33 HUF3,017.30	-9.9%
Average			-5.4%

Thessaloniki vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 4.9% less for clothing

	Thessaloniki	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$96.78 €86.14	$100.01 HUF32,333.83	+3.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.46 €40.46	$42.98 HUF13,894.99	-5.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$121.17 €107.85	$113.36 HUF36,650.47	-6.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$131.78 €117.29	$118.19 HUF38,210.94	-10.3%
Average			-4.9%

Thessaloniki vs. Budapest - 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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