Bucharest vs Santiago - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bucharest	Santiago
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1138	$1191
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2971	$2945
🏠 One person rent	$535	$532
🏘️ Family rent	$931	$934
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$397
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.2	$155
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1467	$881
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	78	92
😀 Quality of life	84	80
🏙️ Population	1.72M	6.26M

The cost of living in Bucharest is 4% less expensive than in Santiago. Cities ranked 4935th and 4795th ($1138 vs $1191) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in Romania and Chile, respectively. Check Romania vs Chile comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Bucharest compared to 0.7 months in Santiago. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Santiago ranked 1st in Chile, while ranked 508th and 688th 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/santiago.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Bucharest vs Santiago infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/bucharest/santiago" target="_blank">Bucharest vs Santiago - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Bucharest vs Santiago

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

	Bucharest	Santiago
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$11.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57.2	$50.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.13	$8.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$4
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$3.78
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.41	$1.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$586	$573
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$393
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1055	$1028
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$699	$724
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$81.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$127
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.4	$22.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.13%	5.38%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$2897
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2286	$3070
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.96	$0.95
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$47.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.84	$8.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$1.47
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$1.33
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$1.44
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.82
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.75	$4.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$12.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.76	$7.47
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$2.18
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.17
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.54
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$1.81
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.86
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$2.39
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.76	$7.03
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.75
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.73	$6.15
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.02	$4.17
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.79	$4.62
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$2.73
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.11	$2.49
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$40.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.67	$7.33
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$46.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$17.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.8	$56.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$86.8
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$493
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16525	$10578

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 Santiago

Distance	City	Cost of living
17 km or 11 mi	San Bernardo	$848
20 km or 12 mi	Puente Alto	$966
69 km or 43 mi	Los Andes	$840
78 km or 48 mi	San Felipe	$790
80 km or 50 mi	Rancagua	$879
80 km or 50 mi	Villa Alemana	$930
83 km or 52 mi	Quillota	$941
85 km or 53 mi	Quilpue	$943
89 km or 55 mi	San Antonio	$1180
95 km or 59 mi	Vina del Mar	$974
99 km or 62 mi	Valparaiso	$987
130 km or 80 mi	San Fernando	$1008
179 km or 111 mi	Curico	$826
181 km or 112 mi	Godoy Cruz	$895
182 km or 113 mi	Mendoza	$907
185 km or 115 mi	Las Heras	$893
208 km or 129 mi	San Martin	$860
238 km or 148 mi	Talca	$921
251 km or 156 mi	San Rafael	$642
264 km or 164 mi	Constitucion	$900
280 km or 174 mi	Linares	$935
292 km or 181 mi	San Juan	$589
321 km or 199 mi	Ovalle	$804
375 km or 233 mi	Chillan	$740
394 km or 245 mi	Coquimbo	$915
398 km or 247 mi	La Serena	$929
401 km or 249 mi	San Luis	$764
409 km or 254 mi	Tome	$830
426 km or 265 mi	Talcahuano	$747
434 km or 269 mi	Concepcion	$973
455 km or 283 mi	Coronel	$897
456 km or 284 mi	Lujan	$759
464 km or 288 mi	Lota	$887
472 km or 294 mi	Los Angeles	$938
482 km or 300 mi	Villa Mercedes	$768
508 km or 316 mi	Curanilahue	$893
518 km or 322 mi	Angol	$916
542 km or 337 mi	Vallenar	$891
576 km or 358 mi	La Rioja	$577
588 km or 366 mi	Rio Cuarto	$849