Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Newham and Bucharest

For one person, living is cheaper in Bucharest: $1,340 a month against $3,140 in Newham, rent and utilities included – about $21,600 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

152

Cost of Living Index in Newham
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Newham Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index

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Newham

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$3,140

/mo nomad

Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,340

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,140 in Newham versus $1,340 in Bucharest.

Newham $3,140
Bucharest $1,340

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,520 in Newham versus $2,037 in Bucharest.

Newham $4,520
Bucharest $2,037

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,900 in Newham versus $2,734 in Bucharest.

Newham $5,900
Bucharest $2,734

Living in Newham is roughly 134% more expensive than in Bucharest, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in transport.

The two cities straddle the global median: Newham is 133% above, Bucharest is 1% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$20.73 £15.55

$14.49 RON 68.6

43.06%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$87.1 £65.3

$58.1 RON 275

49.92%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.64 £7.98

$7.48 RON 35.40

42.25%

Cappuccino

$4.63 £3.47

$3.44 RON 16.29

34.59%

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

$2.42 £1.82

$2.37 RON 11.22

2.11%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.83 £1.37

$2.30 RON 10.88

-20.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.58 £4.94

$3.70 RON 17.51

77.84%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.64 £4.98

$4.16 RON 19.69

59.62%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.66 £1.24

$1.67 RON 7.90

-0.60%

White Bread (500g)

$1.67 £1.26

$1.37 RON 6.50

21.90%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.15 £1.61

$1.72 RON 8.14

25.00%

Eggs

$4.02 £3.01

$3.64 RON 17.22

10.44%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.49 £7.12

$9.08 RON 42.98

4.52%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.54 £6.40

$6.84 RON 32.35

24.85%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.63 £10.98

$12.00 RON 56.8

21.92%

Apples (1kg)

$2.97 £2.23

$1.23 RON 5.80

141.46%

Banana (1kg)

$1.58 £1.19

$1.63 RON 7.73

-3.07%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.71 £2.03

$1.57 RON 7.45

72.61%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.40 £2.55

$2.54 RON 12.01

33.86%

Potato (1kg)

$1.62 £1.21

$0.79 RON 3.75

105.06%

Onion (1kg)

$1.54 £1.16

$0.77 RON 3.66

100.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.25 £0.94

$0.87 RON 4.13

43.68%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.52 £1.14

$0.99 RON 4.70

53.54%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.38 £17.54

$6.31 RON 29.86

270.52%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.73 £8.05

$6.20 RON 29.34

73.06%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.93 £2.20

$1.19 RON 5.63

146.22%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.24 £2.43

$1.57 RON 7.45

106.37%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.53 £2.65

$0.86 RON 4.08

310.47%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$94.7 £71.1

$21.10 RON 99.8

348.91%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.90 £3.68

$0.64 RON 3.05

665.63%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.12 £1.59

$0.60 RON 2.86

253.33%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$26.24 £19.68

$6.43 RON 30.43

308.09%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.02 £1.51

$1.96 RON 9.25

3.06%

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

$37.8K £28.3K

$29.0K RON 137.2K

30.31%

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

$40.1K £30.1K

$26.6K RON 126.0K

50.51%

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

$324 £243

$196 RON 927

65.15%

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

$17.73 £13.30

$8.04 RON 38.04

120.52%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$42.79 £32.10

$9.35 RON 44.21

357.65%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$45.29 £33.97

$50.2 RON 238

-9.83%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.33 RON 120

Cinema Ticket

$13.85 £10.39

$8.15 RON 38.55

69.94%

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

$1,584 £1,188

$628 RON 2,971

152.20%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$22.5K £16.9K

$14.1K RON 66.6K

59.71%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$86.2 £64.7

$89.6 RON 424

-3.84%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.03 £33.78

$38.32 RON 181

17.51%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$93.0 £69.8

$79.3 RON 375

17.33%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$95.2 £71.4

$90.4 RON 428

5.34%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,222 £917

$678 RON 3,209

80.21%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,799 £1,350

$448 RON 2,121

301.36%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,335 £2,502

$1,083 RON 5,125

207.87%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,013 £2,260

$725 RON 3,430

315.60%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,957 £3,719

$3,751 RON 17.7K

32.13%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,819 £2,865

$2,195 RON 10.4K

73.98%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,329 RON 6,290

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.09

6.75

-24.59%

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

Last update for Newham: October 11, 2026

Last update for Bucharest: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Newham

$1.8K 57.3%

Bucharest

$448 33.5% 75.1% $1.4K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Newham

$384 12.2%

Bucharest

$213 15.9% 44.5% $171

Eating Out

Newham

$317 10.1%

Bucharest

$225 16.8% 28.8% $91

Groceries & Markets

Newham

$299 9.5%

Bucharest

$225 16.8% 24.7% $74

Clothing & Footwear

Newham

$144 4.6%

Bucharest

$134 10% 6.8% $9.8

Getting Around

Newham

$124 4%

Bucharest

$28 2.1% 77.3% $96

Sport & Entertainment

Newham

$73 2.3%

Bucharest

$67 5% 8.8% $6.5

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,222 in Newham and $678 in Bucharest. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dining out: $87.0 in Newham vs $58.0 in Bucharest for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $299 vs $225 per month, with Bucharest cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Newham

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🕒 Local time

17:13 5:13 PM

19:13 7:13 PM

2 h ahead of Newham

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

15,551

1,883,425 Capital

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

1 RON = 0.211 USD

1 RON = 0.188 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 19, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 19, 2026: 1 USD = 4.73 RON (1 RON = 0.211 USD). 1 EUR = 5.32 RON (1 RON = 0.188 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Newham Bucharest 2,080 km ≈ 3 h nonstop flight

From you

Newham
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

Newham vs Bucharest: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Newham and Bucharest differ by about 134% in total monthly costs ($3,140 vs $1,340 including rent). Bucharest is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

You'd need roughly $4,710 in Newham and $2,011 in Bucharest to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,222 in Newham versus $678 in Bucharest. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $3,140 per month in Newham versus $1,340 in Bucharest – a 134% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Bucharest runs roughly 349% less than in Newham. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $1,340 in Bucharest versus $3,140 in Newham, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Bucharest but tight or insufficient in Newham. 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.

Expats usually find Bucharest gentler on the wallet – expenses run 134% less than in Newham. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.