Budapest vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Budapest	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1469	$2496
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3612	$6197
🏠 One person rent	$750	$1388
🏘️ Family rent	$1301	$2468
🍽️ Food expenses	$441	$606
🚐 Transport expenses	$126	$346
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1697	$4328
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	92	100
😀 Quality of life	81	100
🏙️ Population	1.69M	5.35M

The cost of living in Budapest is 41% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 4163rd and 893rd ($1469 vs $2496) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in Hungary and Australia, respectively. Check Hungary vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.2 months in Budapest compared to 1.7 months in Melbourne. Budapest ranked 1st best city to live in Hungary vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 680th and 1st 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/melbourne.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Budapest vs Melbourne infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/budapest/melbourne" target="_blank">Budapest vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Budapest vs Melbourne

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

	Budapest	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$12.2	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$63.1	$71.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.41	$11.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.22	$9.06
☕ Cappuccino	$3.25	$4.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.97	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$772	$1549
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$593	$1138
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1424	$2861
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1053	$2079
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.7	$115
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$22.9	$52.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.95%	5.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5742	$7481
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3887	$6465
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.55	$3.9
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.8	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$14.5	$19.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.25	$1.73
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.79	$2.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.32	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.72	$5.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.4	$9.85
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$3.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.21	$3.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$3.42
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.41	$4.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$3.06
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$2.73
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.39	$1.17
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.8	$2.74
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.89	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.27	$5.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.85	$25.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$13.5	$8.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.31	$6.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.62	$3.3
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.2	$2.88
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$69.1	$48.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$9.7	$15.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$76.1	$53.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.1	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$107	$80
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$127
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$486	$2232
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15168	$26129

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 Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1829
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1822
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1894
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1928
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1906
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1860
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1896
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2217
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1604
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1487
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1979
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1815
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1898
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1824
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1753
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2223
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1904
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1821
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2308
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1477
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1699
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2338
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1710
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1867
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2482
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2050
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2379
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1997
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2128
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1288
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172