Cost of living comparison

Bucharest, Romania

compared to

San Salvador, El Salvador

San Salvador vs. Bucharest Cost of Living Summary

San Salvador is 22.4% more expensive than Bucharest.

Restaurants: pay 31.7% less in San Salvador
Groceries: pay 46.1% more in San Salvador
Transportation: pay 2.1 times more in San Salvador
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in San Salvador
Childcare: pay 57.8% less in San Salvador
Entertainment and Sports: pay 28.7% less in San Salvador
Clothing: pay 11.4% more in San Salvador

The cost of transportation, housing, groceries, and clothing in San Salvador are more expensive than in Bucharest. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in San Salvador. Notably, transportation and housing are significantly more expensive in San Salvador.

San Salvador vs. Bucharest Cost Breakdown

If you lived in San Salvador instead of Bucharest, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 31.7% less for restaurants

	Bucharest	San Salvador
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.85 RON53.85	$10.00 SVC87.50	-15.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.54 RON34.27	$7.00 SVC61.25	-7.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 RON9.07	$1.09 SVC9.52	-45.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.20 RON10.01	$0.91 SVC7.98	-58.6%
Average			-31.7%

Bucharest vs. San Salvador - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 46.1% more for groceries

	Bucharest	San Salvador
Bread 1 loaf	$1.17 RON5.34	$2.12 SVC18.55	+80.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.52 RON20.56	$3.24 SVC28.32	-28.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.34 RON28.81	$7.39 SVC64.62	+16.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.28 RON14.89	$3.04 SVC26.56	-7.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.09 RON14.04	$2.78 SVC24.29	-10.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.59 RON2.66	$1.44 SVC12.62	+146.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 RON3.49	$0.77 SVC6.72	-0.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 RON3.41	$1.17 SVC10.20	+55.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.88 RON4.00	$1.22 SVC10.64	+38.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.51 RON2.30	$0.99 SVC8.69	+95.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.44 RON2.00	$0.98 SVC8.53	+121.4%
Average			+46.1%

Bucharest vs. San Salvador - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.1 times more for transportation

	Bucharest	San Salvador
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.09 RON27.69	$3.97 SVC34.76	-34.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.24 RON78.33	$20.00 SVC175.00	+16.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,003.12 RON118,155.56	$25,000.00 SVC218,745.48	-3.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.82 RON26.44	$33.43 SVC292.48	+474.6%
Average			+113.0%

Bucharest vs. San Salvador - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Bucharest	San Salvador
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.35 RON42.51	$42.14 SVC368.74	+350.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$601.94 RON2,735.14	$858.33 SVC7,510.26	+42.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$397.23 RON1,804.97	$641.67 SVC5,614.47	+61.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$130.07 RON591.01	$81.52 SVC713.28	-37.3%
Average			+104.3%

Bucharest vs. San Salvador - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 57.8% less for childcare

	Bucharest	San Salvador
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$527.95 RON2,398.95	$160.29 SVC1,402.47	-69.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,631.65 RON48,309.15	$5,740.67 SVC50,229.79	-46.0%
Average			-57.8%

Bucharest vs. San Salvador - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 28.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Bucharest	San Salvador
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.23 RON14.69	$2.00 SVC17.50	-38.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.17 RON14.39	$3.24 SVC28.33	+2.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.98 RON27.17	$4.00 SVC35.00	-33.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$49.84 RON226.48	$30.67 SVC268.33	-38.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.62 RON39.16	$5.50 SVC48.12	-36.2%
Average			-28.7%

Bucharest vs. San Salvador - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 11.4% more for clothing

	Bucharest	San Salvador
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.42 RON356.31	$72.14 SVC631.24	-8.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.68 RON180.29	$47.86 SVC418.74	+20.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.94 RON390.52	$112.14 SVC981.23	+30.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.80 RON480.75	$108.33 SVC947.90	+2.4%
Average			+11.4%

Bucharest vs. San Salvador - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2025

More cost comparisons

Bucharest vs.

London

Bucharest vs.

Algiers

Bucharest vs.

Madrid

Bucharest vs.

Ottawa

Bucharest vs.

Warsaw

Bucharest vs.

Beijing

Bucharest vs.

Delhi

Bucharest vs.

Washington

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Romania vs. El Salvador. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Romania and El Salvador.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Bucharest

Add prices for San Salvador

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about San Salvador or Bucharest. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.

Ask a question about Bucharest

Ask a question about San Salvador