Budapest vs Columbus - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Budapest	Columbus
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1109	$2145
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2730	$5059
🏠 One person rent	$553	$1248
🏘️ Family rent	$965	$2171
🍽️ Food expenses	$342	$632
🚐 Transport expenses	$105	$125
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1229	$4018
😷 Air quality	Good	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	92	73
😀 Quality of life	79	88
🏙️ Population	1.69M	906K

The cost of living in Budapest is 48% less expensive than in Columbus. Cities ranked 4777th and 1476th ($1109 vs $2145) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1323rd in Hungary and the United States, respectively. Check Hungary vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Budapest compared to 1.9 months in Columbus. Budapest ranked 1st best city to live in Hungary vs Columbus ranked 59th in the United States, while ranked 618th and 249th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Budapest vs Columbus infographic

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Prices in Budapest vs Columbus

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

	Budapest	Columbus
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.45	$18.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$45	$66.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.53	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.55	$5.69
☕ Cappuccino	$2.77	$4.78
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.48	$2.44
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$574	$1314
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$426	$972
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1044	$2378
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$769	$1757
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$79.4	$149
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$123	$232
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$18.1	$57.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.95%	6.57%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4106	$3095
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2694	$2954
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.18	$2.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.7	$60.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$11.7	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.62	$0.86
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.13	$0.92
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.24	$2.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$3.43
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.78	$3.4
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.66	$13.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$15.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.66	$5.29
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.88	$5.69
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$4.95
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$3.12
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$3.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.34	$1.47
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.96	$3.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.79	$18.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.03	$2.66
🚬 Cigarette pack	$5.93	$9.45
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.29	$9.35
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.38	$3.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.15	$4.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.73	$2.2
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$51	$42.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$7.6	$11.7
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$49.5	$85.5
💇 Haircut, simple	$12.8	$19.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$71.3	$61
👟 Brand Sneakers	$82.8	$89.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$374	$1236
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$11151	$15423

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Budapest

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.2 km or 5.1 mi	Budafok-Teteny	$901
16 km or 9.8 mi	Erd	$790
16 km or 10 mi	Dunakeszi	$939
17 km or 11 mi	Szigetszentmiklos	$843
27 km or 17 mi	Godollo	$924
32 km or 20 mi	Vac	$827
49 km or 31 mi	Tatabanya	$794
58 km or 36 mi	Szekesfehervar	$762
58 km or 36 mi	Dunaujvaros	$684
67 km or 42 mi	Cegled	$855
74 km or 46 mi	Komarno	$1045
82 km or 51 mi	Kecskemet	$781
84 km or 52 mi	Nove Zamky	$1019
86 km or 53 mi	Salgotarjan	$823
86 km or 53 mi	Levice	$987
93 km or 58 mi	Szolnok	$666
96 km or 59 mi	Veszprem	$786
104 km or 65 mi	Lucenec	$922
107 km or 67 mi	Gyor	$784
109 km or 68 mi	Eger	$784
115 km or 72 mi	Nitra	$1039
121 km or 75 mi	Zvolen	$1237
123 km or 76 mi	Ozd	$802
130 km or 81 mi	Szekszard	$747
138 km or 86 mi	Banska Bystrica	$1080
139 km or 86 mi	Mosonmagyarovar	$794
145 km or 90 mi	Prievidza	$892
146 km or 91 mi	Trnava	$1181
146 km or 91 mi	Miskolc	$676
146 km or 91 mi	Baja	$692
150 km or 93 mi	Piestany	$935
153 km or 95 mi	Hodmezovasarhely	$681
158 km or 98 mi	Kaposvar	$750
160 km or 99 mi	Petrzalka	$1202
161 km or 100 mi	Bratislava	$1275
163 km or 101 mi	Subotica	$768
163 km or 101 mi	Szeged	$766
170 km or 106 mi	Pecs	$848
172 km or 107 mi	Trencin	$1118
174 km or 108 mi	Martin	$1039

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2084
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2062
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$1986
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2085
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$1994
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2095
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1798
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$1983
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$1851
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1903
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$1968
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1881
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1897
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1764
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1871
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1825
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1870
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1798
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1862
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1852
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1832
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1865
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1890
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1897
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1674
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1902
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1783
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1973
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1914
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1870
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1681
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1834
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1427
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$1923
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1481
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1853
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1839
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1428
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1683
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1858