Bucharest vs Charlotte - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bucharest	Charlotte
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1138	$2403
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2971	$5638
🏠 One person rent	$535	$1453
🏘️ Family rent	$931	$2444
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$626
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.2	$154
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1467	$4246
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	78	68
😀 Quality of life	84	89
🏙️ Population	1.72M	875K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 53% less expensive than in Charlotte. Cities ranked 4935th and 1073rd ($1138 vs $2403) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 918th in Romania and the United States, respectively. Check Romania vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Bucharest compared to 1.8 months in Charlotte. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Charlotte ranked 78th in the United States, while ranked 508th and 283rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Bucharest vs Charlotte

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

	Bucharest	Charlotte
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$17
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57.2	$67.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.13	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$5.69
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$5.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.41	$2.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$586	$1623
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$1199
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1055	$2971
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$699	$2035
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$101
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$154
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.4	$68
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.13%	6.41%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$4032
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2286	$2433
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.96	$2.21
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$84.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.84	$18.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$0.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$1.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$3.35
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$3.16
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.75	$5.15
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$15.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.76	$15.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$17.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$4.76
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.49
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$5.94
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$4.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$2.94
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$2.93
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$1.34
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$2.48
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.76	$17.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$2.79
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.73	$8.95
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.02	$7.04
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.79	$7.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$5.09
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.11	$1.86
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$58
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.67	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$113
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$25.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.8	$50.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$1516
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16525	$24528

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bucharest

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.3 mi	Voluntari	$999
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$956
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$926
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$784
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$800
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$724
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$831
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$758
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$777
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$970
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$666
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1150
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$759
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$826
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$704
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$732
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$805
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$910
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$871
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$983
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$665
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$950
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$607
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1099
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1062
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1132
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$840
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$716
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$916
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$844
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$864
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$841
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$738
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$872
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$763
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$773
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$683
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$795

Cities near Charlotte

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 10 mi	Matthews	$2195
17 km or 11 mi	Mint Hill	$2174
20 km or 13 mi	Huntersville	$2113
23 km or 14 mi	Indian Trail	$2159
28 km or 18 mi	Cornelius	$2078
30 km or 18 mi	Concord	$1963
31 km or 19 mi	Gastonia	$1968
36 km or 22 mi	Kannapolis	$2027
36 km or 22 mi	Rock Hill	$2002
38 km or 23 mi	Monroe	$2126
40 km or 25 mi	Mooresville	$1978
57 km or 35 mi	Lancaster	$2158
59 km or 37 mi	Salisbury	$2080
62 km or 39 mi	Statesville	$2067
63 km or 39 mi	Shelby	$1736
72 km or 45 mi	Hickory	$1913
94 km or 58 mi	Forest	$2089
101 km or 63 mi	Thomasville	$2030
104 km or 64 mi	Rockingham	$2079
104 km or 65 mi	Spartanburg	$1873
108 km or 67 mi	Asheboro	$2081
111 km or 69 mi	Winston-Salem	$2122
113 km or 70 mi	High Point	$1917
120 km or 75 mi	Kernersville	$2202
130 km or 81 mi	Greer	$2221
132 km or 82 mi	Greensboro	$2036
138 km or 86 mi	Columbia	$1858
142 km or 88 mi	Mauldin	$2324
143 km or 89 mi	Lexington	$1951
147 km or 91 mi	Greenville	$2410
152 km or 94 mi	Florence	$1853
152 km or 95 mi	Sumter	$1769
154 km or 96 mi	Sanford	$1943
159 km or 99 mi	Burlington	$2123
160 km or 99 mi	Asheville	$2709
166 km or 103 mi	Greenwood	$2091
176 km or 109 mi	Fayetteville	$2159
179 km or 111 mi	Chapel Hill	$2308
180 km or 112 mi	Lumberton	$1987
184 km or 114 mi	Anderson	$1952