Bucharest vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bucharest	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1138	$2317
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2971	$5372
🏠 One person rent	$535	$1430
🏘️ Family rent	$931	$2327
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$612
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.2	$90.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1467	$4411
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	78	82
😀 Quality of life	84	89
🏙️ Population	1.72M	468K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 51% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 4935th and 1246th ($1138 vs $2317) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1054th 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 1.9 months in Raleigh. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Raleigh ranked 64th in the United States, while ranked 508th and 245th 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 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	$11.9	$18
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57.2	$72.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.13	$9.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$5.67
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$6.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.41	$2.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$586	$1562
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$1149
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1055	$2603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$699	$1919
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$133
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.4	$65.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.13%	6.42%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$3603
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2286	$2208
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.96	$1.68
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.84	$16.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$0.97
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$3.39
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.75	$4.45
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$14.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.76	$10.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$5.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$4.98
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$5.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$2.68
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$1.46
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$2.63
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.76	$15
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.73	$8.71
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.02	$10.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.79	$4.44
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.11	$2.73
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$44.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.67	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$137
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.8	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$1374
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16525	$24650

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2246
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2470
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1831
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2194
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2278
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2313
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2242
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2109
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2308
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2111
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1943
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2003
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1780
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1773
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2123
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2159
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2081
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1750
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2036
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2056
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2088
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2057
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1917
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2030
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2202
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1987
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2079
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2122
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2001
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1847
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2080
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2027
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1814
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1963
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1969
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2211
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2378
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2126
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2174
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1736