Bucharest vs Saint Petersburg - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bucharest	Saint Petersburg
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1138	$1075
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2971	$2604
🏠 One person rent	$535	$557
🏘️ Family rent	$931	$976
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$284
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.2	$142
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1467	$1231
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	17 km
🎓 Higher education	78	85
😀 Quality of life	84	70
🏙️ Population	1.72M	5.65M

The cost of living in Bucharest is 6% more expensive than in Saint Petersburg. Cities ranked 4935th and 5142nd ($1138 vs $1075) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 4th in Romania and Russia, respectively. Check Romania vs Russia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Bucharest compared to 1.1 months in Saint Petersburg. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Saint Petersburg ranked 2nd in Russia, while ranked 508th and 3923rd 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 Saint Petersburg

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

	Bucharest	Saint Petersburg
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$8.72
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57.2	$37.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.13	$5.98
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$2.51
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$2.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.41	$1.18
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$586	$708
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$423
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1055	$1258
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$699	$763
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$68.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$107
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.4	$7.69
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.13%	21.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$4413
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2286	$2754
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.96	$1.04
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$41.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.84	$10.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$0.76
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.75	$1.62
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$11.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.76	$5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$10.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$1.86
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.75
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.94
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.91
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$0.84
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$0.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.52
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$1.48
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.76	$8.53
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.1
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.73	$2.82
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.02	$1.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.79	$1.25
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$1.16
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.11	$1.21
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$37.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.67	$5.73
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$15.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$3.92
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.8	$85.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$121
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$436
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16525	$12085

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 Saint Petersburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
135 km or 84 mi	Narva	$1108
156 km or 97 mi	Sillamae	$1111
162 km or 101 mi	Imatra	$1492
168 km or 104 mi	Veliky Novgorod	$748
170 km or 105 mi	Lappeenranta	$1482
181 km or 112 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$1131
185 km or 115 mi	Hamina	$1515
195 km or 121 mi	Kotka	$1514
223 km or 139 mi	Kouvola	$1474
227 km or 141 mi	Savonlinna	$1315
232 km or 144 mi	Rakvere	$1021
254 km or 158 mi	Mikkeli	$1454
262 km or 163 mi	Porvoo	$1578
263 km or 164 mi	Pskov	$720
269 km or 167 mi	Tartu	$1232
280 km or 174 mi	Lahti	$1571
293 km or 182 mi	Kerava	$1659
294 km or 183 mi	Varkaus	$1292
294 km or 183 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1750
295 km or 183 mi	Vantaa	$1927
296 km or 184 mi	Joensuu	$1592
297 km or 184 mi	Tuusula	$1693
299 km or 186 mi	Petrozavodsk	$798
300 km or 186 mi	Helsinki	$1990
302 km or 188 mi	Maardu	$1448
310 km or 192 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1673
310 km or 193 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1533
315 km or 196 mi	Espoo	$2062
317 km or 197 mi	Riihimaki	$1426
318 km or 197 mi	Tallinn	$1683
322 km or 200 mi	Viljandi	$1083
328 km or 204 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1753
342 km or 213 mi	Hameenlinna	$1451
348 km or 216 mi	Lohja	$1406
349 km or 217 mi	Jamsa	$1516
354 km or 220 mi	Jyvaskyla	$1443
356 km or 221 mi	Kuopio	$1546
373 km or 232 mi	Valkeakoski	$1621
374 km or 233 mi	Parnu	$1214
383 km or 238 mi	Raseborg	$1606