Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Harlow

For one person, living costs are similar in Barcelona and in Harlow: $2,381 and $2,330 a month, rent and utilities included.

115

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
Learn more

Barcelona Living Index
113

Cost of Living Index in Harlow
Learn more

Harlow Living Index

Jump to prices

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,381

/mo nomad

Harlow

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,330

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Harlow

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 Harlow actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,381 in Barcelona versus $2,330 in Harlow.

Barcelona $2,381
Harlow $2,330

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,406 in Barcelona versus $3,407 in Harlow.

Barcelona $3,406
Harlow $3,407

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,431 in Barcelona versus $4,483 in Harlow.

Barcelona $4,431
Harlow $4,483

Living in Barcelona is roughly 2% more expensive than in Harlow, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Barcelona 76% above, Harlow 72% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.89 €15.92

$21.01 £15.76

-14.85%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$66.2 €58.9

$91.7 £68.8

-27.86%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.69 €12.18

$10.47 £7.86

30.75%

Cappuccino

$3.06 €2.72

$5.47 £4.11

-44.06%

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

$3.07 €2.73

$2.63 £1.97

16.73%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.94 €1.73

$1.85 £1.39

4.86%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.87 €3.44

$6.81 £5.11

-43.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 €4.10

$6.87 £5.15

-32.90%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.30 €1.16

$1.30 £0.98

White Bread (500g)

$2.10 €1.87

$1.41 £1.06

48.94%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.83 €1.62

$1.11 £0.84

64.86%

Eggs

$4.62 €4.11

$2.38 £1.79

94.12%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.36 €15.44

$6.83 £5.12

154.17%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.28 €8.25

$6.05 £4.54

53.39%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.83 €17.64

$6.45 £4.84

207.44%

Apples (1kg)

$3.01 €2.68

$2.05 £1.54

46.83%

Banana (1kg)

$2.03 €1.81

$1.23 £0.92

65.04%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.65 €2.36

$1.15 £0.87

130.43%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.87 €2.55

$2.02 £1.52

42.08%

Potato (1kg)

$2.16 €1.92

$1.63 £1.22

32.52%

Onion (1kg)

$2.15 €1.91

$1.34 £1.01

60.45%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.31

$1.34 £1.01

9.70%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.88 €0.79

$1.43 £1.07

-38.46%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.93 €6.16

$21.29 £15.97

-67.45%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.83 €6.96

$9.33 £7.00

-16.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 €1.24

$2.70 £2.02

-48.52%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.63 €2.34

$2.04 £1.53

28.92%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.91 €2.59

$2.73 £2.04

6.59%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.46 €22.64

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.00 €2.66

$5.84 £4.38

-48.63%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.44 €1.28

$1.68 £1.26

-14.29%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.20 €29.53

$21.15 £15.87

56.97%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.86 €1.65

$1.92 £1.44

-3.12%

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

$32.3K €28.8K

$39.0K £29.2K

-17.03%

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

$31.7K €28.2K

$40.1K £30.1K

-21.02%

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

$183 €163

$226 £169

-19.10%

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

$13.61 €12.11

$11.95 £8.97

13.89%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.93 €29.29

$28.54 £21.41

15.38%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$54.7 €48.65

$47.10 £35.34

16.11%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.52 €14.70

$8.06 £6.05

104.96%

Cinema Ticket

$11.23 €9.99

$12.56 £9.42

-10.59%

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

$954 €849

$1,061 £796

-10.04%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.6K €14.8K

$19.7K £14.8K

-15.85%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$86.0 €76.5

$68.8 £51.6

24.99%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.11 €34.78

$32.19 £24.15

21.50%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$104 €92.2

$77.0 £57.8

34.67%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$119 €106

$39.33 £29.51

201.63%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,695 €1,508

$1,403 £1,053

20.82%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,276 €1,135

$1,328 £996

-3.87%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,576 €2,291

$2,276 £1,708

13.16%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,922 €1,710

$2,182 £1,637

-11.90%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,281 €6,477

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,010 €4,456

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,227 €1,981

$3,013 £2,260

-26.09%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

4.91

-33.20%

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

Last update for Barcelona: October 20, 2026

Last update for Harlow: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.3K 53.6%

Harlow

$1.3K 57% 4% $51

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$325 13.7%

Harlow

$210 9% 35.4% $115

Eating Out

Barcelona

$270 11.3%

Harlow

$331 14.2% 22.8% $61

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$229 9.6%

Harlow

$266 11.4% 16.2% $37

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$156 6.6%

Harlow

$98 4.2% 37.4% $59

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$77 3.2%

Harlow

$72 3.1% 6.4% $5

Getting Around

Barcelona

$47 2%

Harlow

$25 * 1.1% 46.8% $22

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,695 in Barcelona and $1,403 in Harlow. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Harlow pays 35% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $66.0 in Barcelona vs $92.0 in Harlow. Groceries flip the comparison at $325 vs $210, with Harlow cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇬🇧 Harlow

🕒 Local time

22:30 10:30 PM

21:30 9:30 PM

1 h behind Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

86,191

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

British Pound GBP £

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Barcelona Harlow 1,170 km ≈ 2 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Harlow

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 Harlow: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Barcelona and Harlow differ by about 2% in total monthly costs ($2,381 vs $2,330 including rent). Harlow is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 35% lower in Harlow. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,695 in Barcelona versus $1,403 in Harlow. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $954 in Barcelona versus $1,061 in Harlow. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Harlow – a meal for two runs $92.0 versus $66.0 in Barcelona. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $2,330 in Harlow versus $2,381 in Barcelona, a $3,000 budget is realistic in Harlow but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Harlow 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 Harlow are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Harlow gentler on the wallet – expenses run 2% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.