Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and El Jadida

For one person, living is cheaper in El Jadida: $613 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $22,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
Learn more

Barcelona Living Index
29

Cost of Living Index in El Jadida
Learn more

El Jadida Living Index

Jump to prices

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

El Jadida

🇲🇦 Morocco

$613

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in El Jadida

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Barcelona and in El Jadida actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,453 in Barcelona versus $613 in El Jadida.

Barcelona $2,453
El Jadida $613

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,509 in Barcelona versus $921 in El Jadida.

Barcelona $3,509
El Jadida $921

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,564 in Barcelona versus $1,230 in El Jadida.

Barcelona $4,564
El Jadida $1,230

Living in Barcelona is roughly 300% more expensive than in El Jadida, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 80% above, El Jadida is 55% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.59 €15.76

$2.74 MAD 26.95

541.97%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.5 €60.5

$20.55 MAD 202

228.42%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.53 €12.12

$5.97 MAD 58.8

126.63%

Cappuccino

$3.19 €2.86

$1.51 MAD 14.85

111.26%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.91 €2.61

$0.42 MAD 4.11

592.86%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.89 €1.70

$0.30 MAD 2.97

530.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.01 €3.59

$2.62 MAD 25.77

53.05%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 €4.06

$2.51 MAD 24.70

80.48%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.31 €1.17

$0.98 MAD 9.66

33.67%

White Bread (500g)

$2.02 €1.81

$0.36 MAD 3.58

461.11%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.85 €1.66

$1.96 MAD 19.32

-5.61%

Eggs

$4.83 €4.33

$1.88 MAD 18.54

156.91%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$16.74 €15.00

$6.26 MAD 61.6

167.41%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.12 €8.17

$4.02 MAD 39.59

126.87%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.64 €17.60

$7.50 MAD 73.8

161.87%

Apples (1kg)

$2.98 €2.67

$1.51 MAD 14.84

97.35%

Banana (1kg)

$2.02 €1.81

$1.41 MAD 13.83

43.26%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.70 €2.42

$0.65 MAD 6.36

315.38%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.80 €2.51

$0.64 MAD 6.27

337.50%

Potato (1kg)

$2.09 €1.87

$0.68 MAD 6.65

207.35%

Onion (1kg)

$2.07 €1.85

$0.50 MAD 4.94

314.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.46 €1.31

$0.30 MAD 2.92

386.67%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.94 €0.84

$0.51 MAD 5.04

84.31%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.87 €6.16

$3.76 MAD 37.00

82.71%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.89 €7.07

$3.97 MAD 39.04

98.74%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 €1.26

$2.48 MAD 24.39

-43.15%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.54 €2.27

$2.83 MAD 27.82

-10.25%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.14 €2.82

$0.44 MAD 4.38

613.64%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.45 €22.80

$15.98 MAD 157

59.26%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.99 €2.68

$1.04 MAD 10.20

187.50%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.49 €1.34

$1.04 MAD 10.24

43.27%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.37 €29.91

$4.96 MAD 48.77

572.78%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.80 €1.61

$1.48 MAD 14.60

21.62%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$33.2K €29.7K

$33.7K MAD 331.9K

-1.58%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$31.7K €28.4K

$29.7K MAD 292.8K

6.56%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$180 €162

$28.15 MAD 277

540.89%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$13.84 €12.40

$9.90 MAD 97.4

39.80%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.70 €30.20

$30.58 MAD 301

10.20%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.5 €46.16

$27.51 MAD 271

87.24%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.96 €14.30

$11.73 MAD 115

36.06%

Cinema Ticket

$10.99 €9.85

$6.25 MAD 61.5

75.84%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$917 €821

$111 MAD 1,093

724.98%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.5K €14.8K

$3,097 MAD 30.5K

432.20%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.0 €78.0

$26.67 MAD 263

226.32%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.51 €34.51

$35.40 MAD 348

8.79%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 €94.8

$64.3 MAD 633

64.61%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$120 €107

$68.3 MAD 672

75.36%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,699 €1,523

$203 MAD 1,996

737.83%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,355 €1,214

$165 MAD 1,628

719.24%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,603 €2,332

$361 MAD 3,556

620.44%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,062 €1,848

$226 MAD 2,221

813.82%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,915 €6,196

$1,544 MAD 15.2K

347.74%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,128 €4,595

$774 MAD 7,621

562.18%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,211 €1,981

$460 MAD 4,523

381.06%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

5.5

-40.36%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Last update for El Jadida: October 27, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3%

El Jadida

$165 27% 87.8% $1.2K

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$322 13.1%

El Jadida

$148 24.2% 53.9% $174

Eating Out

Barcelona

$268 10.9%

El Jadida

$79 12.9% 70.5% $189

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$228 9.3%

El Jadida

$69 11.2% 69.9% $159

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$158 6.4%

El Jadida

$88 14.3% 44.6% $70

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$74 3%

El Jadida

$40 6.5% 45.6% $33

Getting Around

Barcelona

$48 2%

El Jadida

$24 3.9% 50.5% $24

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,699 in Barcelona and $203 in El Jadida. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 4.8 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $67 in Barcelona vs $21 in El Jadida for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $322 vs $148 per month, with El Jadida cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇲🇦 El Jadida

🕒 Local time

03:50 3:50 AM

02:50 2:50 AM

1 h behind Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

237,464

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Moroccan Dirham MAD د.م.

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 MAD = 10.16 USD

100 MAD = 9.13 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MAD, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Moroccan Dirham exchange rates as of October 29, 2026: 1 USD = 9.84 MAD (1 MAD = 0.102 USD). 1 EUR = 10.96 MAD (100 MAD = 9.13 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Barcelona El Jadida 1,310 km ≈ 2 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
El Jadida

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Barcelona vs El Jadida: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,453 in Barcelona and $613 in El Jadida, so El Jadida is about 75% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Barcelona is about 4.8 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,699 in Barcelona versus $203 in El Jadida. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $917 in Barcelona versus $111 in El Jadida. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 117% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $613 in El Jadida versus $2,453 in Barcelona, a $800 budget is realistic in El Jadida but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes El Jadida the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Barcelona and El Jadida are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

Expats usually find El Jadida gentler on the wallet – expenses run 75% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.