Barcelona vs New York City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Barcelona	New York City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2129	$4202
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4730	$9189
🏠 One person rent	$1308	$2718
🏘️ Family rent	$2082	$4417
🍽️ Food expenses	$510	$842
🚐 Transport expenses	$158	$400
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2324	$5389
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	98	100
😀 Quality of life	90	95
🏙️ Population	1.73M	8.8M

The cost of living in Barcelona is 49% less expensive than in New York City. Cities ranked 1659th and 4th ($2129 vs $4202) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in Spain and the United States, respectively. Check Spain vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Barcelona compared to 1.3 months in New York City. Barcelona ranked 2nd best city to live in Spain vs New York City ranked 2nd in the United States, while ranked 174th and 15th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Barcelona vs New York City

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

	Barcelona	New York City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$17.3	$22.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.1	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.9	$13.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.8	$8.3
☕ Cappuccino	$3.43	$6.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.8	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1418	$3692
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1098	$2206
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2417	$5140
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1738	$3874
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$112	$144
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$173	$218
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35	$70.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.04%	6.31%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7636	$18073
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5246	$7831
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.07	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$26.7	$138
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20	$27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.75	$1.02
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.29	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.84	$4.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$5.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$6.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.4	$16.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.71	$14.6
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19	$18.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.03	$6.3
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$5.79
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$6.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.14	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$3.96
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.58	$1.67
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.35	$3.57
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.04	$19.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.41	$4.61
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.1	$18.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.48	$23.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.42	$14
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.99	$8.02
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.77	$2.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$56.3	$132
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.5	$21.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$72.6	$159
💇 Haircut, simple	$19	$40.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$91.4	$61.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$866	$2095
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16301	$21713

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	$1773
7.4 km or 4.6 mi	Badalona	$2084
9.3 km or 5.8 mi	Cornella de Llobregat	$1626
12 km or 7.5 mi	Sant Boi de Llobregat	$1586
13 km or 8 mi	Ripollet	$1660
17 km or 11 mi	Rubi	$1538
19 km or 12 mi	Sabadell	$1623
24 km or 15 mi	Terrassa	$1367
27 km or 17 mi	Granollers	$1588
28 km or 18 mi	Mataro	$1584
42 km or 26 mi	Vilanova i la Geltru	$1455
48 km or 30 mi	Manresa	$1145
61 km or 38 mi	Vic	$1142
65 km or 40 mi	Lloret de Mar	$1344
83 km or 52 mi	Tarragona	$1524
85 km or 53 mi	Girona	$1749
117 km or 73 mi	Figueres	$1506
131 km or 81 mi	Lleida	$1245
136 km or 85 mi	Andorra la Vella	$1836
141 km or 88 mi	Ordino	$1830
158 km or 98 mi	Perpignan	$1328
176 km or 109 mi	Vinaros	$1494
206 km or 128 mi	Palma de Mallorca	$2017
208 km or 129 mi	Ciutadella de Menorca	$1628
212 km or 131 mi	Narbonne	$1202
230 km or 143 mi	Huesca	$1166
234 km or 145 mi	Beziers	$1474
242 km or 150 mi	Mahon	$1658
245 km or 152 mi	Castellon de la Plana	$1183
247 km or 154 mi	Castres	$1596
250 km or 156 mi	Villarreal	$1238
253 km or 157 mi	Borriana	$1271
254 km or 158 mi	Toulouse	$1709
257 km or 159 mi	Zaragoza	$1436
269 km or 167 mi	Tarbes	$1558
281 km or 174 mi	Sagunto	$1408
282 km or 175 mi	Ibiza	$2775
284 km or 177 mi	Montpellier	$1644
299 km or 186 mi	Pau	$1351
303 km or 189 mi	Valencia	$1812

Cities near New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192