Saint Petersburg vs Sofia - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Saint Petersburg	Sofia
🚶 Cost of living one person	$971	$1244
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2348	$3082
🏠 One person rent	$502	$629
🏘️ Family rent	$876	$1103
🍽️ Food expenses	$258	$406
🚐 Transport expenses	$127	$92.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1116	$1061
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	82	70
😀 Quality of life	71	78
🏙️ Population	5.65M	1.4M

The cost of living in Saint Petersburg is 22% less expensive than in Sofia. Cities ranked 5813th and 4611th ($971 vs $1244) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in Russia and Bulgaria, respectively. Check Russia vs Bulgaria comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.1 months in Saint Petersburg compared to 0.9 months in Sofia. Saint Petersburg ranked 2nd best city to live in Russia vs Sofia ranked 1st in Bulgaria, while ranked 3397th and 1070th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Saint Petersburg vs Sofia infographic

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

Prices in Saint Petersburg vs Sofia

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

	Saint Petersburg	Sofia
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$7.62	$11.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$34.2	$50.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.3	$9.44
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.77	$2.98
☕ Cappuccino	$2.26	$2.59
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.02	$1.7
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$654	$661
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$370	$485
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1172	$1209
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$665	$875
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68	$94.1
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$103	$147
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$7.03	$14.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	24.54%	3.03%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3928	$3978
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2610	$2572
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.95
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$38.4	$29.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$9.21
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.72	$1.53
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.07	$1.9
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.7	$1.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.62	$3.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.78	$12.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.39	$8.26
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.4	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.63	$1.85
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$1.87
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.78	$2.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$1.1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.64	$0.93
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.48	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.3	$1.84
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.16	$7.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$1.03
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.52	$3.89
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.46	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.09	$3.43
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.04	$2.05
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.06	$3.13
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$32.7	$43.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$5.1	$10.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$14	$44.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.52	$11.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.3	$71.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$402	$659
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10534	$9717

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Saint Petersburg

Distance	City	Cost of living
135 km or 84 mi	Narva	$1083
156 km or 97 mi	Sillamae	$1064
162 km or 101 mi	Imatra	$1477
168 km or 104 mi	Veliky Novgorod	$734
170 km or 105 mi	Lappeenranta	$1454
181 km or 112 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$1089
185 km or 115 mi	Hamina	$1516
195 km or 121 mi	Kotka	$1516
223 km or 139 mi	Kouvola	$1561
227 km or 141 mi	Savonlinna	$1265
232 km or 144 mi	Rakvere	$999
254 km or 158 mi	Mikkeli	$1386
262 km or 163 mi	Porvoo	$1561
263 km or 164 mi	Pskov	$680
269 km or 167 mi	Tartu	$1174
280 km or 174 mi	Lahti	$1618
293 km or 182 mi	Kerava	$1611
294 km or 183 mi	Varkaus	$1145
294 km or 183 mi	Jarvenpaa	$1783
295 km or 183 mi	Vantaa	$1881
296 km or 184 mi	Joensuu	$1580
297 km or 184 mi	Tuusula	$1655
299 km or 186 mi	Petrozavodsk	$745
300 km or 186 mi	Helsinki	$1947
302 km or 188 mi	Maardu	$1372
310 km or 192 mi	Nurmijarvi	$1642
310 km or 193 mi	Hyvinkaa	$1546
315 km or 196 mi	Espoo	$1937
317 km or 197 mi	Riihimaki	$1394
318 km or 197 mi	Tallinn	$1601
322 km or 200 mi	Viljandi	$1041
328 km or 204 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1737
342 km or 213 mi	Hameenlinna	$1444
348 km or 216 mi	Lohja	$1383
349 km or 217 mi	Jamsa	$1503
354 km or 220 mi	Jyvaskyla	$1500
356 km or 221 mi	Kuopio	$1524
373 km or 232 mi	Valkeakoski	$1570
374 km or 233 mi	Parnu	$1184
383 km or 238 mi	Raseborg	$1566

Cities near Sofia

Distance	City	Cost of living
26 km or 16 mi	Pernik	$730
59 km or 37 mi	Vratsa	$766
77 km or 48 mi	Blagoevgrad	$707
97 km or 60 mi	Bansko	$854
100 km or 62 mi	Pazardzhik	$776
132 km or 82 mi	Pleven	$667
132 km or 82 mi	Plovdiv	$836
135 km or 84 mi	Nis	$819
142 km or 88 mi	Stip	$575
146 km or 91 mi	Kumanovo	$642
148 km or 92 mi	Vidin	$668
149 km or 92 mi	Asenovgrad	$702
151 km or 94 mi	Strumica	$670
164 km or 102 mi	Gabrovo	$643
168 km or 104 mi	Veles	$572
175 km or 108 mi	Skopje	$849
176 km or 110 mi	Pristina	$655
178 km or 110 mi	Kavadarci	$595
180 km or 112 mi	Serres	$1080
185 km or 115 mi	Drama	$964
186 km or 116 mi	Craiova	$909
191 km or 119 mi	Stara Zagora	$703
193 km or 120 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$752
202 km or 125 mi	Mitrovica	$557
202 km or 126 mi	Haskovo	$678
208 km or 129 mi	Tetovo	$720
210 km or 130 mi	Prilep	$592
210 km or 131 mi	Slatina	$675
215 km or 134 mi	Kavala	$996
215 km or 134 mi	Alexandria	$692
217 km or 135 mi	Xanthi	$1048
222 km or 138 mi	Drobeta-Turnu Severin	$699
224 km or 139 mi	Giannitsa	$1091
232 km or 144 mi	Thessaloniki	$1225
234 km or 145 mi	Novi Pazar	$828
242 km or 150 mi	Kragujevac	$918
245 km or 152 mi	Sliven	$591
246 km or 153 mi	Komotini	$1013
248 km or 154 mi	Bitola	$667
248 km or 154 mi	Ruse	$777