Berlin vs Budapest - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Berlin	Budapest
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2302	$1469
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5175	$3612
🏠 One person rent	$1280	$750
🏘️ Family rent	$2205	$1301
🍽️ Food expenses	$553	$441
🚐 Transport expenses	$315	$126
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3706	$1697
😷 Air quality	Good	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	19 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	100	92
😀 Quality of life	95	81
🏙️ Population	3.78M	1.69M

The cost of living in Berlin is 57% more expensive than in Budapest. Cities ranked 1275th and 4163rd ($2302 vs $1469) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1st in Germany and Hungary, respectively. Check Germany vs Hungary comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Berlin compared to 1.2 months in Budapest. Berlin ranked 7th best city to live in Germany vs Budapest ranked 1st in Hungary, while ranked 35th and 680th 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/berlin/budapest.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Berlin vs Budapest infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/berlin/budapest" target="_blank">Berlin vs Budapest - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Berlin vs Budapest

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

	Berlin	Budapest
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16	$12.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$65.2	$63.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.1	$9.41
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.17	$3.22
☕ Cappuccino	$4.72	$3.25
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.77	$1.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1324	$772
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$952	$593
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2341	$1424
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1711	$1053
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$208	$98.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$321	$151
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$46.4	$22.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.51%	6.95%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8913	$5742
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6080	$3887
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.45	$1.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$69.8	$27.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$29.9	$14.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.99	$1.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.37	$1.25
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.08	$1.79
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.94	$2.32
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$3.72
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$11.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.6	$7.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.6	$14.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.49	$2.31
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.07	$2.21
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.85	$2.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.62	$3.41
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.09
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.69	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.06	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.38	$5.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.33	$1.27
🚬 Cigarette pack	$10.1	$7.85
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$13.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.95	$4.31
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.69	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.17	$3.2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$35.2	$69.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.8	$9.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$68.6	$76.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.1	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.9	$107
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$135	$486
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10963	$15168

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Berlin

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Teltow	$1931
18 km or 11 mi	Hohen Neuendorf	$1930
18 km or 11 mi	Hennigsdorf	$1921
20 km or 13 mi	Falkensee	$1905
21 km or 13 mi	Bernau bei Berlin	$1940
25 km or 16 mi	Potsdam	$1940
25 km or 16 mi	Ludwigsfelde	$1889
28 km or 18 mi	Oranienburg	$1920
30 km or 19 mi	Konigs Wusterhausen	$1896
34 km or 21 mi	Werder	$1870
34 km or 21 mi	Strausberg	$1895
46 km or 29 mi	Eberswalde	$1878
49 km or 31 mi	Furstenwalde	$1816
50 km or 31 mi	Luckenwalde	$1853
57 km or 36 mi	Brandenburg an der Havel	$1859
60 km or 37 mi	Neuruppin	$1846
72 km or 44 mi	Rathenow	$1846
81 km or 50 mi	Frankfurt	$1698
86 km or 53 mi	Schwedt	$1857
88 km or 55 mi	Wittenberg	$1460
97 km or 60 mi	Neustrelitz	$1557
97 km or 60 mi	Eisenhuttenstadt	$1587
104 km or 65 mi	Stendal	$1493
106 km or 66 mi	Cottbus	$1382
107 km or 67 mi	Burg bei Magdeburg	$1483
107 km or 67 mi	Zerbst	$1490
109 km or 68 mi	Dessau-Rolau	$1489
109 km or 68 mi	Torgau	$1488
116 km or 72 mi	Neubrandenburg	$1597
119 km or 74 mi	Senftenberg	$1502
121 km or 75 mi	Waren	$1543
124 km or 77 mi	Bitterfeld-Wolfen	$1457
124 km or 77 mi	Schonebeck	$1481
125 km or 78 mi	Spremberg	$1464
127 km or 79 mi	Magdeburg	$1473
128 km or 79 mi	Szczecin	$1240
128 km or 80 mi	Kothen	$1467
128 km or 80 mi	Gorzow Wielkopolski	$1121
131 km or 81 mi	Delitzsch	$1553
134 km or 83 mi	Hoyerswerda	$1474

Cities near Budapest

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.2 km or 5.1 mi	Budafok-Teteny	$1169
16 km or 9.8 mi	Erd	$998
16 km or 10 mi	Dunakeszi	$1138
17 km or 11 mi	Szigetszentmiklos	$1083
27 km or 17 mi	Godollo	$1127
32 km or 20 mi	Vac	$1130
49 km or 31 mi	Tatabanya	$991
58 km or 36 mi	Szekesfehervar	$939
58 km or 36 mi	Dunaujvaros	$868
67 km or 42 mi	Cegled	$1074
74 km or 46 mi	Komarno	$1196
82 km or 51 mi	Kecskemet	$958
84 km or 52 mi	Nove Zamky	$1166
86 km or 53 mi	Salgotarjan	$1040
86 km or 53 mi	Levice	$989
93 km or 58 mi	Szolnok	$877
96 km or 59 mi	Veszprem	$1036
104 km or 65 mi	Lucenec	$1063
107 km or 67 mi	Gyor	$930
109 km or 68 mi	Eger	$976
115 km or 72 mi	Nitra	$1278
121 km or 75 mi	Zvolen	$1394
123 km or 76 mi	Ozd	$1002
130 km or 81 mi	Szekszard	$961
138 km or 86 mi	Banska Bystrica	$1190
139 km or 86 mi	Mosonmagyarovar	$984
145 km or 90 mi	Prievidza	$1026
146 km or 91 mi	Trnava	$1335
146 km or 91 mi	Miskolc	$981
146 km or 91 mi	Baja	$1031
150 km or 93 mi	Piestany	$1036
153 km or 95 mi	Hodmezovasarhely	$866
158 km or 98 mi	Kaposvar	$850
160 km or 99 mi	Petrzalka	$1451
161 km or 100 mi	Bratislava	$1561
163 km or 101 mi	Subotica	$923
163 km or 101 mi	Szeged	$1004
170 km or 106 mi	Pecs	$1124
172 km or 107 mi	Trencin	$1291
174 km or 108 mi	Martin	$1196