Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Surrey, United Kingdom and Barcelona

For one person, living is cheaper in Barcelona: $2,453 a month against $3,025 in Surrey, rent and utilities included – about $6,900 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Surrey outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

148

Cost of Living Index in Surrey
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Surrey Living Index
117

Cost of Living Index in Barcelona
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Barcelona Living Index

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Surrey

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$3,025

/mo nomad

Barcelona

🇪🇸 Spain

$2,453

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $3,025 in Surrey versus $2,453 in Barcelona.

Surrey $3,025
Barcelona $2,453

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,456 in Surrey versus $3,509 in Barcelona.

Surrey $4,456
Barcelona $3,509

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,887 in Surrey versus $4,564 in Barcelona.

Surrey $5,887
Barcelona $4,564

Living in Surrey is roughly 23% more expensive than in Barcelona, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Surrey 122% above, Barcelona 80% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.47 £17.66

$17.59 €15.80

33.43%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$59.5 £44.75

$67.5 €60.6

-11.90%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.62 £7.24

$13.53 €12.15

-28.90%

Cappuccino

$4.77 £3.59

$3.19 €2.87

49.53%

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

$2.26 £1.70

$2.91 €2.62

-22.34%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.48 £1.11

$1.89 €1.70

-21.69%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.54 £4.92

$4.01 €3.60

63.09%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.15 £4.63

$4.53 €4.07

35.76%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.31 £0.99

$1.31 €1.17

White Bread (500g)

$2.10 £1.58

$2.02 €1.81

3.96%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.60 £1.21

$1.85 €1.66

-13.51%

Eggs

$4.15 £3.13

$4.83 €4.34

-14.08%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.62 £6.49

$16.74 €15.03

-48.51%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.33 £7.02

$9.12 €8.19

2.30%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.52 £12.43

$19.64 €17.64

-15.89%

Apples (1kg)

$3.19 £2.40

$2.98 €2.68

7.05%

Banana (1kg)

$1.48 £1.12

$2.02 €1.81

-26.73%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.03 £1.53

$2.70 €2.43

-24.81%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.26 £2.45

$2.80 €2.52

16.43%

Potato (1kg)

$1.38 £1.04

$2.09 €1.87

-33.97%

Onion (1kg)

$1.79 £1.35

$2.07 €1.86

-13.53%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.40 £1.06

$1.46 €1.31

-4.11%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.17 £0.88

$0.94 €0.84

24.47%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.32 £17.55

$6.87 €6.17

239.45%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.47 £7.88

$7.89 €7.08

32.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.22 £1.67

$1.41 €1.26

57.45%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.50 £1.88

$2.54 €2.28

-1.57%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.90 £2.93

$3.14 €2.82

24.20%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$25.45 €22.86

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.22 £3.93

$2.99 €2.69

74.58%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.49 €1.34

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$33.37 €29.98

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.93 £1.45

$1.80 €1.61

7.22%

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

$38.1K £28.7K

$33.2K €29.8K

14.89%

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

$41.0K £30.8K

$31.7K €28.5K

29.24%

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

$263 £198

$180 €162

45.62%

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

$13.29 £10.00

$13.84 €12.43

-3.97%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$35.87 £27.00

$33.70 €30.27

6.44%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$52.7 £39.69

$51.5 €46.27

2.39%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$18.44 £13.88

$15.96 €14.34

15.54%

Cinema Ticket

$13.07 £9.84

$10.99 €9.88

18.93%

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

$2,137 £1,609

$917 €823

133.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$29.9K £22.5K

$16.5K €14.8K

81.37%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$52.7 £39.69

$87.0 €78.2

-39.40%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$40.02 £30.12

$38.51 €34.59

3.92%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$87.4 £65.8

$106 €95.1

-17.43%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$93.0 £70.0

$120 €108

-22.29%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,945 £1,463

$1,699 €1,527

14.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,864 £1,403

$1,355 €1,217

37.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,308 £2,489

$2,603 €2,338

27.08%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,400 £2,559

$2,062 €1,853

64.85%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$6,915 €6,211

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$7,255 £5,460

$5,128 €4,606

41.49%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,565 £3,436

$2,211 €1,986

106.49%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.4

3.28

64.63%

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

Last update for Surrey: October 27, 2026

Last update for Barcelona: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Surrey

$1.9K 61.6%

Barcelona

$1.4K 55.3% 27.3% $509

Eating Out

Surrey

$334 11%

Barcelona

$268 10.9% 19.7% $66

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Surrey

$312 10.3%

Barcelona

$228 9.3% 26.9% $84

Groceries & Markets

Surrey

$293 9.7%

Barcelona

$322 13.1% 9.9% $29

Clothing & Footwear

Surrey

$123 4.1%

Barcelona

$158 6.4% 28.5% $35

Sport & Entertainment

Surrey

$79 2.6%

Barcelona

$74 3% 6.8% $5.4

Getting Around

Surrey

$21 * 0.7%

Barcelona

$48 2% 133% $28

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 $1,945 in Surrey and $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Surrey pays about 2.1 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $59 in Surrey vs $67 in Barcelona for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $293 vs $322 per month, with Surrey cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Surrey

🇪🇸 Barcelona

🕒 Local time

18:00 6:00 PM

19:00 7:00 PM

1 h ahead of Surrey

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

585

1,660,122

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

1 EUR = 1.11 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 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.753 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.838 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 28, 2026: 1 USD = 0.898 EUR (1 EUR = 1.11 USD).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Surrey Barcelona 1,120 km ≈ 2 h nonstop flight

From you

Surrey
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

Surrey vs Barcelona: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Surrey and Barcelona differ by about 23% in total monthly costs ($3,025 vs $2,453 including rent). Barcelona is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Surrey is about 2.1 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: $1,945 in Surrey versus $1,699 in Barcelona. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,137 in Surrey versus $917 in Barcelona. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Dining out is cheaper in Surrey – a meal for two runs $59 versus $67 in Barcelona. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $2,453 in Barcelona versus $3,025 in Surrey, a $3,000 budget is realistic in Barcelona but tight or insufficient in Surrey. The gap between the two cities makes Barcelona 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, Surrey 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.

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