Amsterdam vs Barcelona - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Amsterdam	Barcelona
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3203	$2116
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7246	$4761
🏠 One person rent	$2108	$1285
🏘️ Family rent	$3473	$2102
🍽️ Food expenses	$661	$515
🚐 Transport expenses	$259	$161
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5294	$2516
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	95	98
😀 Quality of life	96	90
🏙️ Population	921K	1.73M

The cost of living in Amsterdam is 51% more expensive than in Barcelona. Cities ranked 126th and 1722nd ($3203 vs $2116) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in the Netherlands and Spain, respectively. Check the Netherlands vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Amsterdam compared to 1.2 months in Barcelona. Amsterdam ranked 2nd best city to live in the Netherlands vs Barcelona ranked 2nd in Spain, while ranked 13th and 205th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/amsterdam/barcelona.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Amsterdam vs Barcelona infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/amsterdam/barcelona" target="_blank">Amsterdam vs Barcelona - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Amsterdam vs Barcelona

Prices for goods and services in Amsterdam and Barcelona are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Amsterdam	Barcelona
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.2	$17.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$95.4	$64.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$15.6	$14.1
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.09	$6.02
☕ Cappuccino	$4.91	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$4.03	$2.73
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2237	$1395
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1767	$1073
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3877	$2392
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2931	$1768
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$193	$111
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$298	$173
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.1	$36.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.62%	3.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$11192	$7050
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7947	$4924
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.78	$3.17
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$109	$27.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$33.8	$20.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$2.38	$1.8
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$1.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.59	$1.7
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$1.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.54	$4.24
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$17.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$9.59
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$23	$20.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.33	$2.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$2.34
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.16	$2.85
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.15	$2.11
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$1.99
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$0.6
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.68	$2.49
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.48	$7.46
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.9	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$15	$7.25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.94	$6.65
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.81	$3.57
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$2.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.99	$2.88
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.9	$56.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.8	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$43.8	$73
💇 Haircut, simple	$38.4	$20
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$92.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$121	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2472	$777
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21156	$16675

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Amsterdam

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Purmerend	$2223
18 km or 11 mi	Haarlem	$2822
21 km or 13 mi	IJmuiden	$2383
22 km or 14 mi	Almere	$2440
25 km or 16 mi	Zandvoort	$1907
26 km or 16 mi	Hilversum	$2636
26 km or 16 mi	Huizen	$2383
35 km or 22 mi	Langedijk	$2338
36 km or 22 mi	Utrecht	$2669
38 km or 23 mi	Leiden	$2348
38 km or 24 mi	Oegstgeest	$2258
40 km or 25 mi	Zeist	$2457
42 km or 26 mi	Lelystad	$1512
48 km or 30 mi	Leidschendam	$2481
49 km or 30 mi	Harderwijk	$2172
52 km or 32 mi	The Hague	$2701
53 km or 33 mi	Scheveningen	$2471
55 km or 34 mi	Delft	$2389
57 km or 36 mi	Dronten	$2058
59 km or 36 mi	Rotterdam	$2637
60 km or 37 mi	Veenendaal	$1822
61 km or 38 mi	Ridderkerk	$2403
64 km or 40 mi	Sliedrecht	$2332
64 km or 40 mi	Ede	$1848
65 km or 40 mi	Elburg	$2136
66 km or 41 mi	Tiel	$2721
67 km or 42 mi	Zaltbommel	$2369
70 km or 43 mi	Wageningen	$2360
72 km or 45 mi	Kampen	$2106
75 km or 47 mi	Apeldoorn	$2119
76 km or 47 mi	Texel	$2260
81 km or 50 mi	's-Hertogenbosch	$2337
82 km or 51 mi	Arnhem	$2189
83 km or 51 mi	Zwolle	$2002
83 km or 52 mi	Zwartewaterland	$2094
86 km or 54 mi	Deventer	$2055
89 km or 55 mi	Nijmegen	$2200
89 km or 55 mi	Sneek	$2132
89 km or 55 mi	Breda	$2206
91 km or 57 mi	Tilburg	$2340

Cities near Barcelona

Distance	City	Cost of living
7 km or 4.4 mi	L'Hospitalet de Llobregat	$1812
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Badalona	$2155
9.3 km or 5.8 mi	Cornella de Llobregat	$1656
12 km or 7.5 mi	Sant Boi de Llobregat	$1603
13 km or 8 mi	Ripollet	$1708
17 km or 11 mi	Rubi	$1580
19 km or 12 mi	Sabadell	$1685
24 km or 15 mi	Terrassa	$1473
27 km or 17 mi	Granollers	$1623
28 km or 18 mi	Mataro	$1609
42 km or 26 mi	Vilanova i la Geltru	$1478
48 km or 30 mi	Manresa	$1210
61 km or 38 mi	Vic	$1161
65 km or 40 mi	Lloret de Mar	$1367
83 km or 52 mi	Tarragona	$1531
85 km or 53 mi	Girona	$1741
117 km or 73 mi	Figueres	$1550
131 km or 81 mi	Lleida	$1264
136 km or 85 mi	Andorra la Vella	$1878
141 km or 88 mi	Ordino	$1877
158 km or 98 mi	Perpignan	$1390
176 km or 109 mi	Vinaros	$1493
206 km or 128 mi	Palma de Mallorca	$2000
208 km or 129 mi	Ciutadella de Menorca	$1645
212 km or 131 mi	Narbonne	$1230
230 km or 143 mi	Huesca	$1201
234 km or 145 mi	Beziers	$1509
242 km or 150 mi	Mahon	$1659
245 km or 152 mi	Castellon de la Plana	$1215
247 km or 154 mi	Castres	$1585
250 km or 156 mi	Villarreal	$1267
253 km or 157 mi	Borriana	$1296
254 km or 158 mi	Toulouse	$1709
257 km or 159 mi	Zaragoza	$1471
269 km or 167 mi	Tarbes	$1569
281 km or 174 mi	Sagunto	$1415
282 km or 175 mi	Ibiza	$2879
284 km or 177 mi	Montpellier	$1663
299 km or 186 mi	Pau	$1347
303 km or 189 mi	Valencia	$1797