Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Bucharest and Kiruna

For one person, living is cheaper in Bucharest: $1,337 a month against $1,747 in Kiruna, rent and utilities included – about $4,900 less a year. Other living expenses account for most of the difference.

65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index
85

Cost of Living Index in Kiruna
Learn more

Kiruna Living Index

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Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,337

/mo nomad

Kiruna

🇸🇪 Sweden

$1,747

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Bucharest and in Kiruna

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,337 in Bucharest versus $1,747 in Kiruna.

Bucharest $1,337
Kiruna $1,747

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,029 in Bucharest versus $2,915 in Kiruna.

Bucharest $2,029
Kiruna $2,915

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,721 in Bucharest versus $4,082 in Kiruna.

Bucharest $2,721
Kiruna $4,082

Living in Bucharest costs roughly 23% less than in Kiruna, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Bucharest is 1% below, Kiruna is 29% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$14.45 RON 68.4

$13.82 SEK 137

4.56%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$58.1 RON 275

$128 SEK 1,270

-54.69%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.53 RON 35.65

$10.40 SEK 103

-27.60%

Cappuccino

$3.45 RON 16.33

$4.33 SEK 42.90

-20.32%

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

$2.46 RON 11.65

$2.69 SEK 26.70

-8.55%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.23 RON 10.54

$2.26 SEK 22.37

-1.33%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.76 RON 17.78

$9.54 SEK 94.5

-60.59%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.19 RON 19.84

$6.59 SEK 65.3

-36.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.62 RON 7.67

$1.45 SEK 14.34

11.72%

White Bread (500g)

$1.30 RON 6.13

$2.80 SEK 27.79

-53.57%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.70 RON 8.05

$3.72 SEK 36.83

-54.30%

Eggs

$3.79 RON 17.93

$3.55 SEK 35.18

6.76%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.86 RON 41.90

$12.29 SEK 122

-27.91%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.90 RON 32.67

$13.80 SEK 137

-50.00%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.14 RON 57.4

$19.62 SEK 194

-38.12%

Apples (1kg)

$1.30 RON 6.17

$2.79 SEK 27.66

-53.41%

Banana (1kg)

$1.60 RON 7.55

$2.53 SEK 25.12

-36.76%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.57 RON 7.42

$2.61 SEK 25.90

-39.85%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.68 RON 12.67

$4.40 SEK 43.63

-39.09%

Potato (1kg)

$0.81 RON 3.82

$1.47 SEK 14.58

-44.90%

Onion (1kg)

$0.79 RON 3.73

$1.59 SEK 15.77

-50.31%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.91 RON 4.30

$2.01 SEK 19.93

-54.73%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.97 RON 4.58

$1.56 SEK 15.46

-37.82%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.41 RON 30.34

$6.46 SEK 64.0

-0.77%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.18 RON 29.24

$9.69 SEK 96.1

-36.22%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.23 RON 5.83

$1.98 SEK 19.65

-37.88%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.67 RON 7.91

$1.99 SEK 19.75

-16.08%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.87 RON 4.10

$3.22 SEK 31.95

-72.98%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$20.98 RON 99.3

$79.4 SEK 787

-73.57%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.66 RON 3.10

$5.85 SEK 57.9

-88.72%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.60 RON 2.85

$1.68 SEK 16.68

-64.29%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.19 RON 29.28

$56.9 SEK 563

-89.11%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.93 RON 9.15

$2.11 SEK 20.90

-8.53%

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

$28.7K RON 135.9K

$31.3K SEK 310.1K

-8.21%

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

$26.3K RON 124.6K

$33.3K SEK 329.6K

-20.84%

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

$196 RON 926

$95.9 SEK 951

103.90%

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

$8.49 RON 40.19

$24.86 SEK 246

-65.85%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$9.05 RON 42.84

$35.94 SEK 356

-74.82%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.54 RON 234

$37.74 SEK 374

31.27%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.03 RON 118

$25.04 SEK 248

-0.04%

Cinema Ticket

$8.24 RON 39.01

$15.92 SEK 158

-48.24%

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

$636 RON 3,007

$152 SEK 1,506

318.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.6K RON 69.0K

$5,610 SEK 55.6K

159.85%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$88.5 RON 419

$100 SEK 993

-11.68%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.77 RON 183

$44.87 SEK 445

-13.59%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$78.8 RON 373

$81.8 SEK 810

-3.69%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.6 RON 428

$139 SEK 1,378

-34.89%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$695 RON 3,288

$812 SEK 8,047

-14.44%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$446 RON 2,109

$610 SEK 6,043

-26.92%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,084 RON 5,130

$1,363 SEK 13.5K

-20.43%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$712 RON 3,368

$1,123 SEK 11.1K

-36.61%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,797 RON 18.0K

$3,456 SEK 34.2K

9.86%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,202 RON 10.4K

$2,527 SEK 25.0K

-12.84%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,354 RON 6,406

$3,257 SEK 32.3K

-58.43%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

6.75

68.75%

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

Last update for Bucharest: October 19, 2026

Last update for Kiruna: October 17, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Bucharest

$446 33.3%

Kiruna

$610 34.9% 36.8% $164

Eating Out

Bucharest

$226 16.9%

Kiruna

$274 15.7% 21.7% $49

Groceries & Markets

Bucharest

$225 16.9%

Kiruna

$366 20.9% 62.2% $140

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Bucharest

$213 15.9%

Kiruna

$157 9% 26.5% $56

Clothing & Footwear

Bucharest

$133 10%

Kiruna

$165 9.4% 23.4% $31

Sport & Entertainment

Bucharest

$66 4.9%

Kiruna

$70 4% 5.4% $3.5

Getting Around

Bucharest

$28 2.1%

Kiruna

$107 6.1% 279% $78

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $695 in Bucharest and $812 in Kiruna. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Kiruna pays 141% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $58.0 in Bucharest vs $128 in Kiruna for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $225 vs $366 per month, with Bucharest cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🇸🇪 Kiruna

🕒 Local time

22:08 10:08 PM

21:08 9:08 PM

1 h behind Bucharest

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,883,425 Capital

22,454

💱 Currency

Romanian Leu RON lei

Swedish Krona SEK kr

📈 Exchange rate

1 RON = 0.211 USD

1 RON = 0.188 EUR

100 SEK = 10.09 USD

100 SEK = 8.98 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SEK, USD, EUR to RON – Romanian Leu Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇷🇴 Romanian Leu (lei)

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 4.73 RON (1 RON = 0.211 USD). 1 EUR = 5.32 RON (1 RON = 0.188 EUR).

Swedish Krona exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 9.91 SEK (1 SEK = 0.101 USD). 1 EUR = 11.14 SEK (100 SEK = 8.98 EUR).

USD to RON in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Bucharest Kiruna 2,670 km ≈ 3 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Bucharest
Kiruna

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

Bucharest vs Kiruna: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Bucharest and Kiruna differ by about 31% in total monthly costs ($1,337 vs $1,747 including rent). Bucharest is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 141% lower in Kiruna. 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: $695 in Bucharest versus $812 in Kiruna. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $1,337 per month in Bucharest versus $1,747 in Kiruna – a 31% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Bucharest runs roughly 278% less than in Kiruna. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $1,337 in Bucharest versus $1,747 in Kiruna, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Bucharest but tight or insufficient in Kiruna. The gap between the two cities makes Bucharest 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.

Safety-wise, Bucharest and Kiruna 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 Bucharest gentler on the wallet – expenses run 31% less than in Kiruna. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.