Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

Romania

Bucharest vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Bucharest is 19.8% more expensive than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Bucharest
Groceries: pay 14.2% less in Bucharest
Transportation: pay 32.3% more in Bucharest
Housing: pay 22.9% more in Bucharest
Childcare: pay 15.5% more in Bucharest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 48.6% more in Bucharest
Clothing: pay 23.6% less in Bucharest

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

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Bucharest vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bucharest instead of Ulaanbaatar, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Bucharest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$14.64 RON70.01	+163.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$7.32 RON35.00	+31.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$2.42 RON11.57	+182.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$2.25 RON10.77	+281.4%
Average			+116.0%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Bucharest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.2% less for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Bucharest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$1.32 RON6.31	+32.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$4.36 RON20.85	-29.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$6.22 RON29.72	+13.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$3.67 RON17.54	+74.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$3.05 RON14.60	+37.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$0.57 RON2.73	-58.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$0.72 RON3.46	-33.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$0.69 RON3.29	-59.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$1.15 RON5.48	-16.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$0.36 RON1.74	+10.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$0.34 RON1.64	-28.8%
Average			-14.2%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Bucharest - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.3% more for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Bucharest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$7.45 RON35.64	+72.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$20.91 RON100.01	+25.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$28,531.98 RON136K	+6.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$5.65 RON27.00	+16.1%
Average			+32.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Bucharest - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.9% more for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Bucharest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$9.27 RON44.31	-32.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$677.15 RON3,238.29	+18.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$451.32 RON2,158.31	+1.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$147.83 RON706.95	+171.8%
Average			+22.9%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Bucharest - Cost of housing

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pay 15.5% more for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Bucharest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$627.11 RON2,998.95	-23.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$14,371.87 RON68,729.13	+73.9%
Average			+15.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Bucharest - Cost of childcare

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pay 48.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Bucharest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$3.76 RON18.00	+59.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$3.51 RON16.77	+45.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$6.43 RON30.75	+282.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$49.22 RON235.36	-27.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$8.37 RON40.01	+100.7%
Average			+48.6%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Bucharest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.6% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Bucharest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$88.76 RON424.48	+8.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$38.43 RON183.79	-15.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$77.83 RON372.22	-24.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$91.69 RON438.48	-51.1%
Average			-23.6%

Ulaanbaatar 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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