Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Barcelona and Qalyub

For one person, living is cheaper in Qalyub: $451 a month against $2,381 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $23,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

115

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
Learn more

Barcelona Living Index
22

Cost of Living Index in Qalyub
Learn more

Qalyub Living Index

Jump to prices

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,381

/mo nomad

Qalyub

🇪🇬 Egypt

$451

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Barcelona and in Qalyub

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,381 in Barcelona versus $451 in Qalyub.

Barcelona $2,381
Qalyub $451

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,406 in Barcelona versus $740 in Qalyub.

Barcelona $3,406
Qalyub $740

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,431 in Barcelona versus $1,028 in Qalyub.

Barcelona $4,431
Qalyub $1,028

Living in Barcelona is roughly 428% more expensive than in Qalyub, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Barcelona is 76% above, Qalyub is 67% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.89 €15.95

$4.33 E£241

313.16%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$66.2 €59.0

$19.25 E£1,073

243.69%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$13.69 €12.20

$4.73 E£264

189.43%

Cappuccino

$3.06 €2.73

$1.32 E£73.5

131.82%

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

$3.07 €2.74

$0.29 E£16.43

958.62%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.94 €1.73

$0.13 E£7.38

1392.31%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.87 €3.45

$1.32 E£73.3

193.18%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.61 €4.11

$2.29 E£128

101.31%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.30 €1.16

$0.82 E£45.70

58.54%

White Bread (500g)

$2.10 €1.87

$0.70 E£39.29

200.00%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.83 €1.63

$0.59 E£32.92

210.17%

Eggs

$4.62 €4.12

$1.13 E£62.8

308.85%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$17.36 €15.47

$3.80 E£212

356.84%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.28 €8.27

$4.35 E£242

113.33%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$19.83 €17.68

$9.12 E£508

117.43%

Apples (1kg)

$3.01 €2.69

$1.54 E£86.0

95.45%

Banana (1kg)

$2.03 €1.81

$0.78 E£43.67

160.26%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.65 €2.36

$0.57 E£31.54

364.91%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.87 €2.56

$0.33 E£18.27

769.70%

Potato (1kg)

$2.16 €1.92

$0.24 E£13.37

800.00%

Onion (1kg)

$2.15 €1.91

$0.32 E£18.05

571.87%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.31

$0.25 E£13.82

488.00%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.88 €0.79

$0.20 E£11.00

340.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.93 €6.17

$1.93 E£108

259.07%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.83 €6.98

$5.77 E£322

35.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.39 €1.24

$1.19 E£66.6

16.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.63 €2.35

$2.21 E£123

19.00%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.91 €2.59

$0.20 E£11.12

1355.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.46 €22.69

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.00 €2.67

$0.40 E£22.23

650.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.44 €1.29

$0.20 E£11.21

620.00%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.20 €29.59

$1.20 E£66.8

2666.67%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.86 €1.66

$0.42 E£23.69

342.86%

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

$32.3K €28.8K

$32.3K E£1.8M

0.06%

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

$31.7K €28.3K

$26.9K E£1.5M

18.04%

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

$183 €163

$14.31 E£798

1177.15%

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

$13.61 €12.13

$6.72 E£375

102.53%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.93 €29.35

$13.08 E£729

151.76%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$54.7 €48.75

$16.40 E£915

233.48%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$16.52 €14.73

$0.91 E£51.0

1715.38%

Cinema Ticket

$11.23 €10.01

$2.77 E£155

305.42%

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

$954 €850

$86.6 E£4,832

1001.35%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.6K €14.8K

$2,104 E£117.3K

689.15%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$86.0 €76.7

$33.54 E£1,870

156.50%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.11 €34.86

$45.09 E£2,515

-13.26%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$104 €92.4

$117 E£6,499

-11.04%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$119 €106

$56.0 E£3,123

111.84%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,695 €1,511

$132 E£7,358

1184.93%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,276 €1,137

$76.8 E£4,281

1562.58%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,576 €2,296

$251 E£14.0K

924.46%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,922 €1,713

$144 E£8,034

1234.43%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,281 €6,490

$752 E£41.9K

868.24%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,010 €4,465

$357 E£19.9K

1304.70%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,227 €1,985

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.28

16.21

-79.77%

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

Last update for Barcelona: October 20, 2026

Last update for Qalyub: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Barcelona

$1.3K 53.6%

Qalyub

$77 17% 94% $1.2K

Groceries & Markets

Barcelona

$325 13.7%

Qalyub

$126 27.8% 61.4% $200

Eating Out

Barcelona

$270 11.3%

Qalyub

$78 17.2% 71.2% $192

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Barcelona

$229 9.6%

Qalyub

$34 7.6% 85.1% $195

Clothing & Footwear

Barcelona

$156 6.6%

Qalyub

$113 25.1% 27.7% $43

Sport & Entertainment

Barcelona

$77 3.2%

Qalyub

$22 4.9% 71.6% $55

Getting Around

Barcelona

$47 2%

Qalyub

$2.2 * 0.5% 95.3% $45

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 $132 in Qalyub. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $66 in Barcelona vs $19 in Qalyub for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $325 vs $126 per month, with Qalyub cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🇪🇬 Qalyub

🕒 Local time

07:58 7:58 AM

09:58 9:58 AM

2 h ahead of Barcelona

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,660,122

109,000

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 EGP = 1.79 USD

100 EGP = 1.6 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

EGP, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 0.891 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 26, 2026: 1 USD = 55.77 EGP (100 EGP = 1.79 USD). 1 EUR = 62.57 EGP (100 EGP = 1.6 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Barcelona Qalyub 2,880 km ≈ 4 h nonstop flight

From you

Barcelona
Qalyub

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 Qalyub: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Barcelona and Qalyub differ by about 428% in total monthly costs ($2,381 vs $451 including rent). Qalyub is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You’d need roughly $3,571 in Barcelona and $677 in Qalyub to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,695 in Barcelona versus $132 in Qalyub. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $954 in Barcelona versus $87 in Qalyub. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Qalyub – a meal for two runs $19 versus $66 in Barcelona. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $451 in Qalyub versus $2,381 in Barcelona, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Qalyub but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Qalyub 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.