Bucharest vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bucharest	Rio de Janeiro
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1138	$1013
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2971	$2476
🏠 One person rent	$535	$502
🏘️ Family rent	$931	$806
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$272
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.2	$151
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1467	$491
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	78	95
😀 Quality of life	84	67
🏙️ Population	1.72M	6.21M

The cost of living in Bucharest is 12% more expensive than in Rio de Janeiro. Cities ranked 4935th and 5559th ($1138 vs $1013) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in Romania and Brazil, respectively. Check Romania vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Bucharest compared to 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Rio de Janeiro ranked 4th in Brazil, while ranked 508th and 4845th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/bucharest/rio-de-janeiro.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Bucharest vs Rio de Janeiro infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/bucharest/rio-de-janeiro" target="_blank">Bucharest vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Bucharest vs Rio de Janeiro

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

	Bucharest	Rio de Janeiro
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$6.99
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57.2	$31.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.13	$6.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$2.13
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$2.56
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.41	$1.48
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$586	$574
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$353
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1055	$959
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$699	$578
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$85.8
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$133
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.4	$19.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.13%	11.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$2256
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2286	$1317
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.96	$1.07
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$48
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.84	$8.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$1.17
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$1.14
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$1.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.75	$2.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$9.04
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.76	$4.28
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$8.72
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$2.43
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.65
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$1.53
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$1.16
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.4
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$1.73
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.76	$7.51
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.24
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.73	$2.27
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.02	$3.86
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.79	$3.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$1.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.11	$1.06
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$27.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.67	$7.13
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$48.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$7.96
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.8	$44.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$76.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$550
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16525	$13739

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 Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$792
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$648
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$681
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$851
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$632
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$782
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$537
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$614
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$482
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$576
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$600
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$579
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$733
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$533
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$600
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$548
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$652
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$679
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$672
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$565
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$709
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$678
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$625
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$684
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$585
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$568
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$564
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$656
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$667
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$645
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$643
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$679
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$594
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$679
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$702
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$562
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$505
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$877
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$631