Barcelona vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Barcelona	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1841	$1781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4103	$4027
🏠 One person rent	$1100	$1048
🏘️ Family rent	$1762	$1736
🍽️ Food expenses	$452	$445
🚐 Transport expenses	$152	$163
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2025	$2294
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	98	98
😀 Quality of life	87	90
🏙️ Population	1.7M	3.42M

The cost of living in Barcelona is 3% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 2276th and 2443rd ($1841 vs $1781) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 5th in Spain.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Barcelona compared to 1.3 months in Madrid. Ranked 2nd vs 1st best cities to live in Spain, and 270th vs 151st among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Barcelona vs Madrid infographic

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

Prices in Barcelona vs Madrid

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

	Barcelona	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15	$14.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$56.6	$57
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.3	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.49	$4.36
☕ Cappuccino	$2.87	$2.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.44	$2.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1176	$1203
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$912	$853
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2073	$2092
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1446	$1428
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$101	$94
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$157	$145
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$33.9	$30.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.43%	3.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5914	$6884
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4127	$3988
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.65	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.2	$32.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.7	$15.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.71	$1.74
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.12	$1.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.67	$1.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.17	$3.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.93	$8.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.5	$14.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$2.31
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.06	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$2.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$2.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.72	$1.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.77
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.53	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.29	$2.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.88	$6.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.31	$1.21
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.26	$6.25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.71	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.86	$3.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.16	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.38	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$54.6	$45
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.64	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$58.5	$58.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$24	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$80.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$97.1	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$635	$576
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13290	$10042

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Barcelona

Distance	City	Cost of living
7 km or 4.4 mi	L'Hospitalet de Llobregat	$1567
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Badalona	$1747
9.3 km or 5.8 mi	Cornella de Llobregat	$1434
12 km or 7.5 mi	Sant Boi de Llobregat	$1389
13 km or 8 mi	Ripollet	$1454
17 km or 11 mi	Rubi	$1393
19 km or 12 mi	Sabadell	$1431
24 km or 15 mi	Terrassa	$1361
27 km or 17 mi	Granollers	$1415
28 km or 18 mi	Mataro	$1428
42 km or 26 mi	Vilanova i la Geltru	$1269
48 km or 30 mi	Manresa	$1089
61 km or 38 mi	Vic	$1076
65 km or 40 mi	Lloret de Mar	$1237
83 km or 52 mi	Tarragona	$1217
85 km or 53 mi	Girona	$1539
117 km or 73 mi	Figueres	$1338
131 km or 81 mi	Lleida	$1235
136 km or 85 mi	Andorra la Vella	$1601
141 km or 88 mi	Ordino	$1592
158 km or 98 mi	Perpignan	$1197
176 km or 109 mi	Vinaros	$1275
206 km or 128 mi	Palma de Mallorca	$1696
208 km or 129 mi	Ciutadella de Menorca	$1435
212 km or 131 mi	Narbonne	$1093
230 km or 143 mi	Huesca	$1071
234 km or 145 mi	Beziers	$1233
242 km or 150 mi	Mahon	$1470
245 km or 152 mi	Castellon de la Plana	$1100
247 km or 154 mi	Castres	$1391
250 km or 156 mi	Villarreal	$1131
253 km or 157 mi	Borriana	$1150
254 km or 158 mi	Toulouse	$1499
257 km or 159 mi	Zaragoza	$1101
269 km or 167 mi	Tarbes	$1369
281 km or 174 mi	Sagunto	$1220
282 km or 175 mi	Ibiza	$2528
284 km or 177 mi	Montpellier	$1472
299 km or 186 mi	Pau	$1296
303 km or 189 mi	Valencia	$1522

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1565
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1530
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1433
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1573
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1389
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1387
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1309
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1293
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1056
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1204
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1285
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1084
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1201
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1235
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1212
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1086
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$812
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1098
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1286
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1107
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1209
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1157
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1261
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$983
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$947
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1241
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1220
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1316
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1101
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1126
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1532
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1241
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$930
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1241
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1100
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1324
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$806
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1204
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1221
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1522