London vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	London	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3740	$2089
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$8537	$4820
🏠 One person rent	$2516	$1219
🏘️ Family rent	$4294	$2088
🍽️ Food expenses	$631	$518
🚐 Transport expenses	$412	$197
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3678	$2681
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	100	98
😀 Quality of life	96	90
🏙️ Population	8.8M	3.51M

The cost of living in London is 79% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 20th and 1805th ($3740 vs $2089) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th in the United Kingdom and Spain, respectively. Check the United Kingdom vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1 months in London compared to 1.3 months in Madrid. London ranked 1st best city to live in the United Kingdom vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 12th and 190th 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/london/madrid.jpg" alt="Cost of living in London vs Madrid infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/london/madrid" target="_blank">London vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in London vs Madrid

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

	London	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.5	$16.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$98	$64.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$12.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.2	$4.79
☕ Cappuccino	$5.94	$3.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.15	$3.17
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2958	$1380
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2140	$1000
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4865	$2540
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3773	$1720
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$169	$111
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$260	$171
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$42.3	$32.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.75%	3.15%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$20369	$8795
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10989	$4558
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$4.62	$1.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$105	$43.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$31.9	$18.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.86	$1.85
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.87	$1.28
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.25	$1.41
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.42	$1.64
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.71	$4.14
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$18.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.98	$9.28
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.3	$19.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.13	$2.98
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$2.39
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$2.69
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$2.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.46	$2.3
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.82	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.2	$0.6
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.79	$2.67
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14	$10.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.33	$1.4
🚬 Cigarette pack	$23.6	$7.09
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.84	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.87	$4.06
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.9	$2.63
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.44	$2.83
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$68.5	$52.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$20.3	$12.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$79.9	$71
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$20.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$117	$103
👟 Brand Sneakers	$122	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2594	$702
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$30567	$14237

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$3038
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2559
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2498
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2564
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2419
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2417
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2406
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2395
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2382
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2661
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2336
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2426
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2490
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2227
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2271
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2345
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2675
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2152
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2259
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2321
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2567
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2276
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2260
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2846
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2265
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$2188
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2622
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2385
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$2262
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2485
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1860
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2191
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2215
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2223
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$2212
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2576
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$2111
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2377
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2472
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2199

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1936
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1751
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1731
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1747
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1648
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1671
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1688
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1697
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1226
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1350
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1366
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1251
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1384
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1433
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1408
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1215
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$918
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1260
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1387
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1343
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1451
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1349
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1461
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$1146
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$1253
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1462
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1356
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1435
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1471
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1300
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1734
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1365
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$1123
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1388
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1331
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1299
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$957
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1385
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1366
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1797