Madrid vs San Francisco - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Madrid	San Francisco
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1781	$3905
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4027	$8537
🏠 One person rent	$1048	$2719
🏘️ Family rent	$1736	$4421
🍽️ Food expenses	$445	$804
🚐 Transport expenses	$163	$177
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2294	$7528
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	98	97
😀 Quality of life	90	96
🏙️ Population	3.42M	874K

The cost of living in Madrid is 54% less expensive than in San Francisco. Cities ranked 2443rd and 7th ($1781 vs $3905) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 5th in Spain and the United States, respectively. Check Spain vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Madrid compared to 1.9 months in San Francisco. Madrid ranked 1st best city to live in Spain vs San Francisco ranked 1st in the United States, while ranked 151st and 16th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Madrid vs San Francisco infographic

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Prices in Madrid vs San Francisco

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

	Madrid	San Francisco
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.7	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57	$102
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.6	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.36	$8.59
☕ Cappuccino	$2.92	$5.83
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.77	$3.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1203	$2797
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$853	$2467
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2092	$4615
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1428	$4053
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94	$128
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$145	$198
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$30.6	$57.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.59%	6.52%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6884	$11255
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3988	$10091
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.56	$2.71
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$32.4	$92.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.8	$20.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.74	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.11	$1.7
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.31	$4.48
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$5.7
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.12	$6.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$24.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.12	$14.4
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$22.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$6.33
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.91	$3.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.13	$5.48
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.26	$6.96
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$3.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$3.28
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$1.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.02	$3.61
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$6.89	$19.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.21	$3.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.25	$14
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.96	$7.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.62	$5.91
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.99	$2.92
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45	$87.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$10.2	$17.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$58.3	$148
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.1	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.7	$64.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$90.1	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$576	$2824
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10042	$20590

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1565
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1530
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1433
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1573
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1389
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1387
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1309
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1293
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1056
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1204
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1285
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1084
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1201
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1235
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1212
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1086
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$812
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1098
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1286
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1107
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1209
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1157
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1261
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$983
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$947
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1241
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1220
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1316
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1101
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1126
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1532
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1241
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$930
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1241
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1100
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1324
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$806
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1204
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1221
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1522

Cities near San Francisco

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.9 mi	Daly	$3190
14 km or 8.4 mi	South San Francisco	$3185
14 km or 8.8 mi	Alameda	$3364
15 km or 9.2 mi	Oakland	$2968
16 km or 10 mi	Albany	$2888
17 km or 10 mi	Berkeley	$2974
17 km or 11 mi	San Bruno	$3195
18 km or 11 mi	El Cerrito	$2929
18 km or 11 mi	Pacifica	$3183
19 km or 12 mi	Richmond	$3004
20 km or 12 mi	Millbrae	$3226
21 km or 13 mi	San Pablo	$2999
22 km or 14 mi	Burlingame	$3269
24 km or 15 mi	San Leandro	$2963
24 km or 15 mi	San Rafael	$3997
26 km or 16 mi	San Mateo	$3678
28 km or 17 mi	San Lorenzo	$2747
28 km or 18 mi	Foster	$3466
29 km or 18 mi	Lafayette	$2888
29 km or 18 mi	Hercules	$2840
31 km or 19 mi	Belmont	$3657
32 km or 20 mi	Hayward	$2811
32 km or 20 mi	Castro Valley	$3041
34 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3344
34 km or 21 mi	Walnut Creek	$2932
36 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3649
37 km or 23 mi	Martinez	$2780
37 km or 23 mi	Danville	$3785
37 km or 23 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2816
38 km or 24 mi	Union	$3002
39 km or 24 mi	San Ramon	$3045
39 km or 24 mi	Vallejo	$2412
39 km or 24 mi	Novato	$3115
39 km or 24 mi	Benicia	$2767
41 km or 25 mi	Concord	$2778
42 km or 26 mi	Menlo Park	$3326
42 km or 26 mi	East Palo Alto	$3286
43 km or 27 mi	Newark	$3060
45 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3059
46 km or 28 mi	Palo Alto	$3752