Bucharest vs Phoenix - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Bucharest	Phoenix
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1148	$2423
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2906	$5582
🏠 One person rent	$562	$1419
🏘️ Family rent	$953	$2230
🍽️ Food expenses	$380	$694
🚐 Transport expenses	$81.3	$149
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1455	$4178
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	78	71
😀 Quality of life	84	89
🏙️ Population	1.72M	1.61M

The cost of living in Bucharest is 53% less expensive than in Phoenix. Cities ranked 4877th and 1041st ($1148 vs $2423) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 896th 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 1.7 months in Phoenix. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Phoenix ranked 58th in the United States, while ranked 482nd and 226th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Bucharest vs Phoenix

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

	Bucharest	Phoenix
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.6	$20
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$53.8	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.12	$12.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.49	$5.95
☕ Cappuccino	$3.67	$6.41
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.58	$2.86
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$600	$1497
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$404	$1109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1100	$2358
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$694	$1803
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$152
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$235
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.73	$80.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.95%	6.2%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3876	$4665
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2257	$3124
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.89	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$20.9	$63.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.32	$13.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.89	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$4.05
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$5.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.78	$5.35
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.51	$14.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.56	$13.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$16.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$4.9
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$1.9
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$4.46
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$6.08
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.78	$3.2
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$3.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$1.6
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$2.68
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.48	$15.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$2.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.39	$10.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.99	$8.14
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.53	$5.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$4.81
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$2.11
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$46.2	$47.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.26	$13.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.5	$112
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$84.4	$60.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.5	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$703	$1659
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14018	$21660

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	$995
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$920
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$896
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$800
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$776
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$708
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$801
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$722
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$771
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$1018
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$653
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$672
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1120
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$762
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$801
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$705
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$701
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$804
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$857
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$870
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$953
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$662
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$906
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$610
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1140
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1041
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1119
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$676
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$818
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$733
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$874
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$824
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$823
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$809
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$702
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$855
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$749
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$807
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$673
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$725

Cities near Phoenix

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.1 mi	Glendale	$1974
14 km or 9 mi	Scottsdale	$2509
16 km or 10 mi	Peoria	$2366
17 km or 10 mi	Tempe	$2463
25 km or 15 mi	El Mirage	$2296
26 km or 16 mi	Mesa	$2293
27 km or 17 mi	Avondale	$2365
28 km or 17 mi	Goodyear	$2343
29 km or 18 mi	Surprise	$2346
33 km or 21 mi	Chandler	$2367
33 km or 21 mi	Gilbert	$2378
33 km or 21 mi	Fountain Hills	$2373
51 km or 31 mi	Queen Creek	$2988
51 km or 32 mi	Apache Junction	$2482
51 km or 32 mi	Buckeye	$2318
53 km or 33 mi	Maricopa	$2243
78 km or 48 mi	Casa Grande	$2374
84 km or 52 mi	Florence	$2454
118 km or 73 mi	Prescott	$2321
122 km or 76 mi	Prescott Valley	$2312
155 km or 96 mi	Marana	$2089
160 km or 99 mi	Oro Valley	$2060
165 km or 102 mi	Casas Adobes	$2011
181 km or 112 mi	Tucson	$1933
190 km or 118 mi	Flagstaff	$2573
205 km or 128 mi	Sahuarita	$2070
232 km or 144 mi	Lake Havasu	$2011
234 km or 145 mi	Blythe	$2818
254 km or 158 mi	Yuma	$1767
259 km or 161 mi	Kingman	$1865
264 km or 164 mi	Nogales	$2153
268 km or 166 mi	Nogales	$771
276 km or 171 mi	San Luis	$1924
276 km or 172 mi	San Luis Rio Colorado	$950
278 km or 173 mi	Sierra Vista	$1654
290 km or 180 mi	Bullhead	$1835
313 km or 194 mi	Caborca	$876
327 km or 203 mi	Brawley	$2817
330 km or 205 mi	Mexicali	$994
332 km or 207 mi	Calexico	$2804