Bucharest vs London - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bucharest	London
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1138	$3740
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2971	$8537
🏠 One person rent	$535	$2516
🏘️ Family rent	$931	$4294
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$631
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.2	$412
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1467	$3678
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	78	100
😀 Quality of life	84	96
🏙️ Population	1.72M	8.8M

The cost of living in Bucharest is 70% less expensive than in London. Cities ranked 4935th and 20th ($1138 vs $3740) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in Romania and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check Romania vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Bucharest compared to 1 months in London. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs London ranked 1st in the United Kingdom, while ranked 508th and 12th 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 London

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

	Bucharest	London
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$22.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57.2	$98
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.13	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$9.2
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$5.94
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.41	$3.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$586	$2958
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$2140
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1055	$4865
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$699	$3773
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$260
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.4	$42.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.13%	4.75%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$20369
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2286	$10989
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.96	$4.62
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$105
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.84	$31.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$1.86
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$1.87
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$2.25
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.75	$5.71
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$13.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.76	$9.98
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$18.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$3.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.59
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$3.8
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.46
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$1.82
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$1.2
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$3.79
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.76	$14
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$3.33
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.73	$23.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.02	$4.84
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.79	$6.87
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$2.9
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.11	$3.44
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$68.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.67	$20.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$79.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$15.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.8	$117
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$122
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$2594
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16525	$30567

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 London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$3038
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2559
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2498
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2564
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2419
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2417
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2406
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2395
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2382
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2661
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2336
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2426
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2490
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2227
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2271
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2345
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2675
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2152
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2259
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2321
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2567
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2276
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2260
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2846
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2265
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2188
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2622
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2385
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2262
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2485
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1860
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2191
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2215
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2223
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2212
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2576
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2111
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2377
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2472
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2199