Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Sal and Bucharest

For one person, living is cheaper in Sal: $851 a month against $1,371 in Bucharest, rent and utilities included – about $6,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

41

Cost of Living Index in Sal
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Sal Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index

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Sal

🇨🇻 Cape Verde

$851

/mo nomad

Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,371

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $851 in Sal versus $1,371 in Bucharest.

Sal $851
Bucharest $1,371

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,317 in Sal versus $2,067 in Bucharest.

Sal $1,317
Bucharest $2,067

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,784 in Sal versus $2,764 in Bucharest.

Sal $1,784
Bucharest $2,764

Living in Sal costs roughly 38% less than in Bucharest, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$5.62 CVE 550

$14.51 RON 69.0

-61.27%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$44.81 CVE 4,385

$61.2 RON 291

-26.82%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.38 CVE 1,113

$7.46 RON 35.50

52.55%

Cappuccino

$2.36 CVE 231

$3.64 RON 17.33

-35.16%

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

$2.53 CVE 248

$2.62 RON 12.44

-3.44%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.11 CVE 108

$2.36 RON 11.24

-52.97%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.62 CVE 452

$3.78 RON 18.00

22.22%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.08 CVE 302

$4.11 RON 19.54

-25.06%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.60 CVE 157

$1.66 RON 7.90

-3.61%

White Bread (500g)

$2.20 CVE 215

$1.40 RON 6.64

57.14%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.20 CVE 117

$1.79 RON 8.54

-32.96%

Eggs

$2.89 CVE 283

$3.63 RON 17.27

-20.39%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.08 CVE 888

$8.92 RON 42.43

1.79%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.80 CVE 763

$6.86 RON 32.65

13.70%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.92 CVE 1,558

$11.99 RON 57.0

32.78%

Apples (1kg)

$3.13 CVE 306

$1.30 RON 6.17

140.77%

Banana (1kg)

$2.38 CVE 233

$1.63 RON 7.77

46.01%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.19 CVE 312

$1.49 RON 7.10

114.09%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.84 CVE 376

$2.54 RON 12.09

51.18%

Potato (1kg)

$1.69 CVE 166

$0.81 RON 3.86

108.64%

Onion (1kg)

$1.83 CVE 179

$0.80 RON 3.79

128.75%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.49 CVE 146

$0.86 RON 4.07

73.26%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.09 CVE 107

$0.94 RON 4.46

15.96%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.44 CVE 434

$6.60 RON 31.42

-32.73%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.41 CVE 627

$6.33 RON 30.11

1.26%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$4.09 CVE 400

$1.19 RON 5.64

243.70%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.83 CVE 179

$1.58 RON 7.54

15.82%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.99 CVE 97.2

$0.98 RON 4.64

1.02%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$20.91 RON 99.5

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.06 CVE 202

$0.60 RON 2.86

243.33%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.14 CVE 307

$0.62 RON 2.93

406.45%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$12.47 CVE 1,220

$6.37 RON 30.28

95.76%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.34 CVE 131

$2.02 RON 9.63

-33.66%

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

$28.2K RON 134.1K

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

$26.3K RON 125.0K

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

$60.0 CVE 5,870

$196 RON 933

-69.42%

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

$8.60 RON 40.89

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$49.50 CVE 4,844

$9.20 RON 43.74

438.04%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$27.44 CVE 2,685

$51.0 RON 243

-46.23%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.04 RON 119

Cinema Ticket

$8.26 RON 39.31

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

$116 CVE 11.4K

$681 RON 3,237

-82.92%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$18.7K RON 89.1K

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$30.02 CVE 2,937

$93.3 RON 444

-67.83%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.87 RON 190

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$80.1 RON 381

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$144 CVE 14.1K

$90.6 RON 431

58.98%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$252 CVE 24.7K

$731 RON 3,477

-65.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$168 CVE 16.4K

$470 RON 2,234

-64.29%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$301 CVE 29.4K

$1,110 RON 5,282

-72.93%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$207 CVE 20.2K

$722 RON 3,435

-71.37%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$669 CVE 65.5K

$3,749 RON 17.8K

-82.15%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$339 CVE 33.2K

$2,233 RON 10.6K

-84.82%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$257 CVE 25.1K

$1,365 RON 6,494

-81.18%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.25

6.75

-22.22%

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

Last update for Sal: November 2, 2026

Last update for Bucharest: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Sal

$295 34.7%

Bucharest

$225 16.4% 23.8% $70

Accommodation & Living

Sal

$168 19.7%

Bucharest

$470 34.3% 180% $302

Eating Out

Sal

$151 17.8%

Bucharest

$229 16.7% 51.6% $78

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Sal

$110 * 12.9%

Bucharest

$214 15.6% 95.4% $104

Clothing & Footwear

Sal

$78 * 9.2%

Bucharest

$137 10% 74.6% $58

Sport & Entertainment

Sal

$27 * 3.2%

Bucharest

$68 4.9% 146% $40

Getting Around

Sal

$22 * 2.6%

Bucharest

$29 2.1% 31.3% $6.8

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 $252 in Sal and $731 in Bucharest. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Bucharest pays about 5.3 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $45 in Sal vs $61 in Bucharest. Groceries flip the comparison at $295 vs $225, with Bucharest cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇨🇻 Sal

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🕒 Local time

17:23 5:23 PM

20:23 8:23 PM

3 h ahead of Sal

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,288

1,883,425 Capital

💱 Currency

Cabo Verdean Escudo CVE $

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 CVE = 10.22 USD

1,000 CVE = 9.09 EUR

1 RON = 0.21 USD

1 RON = 0.187 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, USD, EUR to CVE – Cabo Verdean Escudo Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇻 Cabo Verdean Escudo ($)

Cabo Verdean Escudo exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 97.85 CVE (100 CVE = 1.02 USD). 1 EUR = 110 CVE (1,000 CVE = 9.09 EUR).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 4.76 RON (1 RON = 0.21 USD). 1 EUR = 5.35 RON (1 RON = 0.187 EUR).

USD to CVE in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Sal Bucharest 5,500 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Sal
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

Sal vs Bucharest: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $851 in Sal and $1,371 in Bucharest, so Sal is about 38% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 81% lower in Sal. 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: $252 in Sal versus $731 in Bucharest. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Bucharest pay roughly 24% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you’ll spend $851 per month in Sal versus $1,371 in Bucharest – Sal is about 38% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $851 in Sal versus $1,371 in Bucharest, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Sal but tight or insufficient in Bucharest. The gap between the two cities makes Sal 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.

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