Budapest vs Columbus - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Budapest	Columbus
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1469	$2127
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3612	$5086
🏠 One person rent	$750	$1221
🏘️ Family rent	$1301	$2077
🍽️ Food expenses	$441	$642
🚐 Transport expenses	$126	$125
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1697	$3894
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	92	73
😀 Quality of life	81	92
🏙️ Population	1.69M	906K

The cost of living in Budapest is 31% less expensive than in Columbus. Cities ranked 4163rd and 1686th ($1469 vs $2127) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1354th 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 1.2 months in Budapest compared to 1.8 months in Columbus. Budapest ranked 1st best city to live in Hungary vs Columbus ranked 17th in the United States, while ranked 680th and 96th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$12.2	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$63.1	$66.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.41	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.22	$6.36
☕ Cappuccino	$3.25	$4.76
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$2.53
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$772	$1328
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$593	$934
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1424	$2183
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1053	$1691
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.7	$147
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$226
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22.9	$61
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.95%	6.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5742	$3248
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3887	$2159
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.55	$1.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.8	$60.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.5	$15.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$0.85
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.25	$0.91
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.79	$3.1
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$4.02
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.72	$4.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$13.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$12.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$16.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$5.64
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$1.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$6.03
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.41	$4.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$3.43
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$1.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.8	$3.75
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.89	$18.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.27	$2.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.85	$9.61
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.5	$9.22
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.31	$3.76
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.62	$4.07
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.2	$2.24
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$69.1	$38.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.7	$12.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$76.1	$85.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.1	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$107	$54.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$91.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$486	$1272
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15168	$24638

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	$1169
16 km or 9.8 mi	Erd	$998
16 km or 10 mi	Dunakeszi	$1138
17 km or 11 mi	Szigetszentmiklos	$1083
27 km or 17 mi	Godollo	$1127
32 km or 20 mi	Vac	$1130
49 km or 31 mi	Tatabanya	$991
58 km or 36 mi	Szekesfehervar	$939
58 km or 36 mi	Dunaujvaros	$868
67 km or 42 mi	Cegled	$1074
74 km or 46 mi	Komarno	$1196
82 km or 51 mi	Kecskemet	$958
84 km or 52 mi	Nove Zamky	$1166
86 km or 53 mi	Salgotarjan	$1040
86 km or 53 mi	Levice	$989
93 km or 58 mi	Szolnok	$877
96 km or 59 mi	Veszprem	$1036
104 km or 65 mi	Lucenec	$1063
107 km or 67 mi	Gyor	$930
109 km or 68 mi	Eger	$976
115 km or 72 mi	Nitra	$1278
121 km or 75 mi	Zvolen	$1394
123 km or 76 mi	Ozd	$1002
130 km or 81 mi	Szekszard	$961
138 km or 86 mi	Banska Bystrica	$1190
139 km or 86 mi	Mosonmagyarovar	$984
145 km or 90 mi	Prievidza	$1026
146 km or 91 mi	Trnava	$1335
146 km or 91 mi	Miskolc	$981
146 km or 91 mi	Baja	$1031
150 km or 93 mi	Piestany	$1036
153 km or 95 mi	Hodmezovasarhely	$866
158 km or 98 mi	Kaposvar	$850
160 km or 99 mi	Petrzalka	$1451
161 km or 100 mi	Bratislava	$1561
163 km or 101 mi	Subotica	$923
163 km or 101 mi	Szeged	$1004
170 km or 106 mi	Pecs	$1124
172 km or 107 mi	Trencin	$1291
174 km or 108 mi	Martin	$1196

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2080
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2048
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$1994
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2093
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$1992
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2123
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1816
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$1982
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$2029
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1911
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$1975
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1872
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1813
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1919
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1922
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1746
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1831
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1756
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1822
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1831
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1594
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1877
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1931
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1849
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1582
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1915
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1901
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1863
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1833
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1933
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1580
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1864
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1554
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$2110
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1530
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1904
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1859
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1468
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1791
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1935