Bucharest vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Bucharest	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1116	$2327
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2864	$5471
🏠 One person rent	$525	$1420
🏘️ Family rent	$907	$2324
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$628
🚐 Transport expenses	$80	$88.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1391	$4437
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	77	82
😀 Quality of life	81	90
🏙️ Population	1.72M	468K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 52% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 4913th and 1213th ($1116 vs $2327) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 1060th 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 1.2 months in Bucharest compared to 1.9 months in Raleigh. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Raleigh ranked 60th in the United States, while ranked 646th and 212th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bucharest vs Raleigh infographic

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Prices in Bucharest vs Raleigh

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

	Bucharest	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.7	$18.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$54.8	$72.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.27	$9.99
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.41	$5.91
☕ Cappuccino	$3.45	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.33	$2.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$576	$1434
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$376	$1158
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1044	$2441
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$667	$1941
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.4	$140
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$153	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.6	$66.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.28%	6.34%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3651	$3119
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2102	$2477
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.15	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.3	$51.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.02	$14.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.68	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.73	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.16	$3.77
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$3.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.41	$4.3
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.89	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.34	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$16.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$5.52
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$5.64
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$6.37
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.03	$3.19
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.38	$2.72
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.07	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.21	$3.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.39	$7.73
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.09	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.47	$4.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.81	$4.68
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.18	$2.38
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$47.8	$41.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.84	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.8	$161
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.1	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.4	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.7	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$664	$1578
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14350	$24117

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	$970
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$910
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$885
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$777
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$802
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$692
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$857
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$775
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$762
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$873
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$675
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$681
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1056
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$752
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$835
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$667
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$712
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$789
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$898
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$871
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$909
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$643
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$895
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$591
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1039
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1024
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1103
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$618
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$805
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$703
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$854
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$832
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$926
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$797
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$706
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$848
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$766
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$724
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$668
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$749

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2289
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2582
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1818
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2225
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2338
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2387
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2331
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2219
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2319
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2171
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2105
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2071
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1926
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1812
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2166
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2312
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2124
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1757
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2065
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2112
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2176
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2076
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1993
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2070
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2152
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2154
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2156
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2079
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2054
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1893
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2094
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2107
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1734
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2102
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1983
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2231
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2395
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2160
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2228
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1766