---
title: "Cost of Living: Budapest vs Stockholm — Geo-Parity"
description: "Sweden is 73% more expensive than Hungary for monthly essentials ($2,129 vs $1,230). Full 32-item price comparison: rent, pint, groceries, transport, gym."
canonical: "https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-sweden/"
json: "https://geo-parity.com/api/micro-costs.json?base=HU&target=SE"
generator: geo-parity markdown twin
---
Cost of Living · HU vs SE

# 🇭🇺 Budapest vs 🇸🇪 Stockholm: what everyday life costs

Monthly essentials: **$1,230** in Hungary vs **$2,129** in Sweden — 73% more expensive.

- **Essentials, Hungary**: $1,230/mo
- **Essentials, Sweden**: $2,129/mo
- **Difference**: +73%
- **1-bed city rent, Sweden**: $1,522/mo

## Biggest differences

Smallest premium in Sweden

- Running shoes (brand): +20%
- Jeans (mid-range brand): +20%
- Imported beer, 330ml bottle: +20%

Pricier in Sweden

- Rent: 3-bedroom, city center: +87%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center: +87%
- Rent: 1-bedroom, city center: +87%

## The full basket (32 items)

| Item | Hungary | Sweden | Diff |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Housing |  |  |  |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, city center | $814 | $1,522 (14,945 SEK) | +87% |
| Rent: 1-bedroom, outside center | $651 | $1,217 (11,956 SEK) | +87% |
| Rent: 3-bedroom, city center | $1,489 | $2,783 (27,328 SEK) | +87% |
| Food out |  |  |  |
| Meal, inexpensive restaurant | $9.87 | $16.13 (158 SEK) | +63% |
| Dinner for two, mid-range | $41.12 | $67.20 (660 SEK) | +63% |
| Fast-food combo meal | $6.37 | $9.96 (98 SEK) | +56% |
| Groceries |  |  |  |
| Milk, 1L | $0.71 | $1.02 (10 SEK) | +44% |
| Bread, fresh loaf 500g | $2.07 | $2.95 (29 SEK) | +43% |
| Eggs, dozen | $2.20 | $3.14 (31 SEK) | +43% |
| Chicken breast, 1kg | $6.46 | $9.23 (91 SEK) | +43% |
| White rice, 1kg | $2.58 | $3.69 (36 SEK) | +43% |
| Apples, 1kg | $3.10 | $4.43 (44 SEK) | +43% |
| Local cheese, 1kg | $7.75 | $11.08 (109 SEK) | +43% |
| Water, 1.5L bottle | $1.29 | $1.85 (18 SEK) | +43% |
| Drinks |  |  |  |
| Domestic beer, pint (draught) | $3.29 | $5.38 (53 SEK) | +64% |
| Imported beer, 330ml bottle | $6.43 | $7.69 (76 SEK) | +20% |
| Cappuccino | $2.74 | $4.48 (44 SEK) | +64% |
| Coke/Pepsi, 330ml | $1.49 | $2.12 (21 SEK) | +42% |
| Transport |  |  |  |
| Public transport, monthly pass | $37.64 | $58.83 (578 SEK) | +56% |
| Public transport, one-way | $1.59 | $2.49 (24 SEK) | +57% |
| Taxi start (normal tariff) | $2.19 | $3.58 (35 SEK) | +63% |
| Taxi, per km | $0.99 | $1.61 (16 SEK) | +63% |
| Petrol/gasoline, 1L | $0.76 | $0.91 (9 SEK) | +20% |
| Utilities & comms |  |  |  |
| Basic utilities, 85m² apartment | $116 | $181 (1,778 SEK) | +56% |
| Internet, 60Mbps+ unlimited | $40.53 | $63.35 (622 SEK) | +56% |
| Mobile plan, 10GB+ data | $26.06 | $40.73 (400 SEK) | +56% |
| Lifestyle |  |  |  |
| Gym membership, month | $27.41 | $44.80 (440 SEK) | +63% |
| Cinema seat | $7.67 | $12.54 (123 SEK) | +63% |
| Men's haircut | $16.45 | $26.88 (264 SEK) | +63% |
| Jeans (mid-range brand) | $44.20 | $52.85 (519 SEK) | +20% |
| Running shoes (brand) | $72.33 | $86.48 (849 SEK) | +20% |
| Coworking hot desk, month | $137 | $224 (2,200 SEK) | +63% |

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=SE).

## 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 **1,361 km** apart as the crow flies.

| Measure | 🇭🇺 Hungary | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Median local wage Monthly, USD. The local midpoint, not an average. | $1,620 | $4,250 |
| Rent, modelled 1-bed Monthly, USD. | $712 | $1,373 |
| Rent as % of a local wage Are locals priced out? | 43.9% | 32.3% |
| Out-of-pocket healthcare Per person per year, USD. | $327 | $868 |
| Doctors per 1,000 WHO. | 3.5 | 4.4 |
| Comfortable days a year 18-27 °C and dry. Measured at Budapest and Stockholm. | 74 | 62 |
| Rule of law World Bank WGI. A survey composite, so the band leads, not the decimal. | middling | very strong |
| Country risk INFORM, 0-10. Lower is safer. | 2.2 (low) | 2.7 (low) |
| Public holidays Observed nationwide; regional days are counted separately. | 13 | 16 |
| Air quality Mean annual PM2.5, µg/m³. WHO guideline is 5. Lower is better. | 11.6 | 4.8 |
| Life expectancy Years at birth — the outcome, not the spending. | 76.7 | 84.1 |
| Homicide rate Per 100,000 a year. A count, not a perception score. | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Population online % using the internet. Reach, not speed — the row below is speed. | 93.8% | 95.8% |
| Internet download Measured median, Mbps. | 315.3 | 217.6 |

## 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

🇸🇪 Sweden

9.4 pts

22.9% of your income vs 32.3% 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 → Sweden 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 → Sweden report — £7](https://geo-parity.com/report/hungary-to-sweden/) One-off. No subscription. Free preview first.

## Related

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

## More comparisons

### Hungary compared with

- [Hungary vs Australia](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-australia/)
- [Hungary vs Denmark](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-denmark/)
- [Hungary vs United Kingdom](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-united-kingdom/)
- [Hungary vs Norway](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-norway/)
- [Hungary vs New Zealand](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-new-zealand/)
- [Hungary vs Canada](https://geo-parity.com/cost-of-living/hungary-vs-canada/)

### Moving to Sweden from

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

## Frequently asked questions

- **How much more expensive is Sweden than Hungary?**: A single person's monthly essentials run about $2,129 in Sweden versus $1,230 in Hungary — 73% more. Rents differ the most; world-priced goods like petrol and electronics the least.
- **What does a beer cost in Sweden?**: A domestic draught pint is roughly $5.38 in Sweden (≈ 52.84 SEK), versus about $3.29 in Hungary.
- **How much is rent in Sweden compared to Hungary?**: A 1-bedroom city-center apartment is estimated at $1,522/month in Sweden versus $814/month in Hungary (+87%). 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=SE.

---

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