Bucharest vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Bucharest	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$988	$3149
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2566	$7865
🏠 One person rent	$474	$2045
🏘️ Family rent	$877	$4037
🍽️ Food expenses	$339	$738
🚐 Transport expenses	$67.6	$167
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1247	$5859
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	77	100
😀 Quality of life	79	94
🏙️ Population	1.72M	690K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 69% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 5565th and 96th ($988 vs $3149) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 86th 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 1.9 months in Washington. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Washington ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 645th and 43rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Bucharest vs Washington infographic

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Prices in Bucharest vs Washington

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

	Bucharest	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.5	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$44.7	$86.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.25	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$8.65
☕ Cappuccino	$3.01	$5.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.09	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$520	$2298
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$337	$1750
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$999	$4716
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$658	$3555
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$90.8	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$141	$187
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$9.28	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.1%	6.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3094	$7543
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1793	$6152
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.63	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$17.3	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.57	$23.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.52	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.6	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.98	$3.54
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$4.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.05	$4.44
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.55	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.56	$15.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.9	$19.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$5.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.62	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.6	$5.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.94	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$3.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.01	$2.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.28	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.12	$3.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.84	$11.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.38	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.93	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.61	$4.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.03	$2.58
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.7	$105
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.92	$16.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$51.8	$114
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.4	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.9	$76
👟 Brand Sneakers	$84	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$569	$2464
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11573	$24653

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 Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$2893
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2543
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2856
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2777
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2273
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$2548
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2309
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2471
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2596
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2786
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2566
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2617
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2498
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2425
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2513
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2601
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2539
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3174
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2791
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2760
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2640
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2696
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2961
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2500
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2197
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2499
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2287
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2584
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2389
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2206
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1728
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$2909
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2727
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2640
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2210
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2149
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2280
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2217
122 km or 76 mi	York	$1979