Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Bucharest and Tema

For one person, living is cheaper in Tema: $749 a month against $1,371 in Bucharest, rent and utilities included – about $7,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index
36

Cost of Living Index in Tema
Learn more

Tema Living Index

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Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,371

/mo nomad

Tema

🇬🇭 Ghana

$749

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Bucharest and in Tema

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,371 in Bucharest versus $749 in Tema.

Bucharest $1,371
Tema $749

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,067 in Bucharest versus $1,189 in Tema.

Bucharest $2,067
Tema $1,189

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,764 in Bucharest versus $1,628 in Tema.

Bucharest $2,764
Tema $1,628

Living in Bucharest is roughly 83% more expensive than in Tema, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$14.51 RON 69.0

$7.08 GHS 82.4

104.94%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.2 RON 291

$27.92 GHS 325

119.31%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.46 RON 35.48

Cappuccino

$3.64 RON 17.31

$5.10 GHS 59.5

-28.63%

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

$2.62 RON 12.43

$0.85 GHS 9.85

208.24%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.36 RON 11.23

$0.28 GHS 3.24

742.86%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.78 RON 17.98

$3.26 GHS 38.01

15.95%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.11 RON 19.53

$2.55 GHS 29.69

61.18%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 RON 7.89

$3.31 GHS 38.52

-49.85%

White Bread (500g)

$1.40 RON 6.64

$1.60 GHS 18.64

-12.50%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.79 RON 8.53

$2.06 GHS 24.00

-13.11%

Eggs

$3.63 RON 17.25

$2.39 GHS 27.82

51.88%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.92 RON 42.39

$4.23 GHS 49.29

110.87%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.86 RON 32.63

$3.31 GHS 38.54

107.25%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$11.99 RON 57.0

$3.52 GHS 41.06

240.63%

Apples (1kg)

$1.30 RON 6.17

$2.51 GHS 29.20

-48.21%

Banana (1kg)

$1.63 RON 7.76

$2.09 GHS 24.31

-22.01%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.49 RON 7.09

$2.13 GHS 24.82

-30.05%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.54 RON 12.09

$3.52 GHS 41.00

-27.84%

Potato (1kg)

$0.81 RON 3.86

$3.50 GHS 40.82

-76.86%

Onion (1kg)

$0.80 RON 3.78

$2.83 GHS 33.00

-71.73%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.86 RON 4.07

$0.45 GHS 5.19

91.11%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.94 RON 4.46

$0.72 GHS 8.44

30.56%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.60 RON 31.39

$1.33 GHS 15.47

396.24%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.33 RON 30.09

$8.82 GHS 103

-28.23%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.19 RON 5.64

$2.19 GHS 25.51

-45.66%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.58 RON 7.53

$3.02 GHS 35.21

-47.68%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.98 RON 4.64

$1.69 GHS 19.67

-42.01%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$20.91 RON 99.4

$41.39 GHS 482

-49.48%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.60 RON 2.86

$2.10 GHS 24.50

-71.43%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.62 RON 2.93

$0.42 GHS 4.86

47.62%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.37 RON 30.26

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.02 RON 9.62

$1.14 GHS 13.32

77.19%

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

$28.2K RON 134.0K

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

$26.3K RON 124.9K

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

$196 RON 932

$77.0 GHS 897

154.68%

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

$8.60 RON 40.85

$15.32 GHS 179

-43.86%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$9.20 RON 43.71

$82.5 GHS 961

-88.85%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.0 RON 243

$23.21 GHS 270

119.86%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.04 RON 119

Cinema Ticket

$8.26 RON 39.28

$8.70 GHS 101

-5.06%

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

$681 RON 3,235

$175 GHS 2,036

289.46%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$18.7K RON 89.1K

$2,581 GHS 30.1K

626.06%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$93.3 RON 444

$12.74 GHS 148

632.50%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.87 RON 189

$15.78 GHS 184

152.66%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$80.1 RON 381

$42.50 GHS 495

88.45%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$90.6 RON 431

$32.16 GHS 375

181.81%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$731 RON 3,474

$131 GHS 1,523

459.00%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$470 RON 2,233

$72.3 GHS 842

549.77%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,110 RON 5,278

$433 GHS 5,048

156.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$722 RON 3,432

$210 GHS 2,442

244.52%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,749 RON 17.8K

$9,854 GHS 114.8K

-61.95%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,233 RON 10.6K

$6,061 GHS 70.6K

-63.15%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,365 RON 6,489

$423 GHS 4,923

223.10%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

6.75

-80.71%

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

Last update for Bucharest: November 2, 2026

Last update for Tema: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Bucharest

$470 34.3%

Tema

$72 9.7% 84.6% $397

Eating Out

Bucharest

$229 16.7%

Tema

$144 * 19.2% 37.3% $86

Groceries & Markets

Bucharest

$225 16.4%

Tema

$219 29.2% 2.5% $5.7

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Bucharest

$214 15.6%

Tema

$175 23.3% 18.3% $39

Clothing & Footwear

Bucharest

$137 10%

Tema

$46 6.2% 66% $90

Sport & Entertainment

Bucharest

$68 4.9%

Tema

$41 5.4% 39.9% $27

Getting Around

Bucharest

$29 2.1%

Tema

$52 7% 83.6% $24

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 $731 in Bucharest and $131 in Tema. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Bucharest pays about 3.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $61 in Bucharest vs $28 in Tema for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $225 vs $219 per month, with Tema cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🇬🇭 Tema

🕒 Local time

20:20 8:20 PM

18:20 6:20 PM

2 h behind Bucharest

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,883,425 Capital

160,000

💱 Currency

Romanian Leu RON lei

Ghanaian Cedi GHS ₵

📈 Exchange rate

1 RON = 0.21 USD

1 RON = 0.187 EUR

100 GHS = 8.58 USD

100 GHS = 7.64 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

GHS, USD, EUR to RON – Romanian Leu Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇷🇴 Romanian Leu (lei)

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 4.75 RON (1 RON = 0.21 USD). 1 EUR = 5.34 RON (1 RON = 0.187 EUR).

Ghanaian Cedi exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 11.65 GHS (100 GHS = 8.58 USD). 1 EUR = 13.09 GHS (100 GHS = 7.64 EUR).

USD to RON in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Bucharest Tema 5,000 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Bucharest
Tema

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 Tema: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,371 in Bucharest and $749 in Tema, so Tema is about 45% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Bucharest is about 3.2 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: $731 in Bucharest versus $131 in Tema. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $1,371 per month in Bucharest versus $749 in Tema – Tema is about 45% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Bucharest runs roughly 49% less than in Tema. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your 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.

It comes down to priorities – Tema wins on affordability, Bucharest on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.