Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Darlington and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Darlington: $1,669 a month against $2,381 in Barcelona, rent and utilities included – about $8,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

80

Cost of Living Index in Darlington
Learn more

Darlington Living Index
115

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
Learn more

Barcelona Living Index

Jump to prices

Darlington

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$1,669

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,381

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Darlington 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 Darlington and in Barcelona actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,669 in Darlington versus $2,381 in Barcelona.

Darlington $1,669
Barcelona $2,381

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,624 in Darlington versus $3,406 in Barcelona.

Darlington $2,624
Barcelona $3,406

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,580 in Darlington versus $4,431 in Barcelona.

Darlington $3,580
Barcelona $4,431

Living in Darlington costs roughly 30% less than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Darlington 23% above, Barcelona 76% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$14.91 £11.18

$17.89 €15.92

-16.66%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$60.8 £45.63

$66.2 €58.9

-8.07%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.29 £6.97

$13.69 €12.18

-32.14%

Cappuccino

$3.48 £2.61

$3.06 €2.72

13.73%

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

$2.39 £1.79

$3.07 €2.73

-22.15%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.95 £1.46

$1.94 €1.73

0.52%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.59 £3.44

$3.87 €3.44

18.60%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.33 £3.25

$4.61 €4.10

-6.07%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.24 £0.93

$1.30 €1.16

-4.62%

White Bread (500g)

$1.37 £1.03

$2.10 €1.87

-34.76%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.40 £1.80

$1.83 €1.62

31.15%

Eggs

$3.63 £2.72

$4.62 €4.11

-21.43%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.64 £5.73

$17.36 €15.44

-55.99%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.26 £5.44

$9.28 €8.25

-21.77%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$9.19 £6.90

$19.83 €17.64

-53.66%

Apples (1kg)

$3.24 £2.43

$3.01 €2.68

7.64%

Banana (1kg)

$1.24 £0.93

$2.03 €1.81

-38.92%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.59 £2.69

$2.65 €2.36

35.47%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.83 £2.88

$2.87 €2.55

33.45%

Potato (1kg)

$1.63 £1.22

$2.16 €1.92

-24.54%

Onion (1kg)

$1.73 £1.30

$2.15 €1.91

-19.53%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.17 £0.87

$1.47 €1.31

-20.41%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.08 £0.81

$0.88 €0.79

22.73%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.02 £16.52

$6.93 €6.16

217.75%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.13 £6.85

$7.83 €6.96

16.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.14 £1.60

$1.39 €1.24

53.96%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.04 £2.28

$2.63 €2.34

15.59%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.73 £2.05

$2.91 €2.59

-6.19%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$84.5 £63.4

$25.46 €22.64

231.74%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.09 £3.07

$3.00 €2.66

36.33%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.44 €1.28

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.19 £12.15

$33.20 €29.53

-51.23%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.93 £1.45

$1.86 €1.65

3.76%

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

$20.1K £15.1K

$32.3K €28.8K

-37.81%

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

$31.2K £23.4K

$31.7K €28.2K

-1.73%

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

$270 £203

$183 €163

47.73%

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

$15.51 £11.64

$13.61 €12.11

13.96%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$45.71 £34.29

$32.93 €29.29

38.81%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$40.43 £30.33

$54.7 €48.65

-26.07%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.79 £5.09

$16.52 €14.70

-58.90%

Cinema Ticket

$6.57 £4.93

$11.23 €9.99

-41.50%

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

$814 £611

$954 €849

-14.64%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.6K €14.8K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$65.4 £49.05

$86.0 €76.5

-24.00%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$56.4 £42.30

$39.11 €34.78

44.16%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$112 £84.4

$104 €92.2

8.45%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$113 £84.9

$119 €106

-4.62%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$669 £502

$1,695 €1,508

-60.52%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$536 £402

$1,276 €1,135

-58.03%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,474 £1,106

$2,576 €2,291

-42.78%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,198 £898

$1,922 €1,710

-37.70%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,444 £1,833

$7,281 €6,477

-66.44%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$5,010 €4,456

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,747 £2,061

$2,227 €1,981

23.35%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.61

3.28

71.04%

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

Last update for Darlington: October 19, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 20, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Darlington

$536 32.1%

Barcelona

$1.3K 53.6% 138% $741

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Darlington

$331 19.8%

Barcelona

$229 9.6% 30.8% $102

Groceries & Markets

Darlington

$255 15.3%

Barcelona

$325 13.7% 27.4% $70

Eating Out

Darlington

$238 14.3%

Barcelona

$270 11.3% 13.3% $32

Clothing & Footwear

Darlington

$156 9.4%

Barcelona

$156 6.6% 0% $0

Getting Around

Darlington

$99 * 6%

Barcelona

$47 2% 52.4% $52

Sport & Entertainment

Darlington

$54 3.2%

Barcelona

$77 3.2% 44% $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 $669 in Darlington and $1,695 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Darlington pays 23% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $61.0 in Darlington vs $66.0 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $255 vs $325 per month, with Darlington cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Darlington

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

07:54 7:54 AM

08:54 8:54 AM

1 h ahead of Darlington

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

92,363

1,660,122

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 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 24, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 24, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Darlington Barcelona 1,490 km ≈ 2 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Darlington
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

Darlington vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Darlington and Barcelona differ by about 43% in total monthly costs ($1,669 vs $2,381 including rent). Darlington is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 23% higher in Darlington, 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: $669 in Darlington versus $1,695 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $814 in Darlington versus $954 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 27% higher in Barcelona. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $1,669 in Darlington versus $2,381 in Barcelona, a $2,500 budget is realistic in Darlington but tight or insufficient in Barcelona. The gap between the two cities makes Darlington 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, Darlington and Barcelona 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 Darlington gentler on the wallet – expenses run 43% less than in Barcelona. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.