Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tehran and Bucharest

For one person, living is cheaper in Tehran: $617 a month against $1,371 in Bucharest, rent and utilities included – about $9,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

29

Cost of Living Index in Tehran
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Tehran Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index

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Tehran

🇮🇷 Iran

$617

/mo nomad

Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,371

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $617 in Tehran versus $1,371 in Bucharest.

Tehran $617
Bucharest $1,371

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,064 in Tehran versus $2,067 in Bucharest.

Tehran $1,064
Bucharest $2,067

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,511 in Tehran versus $2,764 in Bucharest.

Tehran $1,511
Bucharest $2,764

Living in Tehran costs roughly 55% less than in Bucharest, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.45 $3.45

$14.51 RON 69.0

-76.22%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$16.20 $16.20

$61.2 RON 291

-73.54%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.91 $3.91

$7.46 RON 35.50

-47.59%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$0.68 $0.68

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.46 $1.46

Cappuccino

$1.40 $1.40

$3.64 RON 17.33

-61.54%

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

$0.50 $0.50

$2.62 RON 12.44

-80.92%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.71 $1.71

$2.36 RON 11.24

-27.54%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.78 RON 18.00

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.11 RON 19.54

Milk (1 liter)

$0.67 $0.67

$1.66 RON 7.90

-59.64%

White Bread (500g)

$0.59 $0.59

$1.40 RON 6.64

-57.86%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$3.46 $3.46

$1.79 RON 8.54

93.30%

Eggs

$1.26 $1.26

$3.63 RON 17.27

-65.29%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.32 $4.32

$8.92 RON 42.43

-51.57%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.32 $3.32

$6.86 RON 32.65

-51.60%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$10.44 $10.44

$11.99 RON 57.0

-12.93%

Apples (1kg)

$1.48 $1.48

$1.30 RON 6.17

13.85%

Banana (1kg)

$1.99 $1.99

$1.63 RON 7.77

22.09%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.27 $1.27

$1.49 RON 7.10

-14.77%

Tomato (1kg)

$0.63 $0.63

$2.54 RON 12.09

-75.20%

Potato (1kg)

$0.55 $0.55

$0.81 RON 3.86

-32.10%

Onion (1kg)

$0.47 $0.47

$0.80 RON 3.79

-41.25%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.52 $0.52

$0.86 RON 4.07

-39.53%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.27 $0.27

$0.94 RON 4.46

-71.28%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$0.77 $0.77

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.51 $0.51

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.15 $2.15

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.46 $2.46

$6.60 RON 31.42

-62.73%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.33 RON 30.11

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.19 RON 5.64

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.58 RON 7.54

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.11 $0.11

$0.98 RON 4.64

-88.78%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$5.61 $5.61

$20.91 RON 99.5

-73.17%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.51 $0.51

$0.60 RON 2.86

-15.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.29 $0.29

$0.62 RON 2.93

-53.23%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$3.01 $3.01

$6.37 RON 30.28

-52.75%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.10 $0.10

$2.02 RON 9.63

-95.05%

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

$49.6K $49.6K

$28.2K RON 134.1K

75.83%

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

$45.6K $45.6K

$26.3K RON 125.0K

73.40%

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

$13.23 $13.23

$196 RON 933

-93.26%

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

$1.60 $1.60

$8.60 RON 40.89

-81.40%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$3.85 $3.85

$9.20 RON 43.74

-58.15%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$24.30 $24.30

$51.0 RON 243

-52.38%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$13.26 $13.26

$25.04 RON 119

-47.04%

Cinema Ticket

$2.02 $2.02

$8.26 RON 39.31

-75.54%

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

$108 $108

$681 RON 3,237

-84.17%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$2,533 $2,533

$18.7K RON 89.1K

-86.48%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$26.03 $26.03

$93.3 RON 444

-72.11%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.33 $38.33

$39.87 RON 190

-3.86%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$116 $116

$80.1 RON 381

44.21%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$72.9 $72.9

$90.6 RON 431

-19.54%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$419 $419

$731 RON 3,477

-42.72%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$256 $256

$470 RON 2,234

-45.58%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$940 $940

$1,110 RON 5,282

-15.35%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$632 $632

$722 RON 3,435

-12.53%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,293 $1,293

$3,749 RON 17.8K

-65.51%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$727 $727

$2,233 RON 10.6K

-67.43%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$210 $210

$1,365 RON 6,494

-84.61%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

24.79

6.75

267.26%

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

Last update for Tehran: November 1, 2026

Last update for Bucharest: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Tehran

$256 41.4%

Bucharest

$470 34.3% 83.8% $214

Groceries & Markets

Tehran

$128 20.7%

Bucharest

$225 16.4% 75.8% $97

Clothing & Footwear

Tehran

$114 18.4%

Bucharest

$137 10% 20.2% $23

Eating Out

Tehran

$65 10.5%

Bucharest

$229 16.7% 253% $164

Sport & Entertainment

Tehran

$28 4.6%

Bucharest

$68 4.9% 138% $39

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tehran

$19 3%

Bucharest

$214 15.6% 1045% $195

Getting Around

Tehran

$8 1.3%

Bucharest

$29 2.1% 255% $20

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $419 in Tehran and $731 in Bucharest. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Bucharest pays about 6.5 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $16 in Tehran vs $61 in Bucharest for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $128 vs $225 per month, with Tehran cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇮🇷 Tehran

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🕒 Local time

21:26 9:26 PM

19:56 7:56 PM

1 h 30 min behind Tehran

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

8,000,000 Capital

1,883,425 Capital

💱 Currency

USD USD

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

1 USD = 0.89 EUR

1 RON = 0.21 USD

1 RON = 0.187 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, EUR to USD – USD Converter

🇷🇴 Romanian Leu (lei)

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

USD exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 EUR = 1.12 USD (1 USD = 0.89 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).

RON to USD in detail →

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Tehran Bucharest 2,350 km ≈ 3 h 30 min nonstop flight

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City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated March 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Tehran vs Bucharest: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $617 in Tehran and $1,371 in Bucharest, so Tehran is about 55% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 85% lower in Tehran. 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: $419 in Tehran versus $731 in Bucharest. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $617 per month in Tehran versus $1,371 in Bucharest – Tehran is about 55% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Tehran runs roughly 73% less than in Bucharest. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

At $617 in Tehran versus $1,371 in Bucharest, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Tehran but tight or insufficient in Bucharest. The gap between the two cities makes Tehran 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 Tehran gentler on the wallet – expenses run 55% less than in Bucharest. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.