Bucharest vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Bucharest	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1148	$3183
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2906	$7493
🏠 One person rent	$562	$1996
🏘️ Family rent	$953	$3450
🍽️ Food expenses	$380	$789
🚐 Transport expenses	$81.3	$175
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1455	$6618
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	78	80
😀 Quality of life	84	91
🏙️ Population	1.72M	737K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 64% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 4877th and 126th ($1148 vs $3183) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 94th 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 2.1 months in Seattle. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Seattle ranked 33rd in the United States, while ranked 482nd and 147th 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/seattle.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Bucharest vs Seattle infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/bucharest/seattle" target="_blank">Bucharest vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Bucharest vs Seattle

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

	Bucharest	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.6	$20.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$53.8	$92.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.12	$14.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.49	$7.95
☕ Cappuccino	$3.67	$6.46
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.58	$2.94
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$600	$2109
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$404	$1647
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1100	$3900
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$694	$2895
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$110	$182
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$279
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.73	$74.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.95%	6.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3876	$7971
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2257	$5180
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.89	$2.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$20.9	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.32	$17.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.89	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$4.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$4.83
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.78	$5.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.51	$21.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.56	$18.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$22.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$5.72
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.67	$1.92
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$5.39
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.53	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.78	$3.17
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$3.34
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.64	$1.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$3.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.48	$16.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.25	$4.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.39	$13.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.99	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.53	$7.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.88	$5.8
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$2.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$46.2	$81.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.26	$17.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$66.5	$167
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.1	$28.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$84.4	$76.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$95.5	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$703	$2124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14018	$30033

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	$995
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$920
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$896
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$800
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$776
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$708
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$801
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$722
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$771
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$1018
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$653
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$672
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1120
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$762
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$801
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$705
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$701
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$804
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$857
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$870
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$953
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$662
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$906
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$610
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1140
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1041
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1119
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$676
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$818
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$733
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$874
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$824
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$823
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$809
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$702
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$855
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$749
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$807
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$673
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$725

Cities near Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2843
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3164
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$3012
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2648
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2678
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2827
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2782
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2621
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3602
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2749
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2783
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2734
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2884
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2728
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2797
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2637
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2736
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2479
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2775
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2714
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2542
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2617
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2709
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2342
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2727
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2429
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2722
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2822
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2670
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2576
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2661
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2378
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2616
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2592
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2690
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2773
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2475
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2580
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2765
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2098