Bucharest vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bucharest	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$988	$2388
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2566	$5530
🏠 One person rent	$474	$1484
🏘️ Family rent	$877	$2447
🍽️ Food expenses	$339	$625
🚐 Transport expenses	$67.6	$94.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1247	$4749
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	77	82
😀 Quality of life	79	88
🏙️ Population	1.72M	468K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 59% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 5565th and 972nd ($988 vs $2388) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 892nd 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 2 months in Raleigh. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Raleigh ranked 51st in the United States, while ranked 645th and 221st 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	$10.5	$17.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$44.7	$75.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.25	$9.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$5.88
☕ Cappuccino	$3.01	$5.37
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.09	$2.31
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$520	$1468
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$337	$1216
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$999	$2614
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$658	$2029
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$90.8	$149
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$141	$232
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.28	$68.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.1%	6.51%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3094	$6077
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1793	$2879
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.63	$2.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$17.3	$58.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.57	$14.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.52	$0.84
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$0.96
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.98	$3.8
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$3.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.05	$3.83
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.55	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.56	$11.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$16.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$6.48
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$1.38
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$7.38
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$6.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.94	$3.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$2.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$1.5
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.01	$2.46
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.28	$14.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$2.82
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.84	$7.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.38	$8.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.93	$4
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.61	$3.38
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.03	$2.7
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.7	$39.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.92	$14.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$51.8	$158
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$24.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.9	$52
👟 Brand Sneakers	$84	$93.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$569	$1481
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11573	$21914

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	$867
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$847
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$796
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$633
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$704
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$629
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$729
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$696
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$722
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$743
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$623
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$622
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$938
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$731
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$770
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$594
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$680
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$702
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$752
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$741
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$848
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$598
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$786
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$631
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$892
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$929
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1002
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$546
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$698
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$646
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$837
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$718
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$812
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$725
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$574
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$721
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$687
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$650
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$605
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$758

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2281
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2616
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1836
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2229
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2335
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2315
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2290
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2140
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2309
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2169
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$2184
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2073
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$2052
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1733
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2144
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2100
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2091
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1764
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2011
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2117
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2076
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2014
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1934
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2058
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2169
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$2100
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2136
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2098
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$1952
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1819
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2117
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2136
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1752
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$2147
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$1976
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2144
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2332
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2182
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2269
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1682