Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Budapest and Benoni

For one person, living is cheaper in Benoni: $1,073 a month against $1,647 in Budapest, rent and utilities included – about $6,900 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

79

Cost of Living Index in Budapest
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Budapest Living Index
51

Cost of Living Index in Benoni
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Benoni Living Index

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Budapest

🇭🇺 Hungary

$1,647

/mo nomad

Benoni

🇿🇦 South Africa

$1,073

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Budapest and in Benoni

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,647 in Budapest versus $1,073 in Benoni.

Budapest $1,647
Benoni $1,073

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,567 in Budapest versus $1,326 in Benoni.

Budapest $2,567
Benoni $1,326

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,488 in Budapest versus $1,580 in Benoni.

Budapest $3,488
Benoni $1,580

Living in Budapest is roughly 54% more expensive than in Benoni, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Budapest is 22% above, Benoni is 21% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.63 Ft 4,407

$10.00 R 164

36.30%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$60.7 Ft 19.6K

$36.51 R 598

66.12%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.02 Ft 3,239

$5.70 R 93.5

75.79%

Cappuccino

$3.33 Ft 1,075

$2.34 R 38.41

42.31%

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

$2.12 Ft 684

$1.13 R 18.46

87.61%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.80 Ft 581

$0.88 R 14.49

104.55%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.61 Ft 1,166

$2.45 R 40.15

47.35%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.59 Ft 1,160

$2.78 R 45.54

29.14%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.12 Ft 361

$1.15 R 18.77

-2.61%

White Bread (500g)

$1.93 Ft 623

$1.09 R 17.86

77.06%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.49 Ft 804

$1.79 R 29.35

39.11%

Eggs

$3.94 Ft 1,275

$2.49 R 40.85

58.23%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.28 Ft 3,646

$8.20 R 134

37.56%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.73 Ft 2,177

$4.93 R 80.8

36.51%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.44 Ft 4,670

$7.52 R 123

92.02%

Apples (1kg)

$1.86 Ft 601

$1.77 R 28.94

5.08%

Banana (1kg)

$2.04 Ft 658

$1.65 R 27.11

23.64%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.29 Ft 740

$1.80 R 29.45

27.22%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.99 Ft 1,290

$1.57 R 25.71

154.14%

Potato (1kg)

$0.94 Ft 304

$1.12 R 18.30

-16.07%

Onion (1kg)

$1.02 Ft 330

$1.21 R 19.83

-15.70%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.65 Ft 534

$1.17 R 19.21

41.03%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.68 Ft 221

$1.29 R 21.21

-47.29%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$7.81 Ft 2,526

$3.38 R 55.4

131.07%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.02 Ft 1,946

$5.14 R 84.3

17.12%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.29 Ft 418

$1.51 R 24.77

-14.57%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.02 Ft 655

$1.88 R 30.81

7.45%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.50 Ft 484

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$27.13 Ft 8,769

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.36 Ft 1,085

$0.29 R 4.67

1058.62%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.37 Ft 444

$0.93 R 15.20

47.31%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$19.96 Ft 6,451

$14.39 R 236

38.71%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.86 Ft 603

$1.50 R 24.55

24.00%

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

$28.5K Ft 9.2M

$35.5K R 581.2K

-19.61%

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

$33.4K Ft 10.8M

$34.2K R 559.7K

-2.28%

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

$178 Ft 57.6K

$197 R 3,225

-9.48%

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

$23.58 Ft 7,623

$38.50 R 631

-38.75%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$24.12 Ft 7,797

$36.99 R 606

-34.79%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$69.7 Ft 22.5K

$17.89 R 293

289.44%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$17.03 Ft 5,505

Cinema Ticket

$10.48 Ft 3,388

$7.28 R 119

43.96%

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

$625 Ft 202.1K

$239 R 3,908

162.09%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$19.6K Ft 6.4M

$7,708 R 126.3K

154.85%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 Ft 33.0K

$53.4 R 875

91.08%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$43.41 Ft 14.0K

$31.92 R 523

36.00%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$110 Ft 35.5K

$93.1 R 1,526

17.97%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$121 Ft 39.0K

$82.7 R 1,355

45.84%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$845 Ft 273.3K

$391 R 6,399

116.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$638 Ft 206.4K

$302 R 4,942

111.64%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,609 Ft 520.1K

$491 R 8,040

227.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,217 Ft 393.5K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,555 Ft 1.8M

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,898 Ft 1.3M

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,724 Ft 557.5K

$2,034 R 33.3K

-15.24%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

6.34

10.91

-41.89%

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

Last update for Budapest: November 1, 2026

Last update for Benoni: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Budapest

$638 38.8%

Benoni

$302 28.1% 52.8% $337

Groceries & Markets

Budapest

$260 15.8%

Benoni

$193 18% 25.8% $67

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Budapest

$226 13.7%

Benoni

$272 25.4% 20.6% $46

Eating Out

Budapest

$220 13.4%

Benoni

$151 14.1% 31.3% $69

Clothing & Footwear

Budapest

$169 10.3%

Benoni

$118 11% 30.5% $52

Sport & Entertainment

Budapest

$91 5.5%

Benoni

$32 3% 64.2% $58

Getting Around

Budapest

$43 2.6%

Benoni

$4.9 * 0.5% 88.6% $38

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 $845 in Budapest and $391 in Benoni. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Benoni pays 18% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $61 in Budapest vs $37 in Benoni for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $260 vs $193 per month, with Benoni cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇭🇺 Budapest

🇿🇦 Benoni

🕒 Local time

19:40 7:40 PM

20:40 8:40 PM

1 h ahead of Budapest

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,686,222 Capital

158,777

💱 Currency

Hungarian Forint HUF Ft

South African Rand ZAR R

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 HUF = 3.09 USD

1,000 HUF = 2.75 EUR

100 ZAR = 6.1 USD

100 ZAR = 5.43 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

ZAR, USD, EUR to HUF – Hungarian Forint Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇭🇺 Hungarian Forint (Ft)

Hungarian Forint exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 323 HUF (1,000 HUF = 3.09 USD). 1 EUR = 363 HUF (1,000 HUF = 2.75 EUR).

South African Rand exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 16.38 ZAR (100 ZAR = 6.1 USD). 1 EUR = 18.41 ZAR (100 ZAR = 5.43 EUR).

USD to HUF in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Budapest Benoni 8,250 km ≈ 11 h nonstop flight

From you

Budapest
Benoni

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

Budapest vs Benoni: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $1,647 in Budapest and $1,073 in Benoni, so Benoni is about 35% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 15% lower in Budapest. 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: $845 in Budapest versus $391 in Benoni. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 35% higher in Budapest. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $1,647 per month in Budapest versus $1,073 in Benoni – Benoni is about 35% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

Either city works on $2,000 a month, though Benoni gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

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, Budapest and Benoni are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.