Budapest vs Edinburgh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Budapest	Edinburgh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1580	$2295
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3914	$5636
🏠 One person rent	$810	$1360
🏘️ Family rent	$1423	$2398
🍽️ Food expenses	$474	$601
🚐 Transport expenses	$133	$153
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1832	$3514
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	11 km
🎓 Higher education	92	88
😀 Quality of life	81	92
🏙️ Population	1.69M	488K

The cost of living in Budapest is 31% less expensive than in Edinburgh. Cities ranked 3675th and 1307th ($1580 vs $2295) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 38th in Hungary and the United Kingdom, respectively. Check Hungary vs the United Kingdom comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in Budapest compared to 1.5 months in Edinburgh. Budapest ranked 1st best city to live in Hungary vs Edinburgh ranked 11th in the United Kingdom, while ranked 646th and 83rd 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/budapest/edinburgh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Budapest vs Edinburgh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/budapest/edinburgh" target="_blank">Budapest vs Edinburgh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Budapest vs Edinburgh

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

	Budapest	Edinburgh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.9	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.1	$90
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.83	$10.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.67	$8.34
☕ Cappuccino	$3.6	$5
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.11	$2.58
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$839	$1471
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$633	$1081
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1498	$2686
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1160	$1966
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$158
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$170	$245
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.5	$43.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.8%	4.86%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6164	$6647
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4452	$4795
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.64	$2.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29.4	$94.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$21.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.93	$1.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.88	$2.01
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.65	$2.12
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$5.15
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$11.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.46	$10.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$2.97
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.29	$1.76
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$3.29
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$3.81
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.47
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$1.1
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.86	$3.31
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.94	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$2.83
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.37	$22.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.1	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.48	$4.71
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.71	$3.27
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$1.65
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$74.9	$50.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.2	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79	$112
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.9	$22.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$117	$94.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$122	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$549	$1749
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17067	$25458

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	$1228
16 km or 9.8 mi	Erd	$973
16 km or 10 mi	Dunakeszi	$1226
17 km or 11 mi	Szigetszentmiklos	$1115
27 km or 17 mi	Godollo	$1203
32 km or 20 mi	Vac	$1195
49 km or 31 mi	Tatabanya	$1063
58 km or 36 mi	Szekesfehervar	$981
58 km or 36 mi	Dunaujvaros	$914
67 km or 42 mi	Cegled	$1139
74 km or 46 mi	Komarno	$1156
82 km or 51 mi	Kecskemet	$1019
84 km or 52 mi	Nove Zamky	$1126
86 km or 53 mi	Salgotarjan	$1117
86 km or 53 mi	Levice	$928
93 km or 58 mi	Szolnok	$941
96 km or 59 mi	Veszprem	$1124
104 km or 65 mi	Lucenec	$1031
107 km or 67 mi	Gyor	$974
109 km or 68 mi	Eger	$1028
115 km or 72 mi	Nitra	$1218
121 km or 75 mi	Zvolen	$1340
123 km or 76 mi	Ozd	$1058
130 km or 81 mi	Szekszard	$978
138 km or 86 mi	Banska Bystrica	$1117
139 km or 86 mi	Mosonmagyarovar	$1042
145 km or 90 mi	Prievidza	$1032
146 km or 91 mi	Trnava	$1308
146 km or 91 mi	Miskolc	$1034
146 km or 91 mi	Baja	$1067
150 km or 93 mi	Piestany	$967
153 km or 95 mi	Hodmezovasarhely	$915
158 km or 98 mi	Kaposvar	$893
160 km or 99 mi	Petrzalka	$1475
161 km or 100 mi	Bratislava	$1590
163 km or 101 mi	Subotica	$848
163 km or 101 mi	Szeged	$1076
170 km or 106 mi	Pecs	$1189
172 km or 107 mi	Trencin	$1255
174 km or 108 mi	Martin	$1160

Cities near Edinburgh

Distance	City	Cost of living
18 km or 11 mi	Kirkcaldy	$1794
21 km or 13 mi	Livingston	$1760
21 km or 13 mi	Dunfermline	$1750
42 km or 26 mi	Alloa	$1842
49 km or 30 mi	Cumbernauld	$1611
49 km or 31 mi	Stirling	$1835
52 km or 32 mi	Perth	$1640
56 km or 35 mi	Hamilton	$1831
59 km or 37 mi	Dundee	$1593
65 km or 40 mi	East Kilbride	$1878
66 km or 41 mi	Glasgow	$2114
78 km or 48 mi	Paisley	$1885
89 km or 56 mi	Kilmarnock	$1600
98 km or 61 mi	Greenock	$1647
99 km or 61 mi	Irvine	$1704
102 km or 63 mi	Dumfries	$1456
105 km or 65 mi	Ayr	$1586
120 km or 74 mi	Carlisle	$1596
147 km or 91 mi	Newcastle upon Tyne	$1979
149 km or 93 mi	Aberdeen	$1806
150 km or 93 mi	Gateshead	$1943
153 km or 95 mi	Tynemouth	$1784
153 km or 95 mi	Jarrow	$1820
154 km or 96 mi	South Shields	$1777
158 km or 98 mi	Washington	$1778
158 km or 98 mi	Whitehaven	$1798
164 km or 102 mi	Sunderland	$1554
166 km or 103 mi	Durham	$1872
173 km or 107 mi	Bishop Auckland	$1742
182 km or 113 mi	Inverness	$2005
189 km or 117 mi	Hartlepool	$1417
189 km or 117 mi	Elgin	$1523
190 km or 118 mi	Darlington	$1404
194 km or 121 mi	Stockton-on-Tees	$1424
197 km or 123 mi	Middlesbrough	$1741
211 km or 131 mi	Morecambe	$1834
212 km or 132 mi	Bangor	$1485
213 km or 132 mi	Lancaster	$1791
216 km or 134 mi	Douglas	$2236
224 km or 139 mi	Newtownabbey	$1820