---
title: "Cost of Living: Budapest vs Rome — Geo-Parity"
description: "Italy is 33% more expensive than Hungary for monthly essentials ($1,631 vs $1,230). Full 32-item price comparison: rent, pint, groceries, transport, gym."
canonical: "https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-italy/"
json: "https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=HU&target=IT"
generator: geo-parity markdown twin
---
Cost of Living · HU vs IT

# 🇭🇺 Budapest vs 🇮🇹 Rome: what everyday life costs

Monthly essentials: **$1,230** in Hungary vs **$1,631** in Italy — 33% more expensive.

- **Essentials, Hungary**: $1,230/mo
- **Essentials, Italy**: $1,631/mo
- **Difference**: +33%
- **1-bed city rent, Italy**: $1,124/mo

## Biggest differences

Smallest premium in Italy

- Imported beer, 330ml bottle: +9.6%
- Running shoes (brand): +9.7%
- Jeans (mid-range brand): +9.7%

Pricier in Italy

- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: +38%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: +38%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: +38%

## The full basket (32 items)

| Item | Hungary | Italy | Diff |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Housing |  |  |  |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $814 | $1,124 (995 EUR) | +38% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $651 | $899 (796 EUR) | +38% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $1,489 | $2,056 (1,819 EUR) | +38% |
| Food out |  |  |  |
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $9.87 | $12.71 (11 EUR) | +29% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $41.12 | $52.97 (47 EUR) | +29% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $6.37 | $8.02 (7 EUR) | +26% |
| Groceries |  |  |  |
| Milk, 1L | $0.71 | $0.85 (1 EUR) | +20% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $2.07 | $2.49 (2 EUR) | +20% |
| Eggs, dozen | $2.20 | $2.64 (2 EUR) | +20% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $6.46 | $7.77 (7 EUR) | +20% |
| White rice, 1kg | $2.58 | $3.11 (3 EUR) | +21% |
| Apples, 1kg | $3.10 | $3.73 (3 EUR) | +20% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $7.75 | $9.32 (8 EUR) | +20% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.29 | $1.55 (1 EUR) | +20% |
| Drinks |  |  |  |
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $3.29 | $4.24 (4 EUR) | +29% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $6.43 | $7.05 (6 EUR) | +9.6% |
| Cappuccino | $2.74 | $3.53 (3 EUR) | +29% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $1.49 | $1.79 (2 EUR) | +20% |
| Transport |  |  |  |
| Public transport, monthly pass | $37.64 | $47.39 (42 EUR) | +26% |
| Public transport, one-way | $1.59 | $2.00 (2 EUR) | +26% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $2.19 | $2.83 (3 EUR) | +29% |
| Taxi, per km | $0.99 | $1.27 (1 EUR) | +28% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.76 | $0.84 (1 EUR) | +11% |
| Utilities & comms |  |  |  |
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $116 | $146 (129 EUR) | +26% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $40.53 | $51.03 (45 EUR) | +26% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $26.06 | $32.81 (29 EUR) | +26% |
| Lifestyle |  |  |  |
| Gym membership, month | $27.41 | $35.32 (31 EUR) | +29% |
| Cinema seat | $7.67 | $9.89 (9 EUR) | +29% |
| Men's haircut | $16.45 | $21.19 (19 EUR) | +29% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $44.20 | $48.47 (43 EUR) | +9.7% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $72.33 | $79.31 (70 EUR) | +9.7% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $137 | $177 (156 EUR) | +29% |

Estimated from World Bank — Consumption price levels with per-item elasticity — model figures, not quotes. Compare any pair in the [interactive tool](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=prices&base=HU&target=IT).

## Beyond prices

What each place pays, charges and offers — wages, rent, healthcare, climate, risk and time off. Figures come from the same engines behind the individual tools, so they match what those pages say. They sit about **818 km** apart as the crow flies.

| Measure | 🇭🇺 Hungary | 🇮🇹 Italy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $1,620 | $3,428 |
| Rent, modelled 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $712 | $1,033 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 43.9% | 30.1% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $327 | $758 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 3.5 | 4.2 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Budapest and Rome. | 74 | 76 |
| Rule of law World Bank WGI. A survey composite, so the band leads, not the decimal. | middling | middling |
| Country risk INFORM, 0-10. Lower is safer. | 2.2 (low) | 3 (low) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 13 | 13 + 1 regional |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 11.6 | 13.7 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 76.7 | 84 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 93.8% | 89.2% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 315.3 | 153.5 |

## Cheap for you, or cheap for everyone?

Rent measured twice: against a $6,000/month remote income, and against what people actually earn locally. The gap between the two is the arbitrage — and it is the reason somewhere can be affordable to you and unaffordable to a local at once.

🇭🇺 Hungary

32 pts

11.9% of your income vs 43.9% of a local wage

🇮🇹 Italy

12.9 pts

17.2% of your income vs 30.1% of a local wage

Worked at $6,000/month. [Run it on your own income](https://geo-parity.com/expenses/?tab=housing)

## The whole Hungary → Italy move, in one place

Everything above is free and always will be. The relocation report is the same engines run together for this one corridor: what you keep after rent, prices, healthcare and tax; the local wage ladder you would be earning against; which visas your income qualifies for; the day count that makes you tax-resident; and the months worth being there for.

[See the Hungary → Italy report — £7](https://geo-parity.com/report/hungary-to-italy/) One-off. No subscription. Free preview first.

## Related

- [Reverse view: Italy vs Hungary](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/italy-vs-hungary/)
- [Fair salary: Hungary → Italy](https://geo-parity.com/salary/hungary-to-italy/)
- [How much to retire in Italy?](https://geo-parity.com/fire/italy/)
- [Cost of living in Italy vs the US](https://geo-parity.com/ppp/italy/)

## More comparisons

### Hungary compared with

- [Hungary vs France](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-france/)
- [Hungary vs Spain](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-spain/)
- [Hungary vs Germany](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-germany/)
- [Hungary vs Japan](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-japan/)
- [Hungary vs Netherlands](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-netherlands/)
- [Hungary vs Ireland](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-ireland/)

### Moving to Italy from

- [South Korea vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/south-korea-vs-italy/)
- [Czechia vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/czechia-vs-italy/)
- [United Arab Emirates vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/united-arab-emirates-vs-italy/)
- [Greece vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/greece-vs-italy/)
- [Singapore vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/singapore-vs-italy/)
- [Mexico vs Italy](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/mexico-vs-italy/)

## Frequently asked questions

- **How much more expensive is Italy than Hungary?**: A single person's monthly essentials run about $1,631 in Italy versus $1,230 in Hungary — 33% more. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- **What does a beer cost in Italy?**: A domestic draught pint is roughly $4.24 in Italy (≈ 3.75 EUR), versus about $3.29 in Hungary.
- **How much is rent in Italy compared to Hungary?**: A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $1,124/month in Italy versus $814/month in Hungary (+38%). Housing is the most locally-priced item in the basket.
- **How are these prices estimated?**: Curated US baseline prices scaled by each country's purchasing-power price level with per-item elasticities (housing 1.4, services 1.1, groceries 0.8, world-priced goods 0.4) — model estimates for orientation, not quotes.

Model estimates — verify locally. Agents: GET /api/micro-costs.json?base=HU&target=IT.

---

Source: Geo-Parity — https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-italy/ · JSON: https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=HU&target=IT