Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Surrey and Budapest

For one person, living is cheaper in Budapest: $1,619 a month against $3,046 in Surrey, rent and utilities included – about $17,100 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

148

Cost of Living Index in Surrey
Learn more

Surrey Living Index
79

Cost of Living Index in Budapest
Learn more

Budapest Living Index

Jump to prices

Surrey

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$3,046

/mo nomad

Budapest

🇭🇺 Hungary

$1,619

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Surrey and in Budapest

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 Budapest actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $3,046 per month in Surrey vs $1,619 in Budapest, rent included.

Surrey $3,046
Budapest $1,619

A couple spends around $4,410 per month in Surrey vs $2,524 in Budapest, rent included.

Surrey $4,410
Budapest $2,524

A family of three spends $5,774 per month in Surrey vs $3,429 in Budapest, rent included.

Surrey $5,774
Budapest $3,429

Surrey costs about 88% more than Budapest, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both Surrey and Budapest sit above the global median – Surrey by 126%, Budapest by 20%.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.47 £17.60

$13.94 Ft 4,503

68.36%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$59.1 £44.34

$61.2 Ft 19.8K

-3.46%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.11 £6.83

$10.19 Ft 3,291

-10.60%

Cappuccino

$4.77 £3.58

$3.26 Ft 1,055

46.32%

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

$2.23 £1.67

$2.14 Ft 690

4.21%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.44 £1.08

$1.78 Ft 577

-19.10%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$6.78 £5.09

$3.71 Ft 1,198

82.75%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$6.00 £4.50

$3.77 Ft 1,217

59.15%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.25 £0.94

$1.15 Ft 371

8.70%

White Bread (500g)

$2.12 £1.59

$1.79 Ft 578

18.44%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 £1.13

$2.49 Ft 804

-39.36%

Eggs

$4.18 £3.14

$3.90 Ft 1,261

7.18%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.19 £6.14

$11.10 Ft 3,587

-26.22%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.90 £6.68

$6.62 Ft 2,139

34.44%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.11 £12.09

$14.69 Ft 4,745

9.67%

Apples (1kg)

$3.13 £2.34

$1.83 Ft 591

71.04%

Banana (1kg)

$1.47 £1.10

$2.05 Ft 661

-28.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.96 £1.47

$2.37 Ft 765

-17.30%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.32 £2.49

$3.90 Ft 1,260

-14.87%

Potato (1kg)

$1.38 £1.04

$0.99 Ft 320

39.39%

Onion (1kg)

$1.83 £1.37

$1.00 Ft 322

83.00%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.37 £1.03

$1.58 Ft 511

-13.29%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.20 £0.90

$0.67 Ft 216

79.10%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$23.12 £17.34

$7.96 Ft 2,572

190.45%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.78 £8.09

$6.22 Ft 2,009

73.31%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.30 £1.73

$1.27 Ft 411

81.10%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.46 £1.84

$2.03 Ft 654

21.18%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.99 £2.99

$1.52 Ft 490

162.50%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$28.02 Ft 9,053

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.35 £4.02

$3.31 Ft 1,070

61.63%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.37 Ft 442

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$19.83 Ft 6,406

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.88 £1.41

$1.82 Ft 589

3.30%

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

$38.6K £29.0K

$29.8K Ft 9.6M

29.59%

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

$39.9K £29.9K

$33.8K Ft 10.9M

18.04%

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

$260 £195

$171 Ft 55.3K

51.77%

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

$13.15 £9.87

$23.51 Ft 7,596

-44.07%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$34.58 £25.94

$23.29 Ft 7,526

48.48%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$53.6 £40.20

$67.5 Ft 21.8K

-20.66%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$18.26 £13.70

$18.89 Ft 6,104

-3.34%

Cinema Ticket

$13.17 £9.88

$9.30 Ft 3,004

41.61%

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

$2,125 £1,594

$533 Ft 172.3K

298.51%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$29.3K £22.0K

$16.8K Ft 5.4M

74.71%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$52.5 £39.41

$99.6 Ft 32.2K

-47.26%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$39.35 £29.52

$43.49 Ft 14.0K

-9.52%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$88.8 £66.6

$110 Ft 35.7K

-19.52%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$92.6 £69.4

$119 Ft 38.4K

-22.19%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,925 £1,444

$830 Ft 268.3K

131.76%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,893 £1,420

$622 Ft 200.9K

204.40%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,350 £2,513

$1,594 Ft 514.9K

110.20%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,303 £2,478

$1,170 Ft 378.1K

182.27%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,832 Ft 1.9M

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$7,198 £5,400

$3,889 Ft 1.3M

85.10%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,519 £3,390

$1,651 Ft 533.4K

173.67%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.4

6.45

-16.28%

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

Last update for Surrey: October 13, 2026

Last update for Budapest: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Surrey

$1.9K 62.2%

Budapest

$622 38.4% 67.1% $1.3K

Eating Out

Surrey

$333 10.9%

Budapest

$223 13.8% 33% $110

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Surrey

$307 10.1%

Budapest

$218 13.5% 29.1% $90

Groceries & Markets

Surrey

$289 9.5%

Budapest

$258 15.9% 10.6% $31

Clothing & Footwear

Surrey

$123 4%

Budapest

$168 10.4% 36.3% $45

Sport & Entertainment

Surrey

$80 2.6%

Budapest

$86 5.3% 7.7% $6.2

Getting Around

Surrey

$21 * 0.7%

Budapest

$44 2.7% 108% $23

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $1,925 in Surrey versus $830 in Budapest. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

Salaries run about 174% higher in Surrey, which partly offsets the higher cost of living there. Purchasing power depends on which expenses matter most to you.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $59.0 in Surrey versus $61.0 in Budapest. Groceries tell a different story – $289 in Surrey vs $258 in Budapest – so Budapest wins on supermarket bills even if dining out costs more.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Surrey

🇭🇺 Budapest

🕒 Local time

04:25 4:25 AM

05:25 5:25 AM

1 h ahead of Surrey

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

585

1,686,222 Capital

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Hungarian Forint HUF Ft

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

1,000 HUF = 3.1 USD

1,000 HUF = 2.75 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

HUF, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Hungarian Forint exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 323 HUF (1,000 HUF = 3.1 USD). 1 EUR = 363 HUF (1,000 HUF = 2.75 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Surrey Budapest 1,460 km ≈ 2 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Surrey
Budapest

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 Budapest: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Surrey is pricier by about 88%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $4,569 per month in Surrey and $2,428 in Budapest. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Budapest, especially for central apartments. Housing is actually the single biggest factor behind the overall cost gap between these two cities.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $59.0 in Surrey and $61.0 in Budapest. That's a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 12% more in Surrey, though it depends on what you buy. Local produce may be comparable; imported and premium items show the biggest price gap.

A $2,500 monthly budget goes further in Budapest, where all-in costs run around $1,619, than in Surrey at $3,046. In Budapest it covers expenses comfortably, while in Surrey it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Budapest – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.

Both have safer and rougher neighborhoods, but overall safety is comparable to other large cities. Neighborhood choice matters more than the city-level comparison – central, well-trafficked areas feel secure in both.

If budget matters most, go with Budapest. If higher salaries, better infrastructure, or specific career opportunities are the priority, Surrey makes more sense. Both are solid long-term options with distinct trade-offs.