Budapest vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Budapest	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1580	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3914	$5273
🏠 One person rent	$810	$1374
🏘️ Family rent	$1423	$2201
🍽️ Food expenses	$474	$624
🚐 Transport expenses	$133	$89.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1832	$4362
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	18 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	92	82
😀 Quality of life	81	89
🏙️ Population	1.69M	468K

The cost of living in Budapest is 30% less expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 3675th and 1363rd ($1580 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1143rd 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 1.9 months in Raleigh. Budapest ranked 1st best city to live in Hungary vs Raleigh ranked 54th in the United States, while ranked 646th and 219th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/budapest/raleigh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Budapest vs Raleigh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/budapest/raleigh" target="_blank">Budapest vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Budapest vs Raleigh

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

	Budapest	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.9	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.1	$69.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.83	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.67	$5.64
☕ Cappuccino	$3.6	$6.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.11	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$839	$1531
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$633	$1084
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1498	$2619
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1160	$1754
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$170	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.5	$63.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.8%	6.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6164	$3898
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4452	$2197
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.64	$1.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29.4	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.3	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.93	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.3	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.88	$3.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.65	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$4.61
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$14.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.46	$10.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$17.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$5.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.29	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$4.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.78	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$3.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$3.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.86	$2.65
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.94	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.35	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$8.37	$9.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$15.1	$12.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.48	$4.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.71	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$74.9	$42.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.2	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.9	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$117	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$122	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$549	$1475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17067	$24243

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729