Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Tema and Bucharest

For one person, living is cheaper in Tema: $749 a month against $1,371 in Bucharest, rent and utilities included – about $7,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

36

Cost of Living Index in Tema
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Tema Living Index
65

Cost of Living Index in Bucharest
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Bucharest Living Index

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Tema

🇬🇭 Ghana

$749

/mo nomad

Bucharest

🇷🇴 Romania

$1,371

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $749 in Tema versus $1,371 in Bucharest.

Tema $749
Bucharest $1,371

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,189 in Tema versus $2,067 in Bucharest.

Tema $1,189
Bucharest $2,067

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,628 in Tema versus $2,764 in Bucharest.

Tema $1,628
Bucharest $2,764

Living in Tema costs roughly 45% less than in Bucharest, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$7.08 GHS 82.4

$14.51 RON 69.0

-51.21%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$27.92 GHS 325

$61.2 RON 291

-54.40%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$7.46 RON 35.50

Cappuccino

$5.10 GHS 59.5

$3.64 RON 17.33

40.11%

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

$0.85 GHS 9.85

$2.62 RON 12.44

-67.56%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.28 GHS 3.24

$2.36 RON 11.24

-88.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.26 GHS 38.01

$3.78 RON 18.00

-13.76%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.55 GHS 29.69

$4.11 RON 19.54

-37.96%

Milk (1 liter)

$3.31 GHS 38.52

$1.66 RON 7.90

99.40%

White Bread (500g)

$1.60 GHS 18.64

$1.40 RON 6.64

14.29%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.06 GHS 24.00

$1.79 RON 8.54

15.08%

Eggs

$2.39 GHS 27.82

$3.63 RON 17.27

-34.16%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$4.23 GHS 49.29

$8.92 RON 42.43

-52.58%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$3.31 GHS 38.54

$6.86 RON 32.65

-51.75%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$3.52 GHS 41.06

$11.99 RON 57.0

-70.64%

Apples (1kg)

$2.51 GHS 29.20

$1.30 RON 6.17

93.08%

Banana (1kg)

$2.09 GHS 24.31

$1.63 RON 7.77

28.22%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.13 GHS 24.82

$1.49 RON 7.10

42.95%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.52 GHS 41.00

$2.54 RON 12.09

38.58%

Potato (1kg)

$3.50 GHS 40.82

$0.81 RON 3.86

332.10%

Onion (1kg)

$2.83 GHS 33.00

$0.80 RON 3.79

253.75%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.45 GHS 5.19

$0.86 RON 4.07

-47.67%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 GHS 8.44

$0.94 RON 4.46

-23.40%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$1.33 GHS 15.47

$6.60 RON 31.42

-79.85%

Wine (Bottle)

$8.82 GHS 103

$6.33 RON 30.11

39.34%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.19 GHS 25.51

$1.19 RON 5.64

84.03%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.02 GHS 35.21

$1.58 RON 7.54

91.14%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.69 GHS 19.67

$0.98 RON 4.64

72.45%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$41.39 GHS 482

$20.91 RON 99.5

97.94%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.10 GHS 24.50

$0.60 RON 2.86

250.00%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.42 GHS 4.86

$0.62 RON 2.93

-32.26%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$6.37 RON 30.28

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.14 GHS 13.32

$2.02 RON 9.63

-43.56%

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)

$77.0 GHS 897

$196 RON 933

-60.74%

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

$15.32 GHS 179

$8.60 RON 40.89

78.14%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$82.5 GHS 961

$9.20 RON 43.74

796.74%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$23.21 GHS 270

$51.0 RON 243

-54.52%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$25.04 RON 119

Cinema Ticket

$8.70 GHS 101

$8.26 RON 39.31

5.33%

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

$175 GHS 2,036

$681 RON 3,237

-74.32%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$2,581 GHS 30.1K

$18.7K RON 89.1K

-86.23%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$12.74 GHS 148

$93.3 RON 444

-86.35%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$15.78 GHS 184

$39.87 RON 190

-60.42%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$42.50 GHS 495

$80.1 RON 381

-46.93%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$32.16 GHS 375

$90.6 RON 431

-64.52%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$131 GHS 1,523

$731 RON 3,477

-82.11%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$72.3 GHS 842

$470 RON 2,234

-84.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$433 GHS 5,048

$1,110 RON 5,282

-60.98%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$210 GHS 2,442

$722 RON 3,435

-70.97%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$9,854 GHS 114.8K

$3,749 RON 17.8K

162.83%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,061 GHS 70.6K

$2,233 RON 10.6K

171.40%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$423 GHS 4,923

$1,365 RON 6,494

-69.05%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

6.75

418.52%

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

Last update for Tema: November 1, 2026

Last update for Bucharest: November 2, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Groceries & Markets

Tema

$219 29.2%

Bucharest

$225 16.4% 2.6% $5.7

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Tema

$175 23.3%

Bucharest

$214 15.6% 22.4% $39

Eating Out

Tema

$144 * 19.2%

Bucharest

$229 16.7% 59.5% $86

Accommodation & Living

Tema

$72 9.7%

Bucharest

$470 34.3% 550% $397

Getting Around

Tema

$52 7%

Bucharest

$29 2.1% 45.5% $24

Clothing & Footwear

Tema

$46 6.2%

Bucharest

$137 10% 195% $90

Sport & Entertainment

Tema

$41 5.4%

Bucharest

$68 4.9% 66.3% $27

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 $131 in Tema and $731 in Bucharest. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Bucharest pays about 3.2 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $28 in Tema vs $61 in Bucharest for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $219 vs $225 per month, with Tema cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇭 Tema

🇷🇴 Bucharest

🕒 Local time

18:13 6:13 PM

20:13 8:13 PM

2 h ahead of Tema

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

160,000

1,883,425 Capital

💱 Currency

Ghanaian Cedi GHS ₵

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

100 GHS = 8.58 USD

100 GHS = 7.64 EUR

1 RON = 0.21 USD

1 RON = 0.187 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, USD, EUR to GHS – Ghanaian Cedi Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇭 Ghanaian Cedi (₵)

Ghanaian Cedi exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 11.65 GHS (100 GHS = 8.58 USD). 1 EUR = 13.09 GHS (100 GHS = 7.64 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 GHS in detail →

On the map

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Highest

Between locations

Tema Bucharest 5,000 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Tema
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

Tema vs Bucharest: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $749 in Tema and $1,371 in Bucharest, so Tema is about 45% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 69% lower in Tema. 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: $131 in Tema versus $731 in Bucharest. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $749 per month in Tema versus $1,371 in Bucharest – Tema is about 45% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Bucharest runs roughly 49% less than in Tema. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your 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 – Tema wins on affordability, Bucharest on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.