Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and New Plymouth

For one person, living is cheaper in New Plymouth: $1,820 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $7,600 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
88

Cost of Living Index in New Plymouth
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New Plymouth Living Index

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Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

New Plymouth

🇳🇿 New Zealand

$1,820

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in New Plymouth

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,453 in Barcelona versus $1,820 in New Plymouth.

Barcelona $2,453
New Plymouth $1,820

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,509 in Barcelona versus $2,828 in New Plymouth.

Barcelona $3,509
New Plymouth $2,828

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,564 in Barcelona versus $3,836 in New Plymouth.

Barcelona $4,564
New Plymouth $3,836

Living in Barcelona is roughly 35% more expensive than in New Plymouth, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Barcelona 80% above, New Plymouth 34% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.59 €15.76

$12.43 NZ$22.09

41.51%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.5 €60.5

$67.9 NZ$121

-0.60%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.53 €12.12

$8.44 NZ$14.99

60.31%

Cappuccino

$3.19 €2.86

$3.34 NZ$5.94

-4.49%

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

$2.91 €2.61

$2.12 NZ$3.77

37.26%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.89 €1.70

$1.85 NZ$3.28

2.16%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.01 €3.59

$5.32 NZ$9.46

-24.62%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 €4.06

$5.65 NZ$10.04

-19.82%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.31 €1.17

$1.44 NZ$2.56

-9.03%

White Bread (500g)

$2.02 €1.81

$1.25 NZ$2.22

61.60%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.85 €1.66

$1.65 NZ$2.92

12.12%

Eggs

$4.83 €4.33

$5.53 NZ$9.83

-12.66%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$16.74 €15.00

$5.52 NZ$9.80

203.26%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.12 €8.17

$7.19 NZ$12.78

26.84%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.64 €17.60

$11.42 NZ$20.31

71.98%

Apples (1kg)

$2.98 €2.67

$2.63 NZ$4.67

13.31%

Banana (1kg)

$2.02 €1.81

$1.86 NZ$3.30

8.60%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.70 €2.42

$2.93 NZ$5.21

-7.85%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.80 €2.51

$6.12 NZ$10.87

-54.25%

Potato (1kg)

$2.09 €1.87

$1.99 NZ$3.53

5.03%

Onion (1kg)

$2.07 €1.85

$1.41 NZ$2.51

46.81%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.46 €1.31

$1.88 NZ$3.34

-22.34%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.94 €0.84

$1.32 NZ$2.35

-28.79%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.87 €6.16

$23.12 NZ$41.09

-70.29%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.89 €7.07

$8.73 NZ$15.53

-9.62%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 €1.26

$3.03 NZ$5.38

-53.47%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.54 €2.27

$3.78 NZ$6.73

-32.80%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.14 €2.82

$1.68 NZ$2.99

86.90%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.45 €22.80

$74.6 NZ$133

-65.90%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.99 €2.68

$3.68 NZ$6.54

-18.75%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.49 €1.34

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.37 €29.91

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.80 €1.61

$1.67 NZ$2.97

7.78%

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

$33.2K €29.7K

$28.7K NZ$51.0K

15.76%

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

$31.7K €28.4K

$22.8K NZ$40.5K

39.09%

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

$180 €162

$130 NZ$231

38.94%

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

$13.84 €12.40

$27.85 NZ$49.50

-50.31%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.70 €30.20

$48.35 NZ$86.0

-30.30%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.5 €46.16

$43.29 NZ$77.0

18.99%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.96 €14.30

Cinema Ticket

$10.99 €9.85

$8.20 NZ$14.57

34.02%

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

$917 €821

$680 NZ$1,208

34.89%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.5K €14.8K

$23.1K NZ$41.0K

-28.62%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.0 €78.0

$61.3 NZ$109

42.04%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.51 €34.51

$38.74 NZ$68.9

-0.59%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 €94.8

$90.6 NZ$161

16.80%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$120 €107

$106 NZ$188

13.06%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,699 €1,523

$907 NZ$1,613

87.30%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,355 €1,214

$836 NZ$1,487

62.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,603 €2,332

$1,740 NZ$3,093

49.58%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,062 €1,848

$1,589 NZ$2,824

29.81%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,915 €6,196

$3,209 NZ$5,704

115.50%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,128 €4,595

$2,622 NZ$4,661

95.56%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,211 €1,981

$2,787 NZ$4,954

-20.67%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

5.93

-44.69%

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

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Last update for New Plymouth: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3%

New Plymouth

$836 45.9% 38.3% $519

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$322 13.1%

New Plymouth

$281 15.5% 12.6% $41

Eating Out

Barcelona

$268 10.9%

New Plymouth

$219 12% 18.4% $49

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$228 9.3%

New Plymouth

$206 11.3% 9.6% $22

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$158 6.4%

New Plymouth

$133 7.3% 15.5% $25

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$74 3%

New Plymouth

$60 3.3% 18.8% $14

Getting Around

Barcelona

$48 2%

New Plymouth

$85 * 4.7% 75.5% $37

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 $1,699 in Barcelona and $907 in New Plymouth. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

New Plymouth pays 26% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $67 in Barcelona vs $68 in New Plymouth. Groceries flip the comparison at $322 vs $281, with New Plymouth cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇳🇿 New Plymouth

🕒 Local time

04:57 4:57 AM

16:57 4:57 PM

12 h ahead of Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

58,400

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

New Zealand Dollar NZD $

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

1 NZD = 0.563 USD

1 NZD = 0.504 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

NZD, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

New Zealand Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 1.78 NZD (1 NZD = 0.563 USD). 1 EUR = 1.98 NZD (1 NZD = 0.504 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Barcelona New Plymouth 19,280 km ≈ 25 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
New Plymouth

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 New Plymouth: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,453 in Barcelona and $1,820 in New Plymouth, so New Plymouth is about 26% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 21% lower in Barcelona. 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: $1,699 in Barcelona versus $907 in New Plymouth. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $917 in Barcelona versus $680 in New Plymouth. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

A monthly transit pass in Barcelona runs roughly 66% less than in New Plymouth. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Either city works on $3,000 a month, though New Plymouth gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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 New Plymouth are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.