Madrid vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Madrid	San Jose
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2089	$3962
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4820	$8268
🏠 One person rent	$1219	$2809
🏘️ Family rent	$2088	$4461
🍽️ Food expenses	$518	$768
🚐 Transport expenses	$197	$184
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2681	$5742
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	98	87
😀 Quality of life	90	91
🏙️ Population	3.51M	1.01M

The cost of living in Madrid is 47% less expensive than in San Jose, United States. Cities ranked 1805th and 8th ($2089 vs $3962) 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 1.4 months in San Jose, United States. Madrid ranked 1st best city to live in Spain vs San Jose, United States ranked 31st in the United States, while ranked 190th and 148th 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/madrid/san-jose-us.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Madrid vs San Jose, United States infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/madrid/san-jose-us" target="_blank">Madrid vs San Jose, United States - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Madrid vs San Jose, United States

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

	Madrid	San Jose
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.8	$23.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$64.4	$100
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.2	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.79	$9
☕ Cappuccino	$3.61	$5.63
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.17	$3.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1380	$3015
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1000	$2454
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2540	$4507
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1720	$4037
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$111	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$171	$256
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$32.8	$74.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.15%	6.44%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8795	$9481
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4558	$9796
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.77	$2.5
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$43.6	$89.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.7	$21.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.85	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.28	$1.57
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$4.69
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.72
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.14	$5.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.4	$20.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.28	$13.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.2	$22.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.98	$6.41
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.69	$5.8
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.9	$5.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$3.97
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.6	$1.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.67	$3.29
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.2	$15.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.4	$2.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.09	$11.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$10.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.06	$6.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.63	$6.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.83	$2.5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$52.8	$130
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$12.3	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$71	$150
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.2	$20.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$103	$56.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$108	$97.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$702	$1802
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$14237	$23160

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	$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

Cities near San Jose, United States

Distance	City	Cost of living
7.6 km or 4.7 mi	Campbell	$3488
9.7 km or 6.1 mi	Santa Clara	$3608
11 km or 6.8 mi	Los Gatos	$4273
13 km or 8.4 mi	Saratoga	$3379
15 km or 9.1 mi	Milpitas	$3257
15 km or 9.3 mi	Cupertino	$2871
16 km or 10 mi	Sunnyvale	$3508
18 km or 11 mi	Mountain View	$3603
21 km or 13 mi	Los Altos	$3254
27 km or 17 mi	Palo Alto	$3805
27 km or 17 mi	Morgan Hill	$3181
28 km or 18 mi	Fremont	$3589
29 km or 18 mi	Newark	$3261
29 km or 18 mi	East Palo Alto	$3382
32 km or 20 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
36 km or 22 mi	Union	$3137
38 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3771
39 km or 24 mi	Santa Cruz	$3489
41 km or 25 mi	San Carlos	$3359
41 km or 25 mi	Pleasanton	$3520
42 km or 26 mi	Gilroy	$3017
43 km or 27 mi	Livermore	$3065
44 km or 27 mi	Watsonville	$3676
44 km or 27 mi	Belmont	$3593
44 km or 28 mi	Foster	$3604
45 km or 28 mi	Hayward	$2910
46 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3094
47 km or 29 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
48 km or 30 mi	San Mateo	$3831
48 km or 30 mi	Castro Valley	$2983
53 km or 33 mi	San Leandro	$3007
53 km or 33 mi	Burlingame	$3346
54 km or 33 mi	San Ramon	$2859
57 km or 36 mi	Millbrae	$3282
59 km or 36 mi	Danville	$3778
60 km or 38 mi	San Bruno	$3264
61 km or 38 mi	Alameda	$3277
62 km or 38 mi	Tracy	$2089
63 km or 39 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
64 km or 40 mi	Oakland	$3212