Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Birmingham and Bucharest

For one person, living is cheaper in Bucharest: $1,351 a month against $2,500 in Birmingham, rent and utilities included – about $13,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

121

Cost of Living Index in Birmingham
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Birmingham Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index

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Birmingham

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,500

/mo nomad

Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,351

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Birmingham and in Bucharest

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

A single person spends $2,500 per month in Birmingham vs $1,351 in Bucharest, rent included.

Birmingham $2,500
Bucharest $1,351

A couple spends around $3,627 per month in Birmingham vs $2,033 in Bucharest, rent included.

Birmingham $3,627
Bucharest $2,033

A family of three spends $4,753 per month in Birmingham vs $2,715 in Bucharest, rent included.

Birmingham $4,753
Bucharest $2,715

Birmingham costs about 85% more than Bucharest, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

Both Birmingham and Bucharest sit above the global median – Birmingham by 87%, Bucharest by 1%.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$20.14 £15.22

$14.46 RON 68.4

39.28%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$101 £76.2

$57.7 RON 273

74.81%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.44 £7.14

$7.50 RON 35.46

25.87%

Cappuccino

$5.06 £3.82

$3.43 RON 16.20

47.52%

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

$2.54 £1.92

$2.46 RON 11.63

3.25%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.95 £1.47

$2.33 RON 11.01

-16.31%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$7.11 £5.38

$3.80 RON 17.97

87.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.68 £5.05

$4.10 RON 19.41

62.93%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.89 £1.43

$1.65 RON 7.79

14.55%

White Bread (500g)

$1.85 £1.40

$1.35 RON 6.39

37.04%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.50 £1.89

$1.78 RON 8.42

40.45%

Eggs

$3.91 £2.96

$3.66 RON 17.33

6.83%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.06 £6.85

$8.57 RON 40.54

5.72%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.71 £6.58

$6.80 RON 32.17

28.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.03 £11.36

$11.72 RON 55.4

28.24%

Apples (1kg)

$2.58 £1.95

$1.29 RON 6.11

100.00%

Banana (1kg)

$1.76 £1.33

$1.56 RON 7.37

12.82%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.44 £1.84

$1.54 RON 7.28

58.44%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.70 £2.79

$2.48 RON 11.75

49.19%

Potato (1kg)

$1.57 £1.19

$0.83 RON 3.92

89.16%

Onion (1kg)

$1.76 £1.33

$0.80 RON 3.77

120.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.32 £1.00

$0.84 RON 3.98

57.14%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 £1.19

$0.93 RON 4.39

69.89%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$21.86 £16.52

$6.44 RON 30.45

239.44%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.09 £9.14

$6.32 RON 29.91

91.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.67 £2.77

$1.26 RON 5.94

191.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.34 £2.53

$1.60 RON 7.59

108.75%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.94 £2.98

$0.81 RON 3.85

386.42%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$94.2 £71.2

$21.13 RON 99.9

345.76%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 £3.76

$0.60 RON 2.86

728.33%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.39 £1.81

$0.61 RON 2.91

291.80%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$24.23 £18.31

$6.17 RON 29.19

292.71%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.07 £1.56

$1.96 RON 9.27

5.61%

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

$37.5K £28.3K

$28.1K RON 133.1K

33.13%

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

$41.1K £31.1K

$26.3K RON 124.3K

56.42%

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

$316 £239

$197 RON 931

60.43%

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

$21.37 £16.15

$8.34 RON 39.44

156.24%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$47.44 £35.85

$9.19 RON 43.47

416.21%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$38.70 £29.24

$49.87 RON 236

-22.40%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$30.29 £22.89

$24.99 RON 118

21.21%

Cinema Ticket

$15.89 £12.01

$8.46 RON 40.01

87.83%

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

$1,601 £1,210

$639 RON 3,023

150.51%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$23.5K £17.8K

$14.4K RON 68.1K

63.56%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$106 £80.5

$90.6 RON 429

17.53%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.76 £37.61

$38.05 RON 180

30.78%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 £89.0

$79.7 RON 377

47.77%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$149 £112

$93.2 RON 441

59.65%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,395 £1,054

$673 RON 3,184

107.21%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,104 £834

$449 RON 2,123

145.90%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,128 £1,608

$1,098 RON 5,195

93.75%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,719 £1,299

$729 RON 3,448

135.80%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,354 £4,046

$3,740 RON 17.7K

43.16%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,174 £3,154

$2,189 RON 10.4K

90.70%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,523 £3,418

$1,323 RON 6,259

241.83%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.09

6.74

-24.48%

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

Last update for Birmingham: October 4, 2026

Last update for Bucharest: October 3, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Birmingham

$1.1K 44.1%

Bucharest

$449 33.5% 59.3% $655

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Birmingham

$385 15.4%

Bucharest

$214 16% 44.3% $170

Eating Out

Birmingham

$317 12.7%

Bucharest

$226 16.8% 28.8% $91

Groceries & Markets

Birmingham

$312 12.5%

Bucharest

$222 16.5% 29% $91

Clothing & Footwear

Birmingham

$190 7.6%

Bucharest

$136 10.1% 28.7% $55

Getting Around

Birmingham

$127 5.1%

Bucharest

$28 2.1% 77.9% $99

Sport & Entertainment

Birmingham

$70 2.8%

Bucharest

$67 5% 5.2% $3.7

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,395 in Birmingham versus $673 in Bucharest. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries run about 242% higher in Birmingham, which partly offsets the higher cost of living there. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $101 in Birmingham versus $58.0 in Bucharest. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $312 vs $222 – making Bucharest the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Birmingham

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🕒 Local time

08:00 8:00 AM

10:00 10:00 AM

2 h ahead of Birmingham

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,036,878

1,883,425 Capital

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.32 USD

1 GBP = 1.18 EUR

1 RON = 0.211 USD

1 RON = 0.189 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 0.756 GBP (1 GBP = 1.32 USD). 1 EUR = 0.848 GBP (1 GBP = 1.18 EUR).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 4.73 RON (1 RON = 0.211 USD). 1 EUR = 5.3 RON (1 RON = 0.189 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Birmingham Bucharest 2,230 km ≈ 3 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Birmingham
Bucharest

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

Birmingham vs Bucharest: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monthly costs with rent: $2,500 in Birmingham, $1,351 in Bucharest – roughly 85% apart. Outside of rent, the biggest gap is in transport.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $3,750 per month in Birmingham and $2,027 in Bucharest. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Bucharest, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

Kindergarten costs $1,601 per month in Birmingham and $639 in Bucharest. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 41% more in Birmingham, though it depends on what you buy. Local produce may be comparable; imported and premium items show the biggest price gap.

A $2,000 monthly budget goes further in Bucharest, where all-in costs run around $1,351, than in Birmingham at $2,500. In Bucharest it covers expenses comfortably, while in Birmingham it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

It depends on your priorities. Bucharest has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $1,351 in Bucharest to $2,500 in Birmingham. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.

If budget matters most, go with Bucharest. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Birmingham makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.