Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Ploiesti

For one person, living is cheaper in Ploiesti: $1,151 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $15,600 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
55

Cost of Living Index in Ploiesti
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Ploiesti Living Index

Jump to prices

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Ploiesti

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,151

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Ploiesti

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,453 in Barcelona versus $1,151 in Ploiesti.

Barcelona $2,453
Ploiesti $1,151

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,509 in Barcelona versus $1,697 in Ploiesti.

Barcelona $3,509
Ploiesti $1,697

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,564 in Barcelona versus $2,242 in Ploiesti.

Barcelona $4,564
Ploiesti $2,242

Living in Barcelona is roughly 113% more expensive than in Ploiesti, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 80% above, Ploiesti is 15% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.59 €15.80

$11.30 RON 54.3

55.66%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.5 €60.6

$45.76 RON 220

47.49%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.53 €12.15

$7.77 RON 37.35

74.13%

Cappuccino

$3.19 €2.87

$2.90 RON 13.92

10.00%

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

$2.91 €2.62

$2.10 RON 10.09

38.57%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.89 €1.70

$2.06 RON 9.89

-8.25%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.01 €3.60

$2.44 RON 11.75

64.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 €4.07

$3.26 RON 15.67

38.96%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.31 €1.17

$1.56 RON 7.50

-16.03%

White Bread (500g)

$2.02 €1.81

$1.17 RON 5.62

72.65%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.85 €1.66

$1.47 RON 7.08

25.85%

Eggs

$4.83 €4.34

$3.19 RON 15.34

51.41%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$16.74 €15.03

$7.87 RON 37.84

112.71%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.12 €8.19

$6.87 RON 33.03

32.75%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.64 €17.64

$9.55 RON 45.92

105.65%

Apples (1kg)

$2.98 €2.68

$1.29 RON 6.18

131.01%

Banana (1kg)

$2.02 €1.81

$1.62 RON 7.80

24.69%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.70 €2.43

$1.39 RON 6.68

94.24%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.80 €2.52

$2.02 RON 9.72

38.61%

Potato (1kg)

$2.09 €1.87

$0.73 RON 3.53

186.30%

Onion (1kg)

$2.07 €1.86

$0.71 RON 3.41

191.55%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.46 €1.31

$0.67 RON 3.22

117.91%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.94 €0.84

$0.81 RON 3.89

16.05%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.87 €6.17

$6.31 RON 30.35

8.87%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.89 €7.08

$6.74 RON 32.42

17.06%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.41 €1.26

$0.93 RON 4.47

51.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.54 €2.28

$1.40 RON 6.72

81.43%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.14 €2.82

$0.85 RON 4.10

269.41%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.45 €22.86

$21.66 RON 104

17.50%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.99 €2.69

$0.65 RON 3.11

360.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.49 €1.34

$0.65 RON 3.11

129.23%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.37 €29.98

$6.12 RON 29.39

445.26%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.80 €1.61

$1.86 RON 8.93

-3.23%

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

$33.2K €29.8K

$29.0K RON 139.3K

14.48%

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

$31.7K €28.5K

$25.3K RON 121.7K

25.16%

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

$180 €162

$164 RON 789

9.96%

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

$13.84 €12.43

$6.15 RON 29.54

125.04%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.70 €30.27

$8.85 RON 42.53

280.79%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.5 €46.27

$44.51 RON 214

15.73%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$15.96 €14.34

$20.53 RON 98.7

-22.26%

Cinema Ticket

$10.99 €9.88

$8.22 RON 39.53

33.70%

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

$917 €823

$373 RON 1,795

145.44%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.5K €14.8K

$5,824 RON 28.0K

182.95%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.0 €78.2

$72.0 RON 346

20.84%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.51 €34.59

$41.75 RON 201

-7.76%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 €95.1

$92.6 RON 445

14.30%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$120 €108

$95.2 RON 458

25.68%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,699 €1,527

$529 RON 2,544

220.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,355 €1,217

$361 RON 1,737

275.06%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,603 €2,338

$630 RON 3,028

313.15%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,062 €1,853

$483 RON 2,321

327.09%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,915 €6,211

$1,972 RON 9,476

250.68%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,128 €4,606

$1,325 RON 6,366

287.09%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,211 €1,986

$996 RON 4,784

122.08%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

7.85

-58.22%

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

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Last update for Ploiesti: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3%

Ploiesti

$361 31.4% 73.3% $994

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$322 13.1%

Ploiesti

$201 17.5% 37.4% $120

Eating Out

Barcelona

$268 10.9%

Ploiesti

$184 16% 31.4% $84

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$228 9.3%

Ploiesti

$179 15.6% 21.4% $49

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$158 6.4%

Ploiesti

$136 11.8% 14.1% $22

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$74 3%

Ploiesti

$61 5.3% 17.1% $13

Getting Around

Barcelona

$48 2%

Ploiesti

$29 2.5% 40.3% $20

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,699 in Barcelona and $529 in Ploiesti. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Barcelona pays about 2.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $67 in Barcelona vs $46 in Ploiesti for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $322 vs $201 per month, with Ploiesti cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇷🇴 Ploiesti

🕒 Local time

20:02 8:02 PM

21:02 9:02 PM

1 h ahead of Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

224,406

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.11 USD

1 RON = 0.208 USD

1 RON = 0.187 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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Between locations

Barcelona Ploiesti 1,970 km ≈ 3 h nonstop flight

From you

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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 Ploiesti: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Barcelona and Ploiesti differ by about 113% in total monthly costs ($2,453 vs $1,151 including rent). Ploiesti is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Barcelona is about 2.2 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 $529 in Ploiesti. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $917 in Barcelona versus $373 in Ploiesti. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 60% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Ploiesti 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.

Safety-wise, Barcelona and Ploiesti 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 Ploiesti gentler on the wallet – expenses run 53% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.