Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 43.0% more expensive than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 5.4% more in Budapest
Transportation: pay 53.9% more in Budapest
Housing: pay 56.3% more in Budapest
Childcare: pay 15.4% more in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 66.2% more in Budapest
Clothing: pay 5.3% less in Budapest

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, transportation, childcare, and groceries in Budapest are more expensive than in Ulaanbaatar. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in Budapest.

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Budapest vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$13.77 HUF4,488.80	+147.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$10.17 HUF3,316.72	+83.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$2.08 HUF679.09	+143.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$1.83 HUF596.11	+209.7%
Average			+127.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.4% more for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$1.80 HUF585.50	+80.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$5.57 HUF1,817.13	-9.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$4.40 HUF1,432.93	-19.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$3.88 HUF1,263.46	+84.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$3.10 HUF1,011.35	+40.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$0.85 HUF276.91	-38.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$0.94 HUF305.57	-14.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$1.06 HUF344.35	-37.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$1.73 HUF563.03	+25.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$0.45 HUF145.78	+35.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$0.46 HUF148.75	-5.1%
Average			+5.4%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 53.9% more for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$7.07 HUF2,303.97	+63.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$27.54 HUF8,977.60	+65.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$29,374.56 HUF10M	+9.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$14.14 HUF4,608.50	+190.7%
Average			+53.9%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 56.3% more for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$23.57 HUF7,684.98	+72.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$817.66 HUF267K	+43.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$631.44 HUF206K	+42.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$132.77 HUF43,283.35	+144.1%
Average			+56.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 15.4% more for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$539.65 HUF176K	-34.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$16,674.34 HUF5M	+101.8%
Average			+15.4%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 66.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$3.67 HUF1,197.01	+55.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$3.35 HUF1,090.59	+38.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$7.96 HUF2,593.53	+373.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$67.07 HUF21,865.44	-1.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$9.33 HUF3,042.41	+123.9%
Average			+66.2%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.3% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$100.01 HUF32,602.86	+22.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$42.98 HUF14,010.60	-5.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$113.36 HUF36,955.41	+10.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$118.19 HUF38,528.86	-37.0%
Average			-5.3%

Ulaanbaatar 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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