Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Merida, Venezuela

Name: Merida
Address: Merida, VE

For one person, living is cheaper in Merida: $814 a month against $2,443 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $19,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index
39

Cost of Living Index in Merida
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Merida Living Index

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Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,443

/mo nomad

Merida

🇻🇪 Venezuela

$814

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Merida

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,443 in Barcelona versus $814 in Merida.

Barcelona $2,443
Merida $814

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,519 in Barcelona versus $1,415 in Merida.

Barcelona $3,519
Merida $1,415

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,595 in Barcelona versus $2,015 in Merida.

Barcelona $4,595
Merida $2,015

Living in Barcelona is roughly 200% more expensive than in Merida, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 81% above, Merida is 40% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.66 €15.72

$12.12 VES 10.8K

45.71%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.5 €60.1

$58.9 VES 52.6K

14.55%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.61 €12.12

$11.14 VES 9,947

22.17%

Cappuccino

$3.10 €2.76

$2.44 VES 2,180

27.05%

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

$3.00 €2.67

$2.14 VES 1,906

40.19%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.93 €1.72

$1.31 VES 1,167

47.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.84 €3.42

$2.04 VES 1,819

88.24%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.36 €3.88

$2.96 VES 2,647

47.30%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.25 €1.11

$2.05 VES 1,826

-39.02%

White Bread (500g)

$2.12 €1.89

$3.26 VES 2,906

-34.97%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.97 €1.76

$1.92 VES 1,716

2.60%

Eggs

$4.76 €4.24

$2.50 VES 2,236

90.40%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.07 €15.20

$6.78 VES 6,049

151.77%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.96 €7.97

$7.84 VES 7,001

14.29%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$20.65 €18.39

$7.60 VES 6,786

171.71%

Apples (1kg)

$3.16 €2.81

$5.02 VES 4,484

-37.05%

Banana (1kg)

$1.97 €1.75

$1.40 VES 1,249

40.71%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.65 €2.36

$2.80 VES 2,502

-5.36%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.88 €2.57

$2.27 VES 2,027

26.87%

Potato (1kg)

$2.06 €1.83

$2.06 VES 1,840

Onion (1kg)

$2.18 €1.94

$1.31 VES 1,171

66.41%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.53 €1.37

$1.50 VES 1,337

2.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.97 €0.86

$2.53 VES 2,254

-61.66%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.97 €6.20

$3.71 VES 3,313

87.87%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.89 €7.02

$10.91 VES 9,743

-27.68%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.42 €1.26

$1.40 VES 1,250

1.43%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.69 €2.39

$2.20 VES 1,967

22.27%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.31 €2.95

$0.31 VES 281

967.74%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.61 €22.80

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.08 €2.75

$4.11 VES 3,670

-25.06%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.48 €1.32

$1.52 VES 1,361

-2.63%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$32.87 €29.27

$5.93 VES 5,290

454.30%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.87 €1.66

$0.73 VES 652

156.16%

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

$33.0K €29.4K

$44.6K VES 39.8M

-26.09%

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

$31.9K €28.4K

$49.2K VES 43.9M

-35.09%

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

$183 €163

$12.43 VES 11.1K

1371.04%

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

$14.24 €12.68

$10.35 VES 9,235

37.58%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$34.56 €30.78

$30.13 VES 26.9K

14.70%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.4 €45.79

$29.77 VES 26.6K

72.72%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.38 €14.59

$15.15 VES 13.5K

8.12%

Cinema Ticket

$11.06 €9.85

$4.96 VES 4,429

122.98%

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

$944 €840

$87.0 VES 77.7K

984.33%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$22.3K €19.8K

$2,440 VES 2.2M

812.46%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.7 €78.1

$74.6 VES 66.6K

17.60%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.77 €34.52

$42.01 VES 37.5K

-7.71%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$105 €93.1

$98.5 VES 88.0K

6.12%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$118 €105

$96.3 VES 86.0K

22.13%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,697 €1,511

$136 VES 121.1K

1150.55%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,337 €1,190

$91.5 VES 81.7K

1361.07%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,692 €2,397

$222 VES 198.1K

1113.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,077 €1,849

$192 VES 171.5K

980.85%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,155 €6,371

$1,192 VES 1.1M

500.41%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,079 €4,522

$1,216 VES 1.1M

317.83%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,241 €1,996

$286 VES 255.3K

683.80%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.19

-87.24%

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

Last update for Barcelona: November 2, 2026

Last update for Merida: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.3K 54.7%

Merida

$91 11.2% 93.2% $1.2K

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$328 13.4%

Merida

$287 35.3% 12.3% $40

Eating Out

Barcelona

$267 10.9%

Merida

$190 23.3% 29% $77

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$232 9.5%

Merida

$53 6.5% 77.2% $179

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$157 6.4%

Merida

$140 17.2% 10.7% $17

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$74 3%

Merida

$40 4.9% 46% $34

Getting Around

Barcelona

$49 2%

Merida

$13 * 1.6% 73.7% $36

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 $1,697 in Barcelona and $136 in Merida. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 7.8 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $67 in Barcelona vs $59 in Merida for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $328 vs $287 per month, with Merida cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇻🇪 Merida

🕒 Local time

02:07 2:07 AM

21:07 9:07 PM

5 h behind Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

250,303

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Venezuelan Bolívar VES Bs.S

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

10,000 VES = 11.2 USD

10,000 VES = 9.98 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

VES, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 0.89 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Venezuelan Bolívar exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 893 VES (1,000 VES = 1.12 USD). 1 EUR = 1,002 VES (10,000 VES = 9.98 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Barcelona Merida 7,990 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Merida

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 Merida: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,443 in Barcelona and $814 in Merida, so Merida is about 67% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Barcelona is about 7.8 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: $1,697 in Barcelona versus $136 in Merida. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $944 in Barcelona versus $87 in Merida. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Merida – a meal for two runs $59 versus $67 in Barcelona. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

Both cities are expensive relative to $800. Merida is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

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.

It comes down to priorities – Merida wins on affordability, Barcelona on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.