Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Basildon and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Basildon: $2,374 a month against $2,453 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $950 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

115

Cost of Living Index in Basildon
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Basildon Living Index
117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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Basildon

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,374

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Basildon and in Barcelona

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Basildon and in Barcelona actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,374 in Basildon versus $2,453 in Barcelona.

Basildon $2,374
Barcelona $2,453

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,407 in Basildon versus $3,509 in Barcelona.

Basildon $3,407
Barcelona $3,509

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,441 in Basildon versus $4,564 in Barcelona.

Basildon $4,441
Barcelona $4,564

Living in Basildon costs roughly 3% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Basildon 74% above, Barcelona 80% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$20.45 £15.39

$17.59 €15.80

16.26%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$59.5 £44.78

$67.5 €60.6

-11.84%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.14 £6.88

$13.53 €12.15

-32.45%

Cappuccino

$4.76 £3.59

$3.19 €2.87

49.22%

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

$3.21 £2.41

$2.91 €2.62

10.31%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.57 £1.18

$1.89 €1.70

-16.93%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.78 £5.10

$4.01 €3.60

69.08%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.92 £2.95

$4.53 €4.07

-13.47%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.32 £0.99

$1.31 €1.17

0.76%

White Bread (500g)

$2.10 £1.58

$2.02 €1.81

3.96%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.52 £1.14

$1.85 €1.66

-17.84%

Eggs

$4.05 £3.04

$4.83 €4.34

-16.15%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.53 £6.42

$16.74 €15.03

-49.04%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.63 £3.48

$9.12 €8.19

-49.23%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.84 £8.91

$19.64 €17.64

-39.71%

Apples (1kg)

$3.14 £2.36

$2.98 €2.68

5.37%

Banana (1kg)

$1.30 £0.98

$2.02 €1.81

-35.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.99 £1.50

$2.70 €2.43

-26.30%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.26 £2.45

$2.80 €2.52

16.43%

Potato (1kg)

$1.56 £1.17

$2.09 €1.87

-25.36%

Onion (1kg)

$1.85 £1.39

$2.07 €1.86

-10.63%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.06 £0.80

$1.46 €1.31

-27.40%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 £0.89

$0.94 €0.84

25.53%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$20.22 £15.22

$6.87 €6.17

194.32%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.71 £8.06

$7.89 €7.08

35.74%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.34 £1.76

$1.41 €1.26

65.96%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.63 £1.22

$2.54 €2.28

-35.83%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.68 £2.02

$3.14 €2.82

-14.65%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$67.6 £50.9

$25.45 €22.86

165.78%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.30 £3.99

$2.99 €2.69

77.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.49 €1.34

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.37 €29.98

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.93 £1.45

$1.80 €1.61

7.22%

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

$38.2K £28.7K

$33.2K €29.8K

15.08%

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

$40.3K £30.3K

$31.7K €28.5K

27.18%

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

$284 £214

$180 €162

57.34%

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

$13.36 £10.05

$13.84 €12.43

-3.47%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.04 £26.37

$33.70 €30.27

3.98%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.46 £33.46

$51.5 €46.27

-13.69%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$27.04 £20.35

$15.96 €14.34

69.42%

Cinema Ticket

$14.08 £10.60

$10.99 €9.88

28.12%

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

$2,229 £1,678

$917 €823

143.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$29.2K £22.0K

$16.5K €14.8K

77.26%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$75.6 £56.9

$87.0 €78.2

-13.10%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$52.4 £39.44

$38.51 €34.59

36.09%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$54.3 £40.87

$106 €95.1

-48.68%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$52.8 £39.73

$120 €108

-55.90%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,677 £1,262

$1,699 €1,527

-1.34%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,219 £918

$1,355 €1,217

-10.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,358 £1,775

$2,603 €2,338

-9.41%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,012 £1,514

$2,062 €1,853

-2.46%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,273 £3,968

$6,915 €6,211

-23.74%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,358 £2,527

$5,128 €4,606

-34.51%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,893 £2,178

$2,211 €1,986

30.88%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.4

3.28

64.63%

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

Last update for Basildon: October 25, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Basildon

$1.2K 51.4%

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3% 11.2% $136

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Basildon

$332 14%

Barcelona

$228 9.3% 31.4% $104

Eating Out

Basildon

$309 13%

Barcelona

$268 10.9% 13.3% $41

Groceries & Markets

Basildon

$252 10.6%

Barcelona

$322 13.1% 27.9% $70

Clothing & Footwear

Basildon

$106 4.5%

Barcelona

$158 6.4% 49.3% $52

Getting Around

Basildon

$84 * 3.5%

Barcelona

$48 2% 42.1% $35

Sport & Entertainment

Basildon

$73 3.1%

Barcelona

$74 3% 1.2% $0.9

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 $1,677 in Basildon and $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Basildon pays 31% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $59 in Basildon vs $67 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $252 vs $322 per month, with Basildon cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Basildon

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

21:07 9:07 PM

22:07 10:07 PM

1 h ahead of Basildon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

184,479

1,660,122

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

1 EUR = 1.11 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.753 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.838 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.898 EUR (1 EUR = 1.11 USD).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Basildon Barcelona 1,140 km ≈ 2 h nonstop flight

From you

Basildon
Barcelona

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

Basildon vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,374 in Basildon and $2,453 in Barcelona, so Basildon is about 3% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 31% higher in Basildon, 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: $1,677 in Basildon versus $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,229 in Basildon versus $917 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 28% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Both cities are expensive relative to $2,000. Basildon 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, Basildon and Barcelona are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.