City comparison
Cost of living in Bucharest vs Lisbon
One person needs about €1,095 a month in Bucharest and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Bucharest is 71% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Lisbon the way you live in Bucharest on €3,000, you need
€5,134/ month net
71% more than today (+€2,134)
- Bucharest today
- Basket €1,095 · left over €1,905 (64%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €3,260 (63%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) vs 237% in Bucharest. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇷🇴 Bucharest
Europe's fastest internet and lowest utility bills, with a booming IT sector.
Monthly budget: €1,095
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇵🇹 Lisbon
Visa-friendly and well connected, but local salaries lag far behind expat-driven rents.
Monthly budget: €1,874
Sources: Statistics Portugal (INE) + Eurostat, HICP & house-rent statistics (2025) · 331 community reports
Should you move to Bucharest or Lisbon?
On salary, Bucharest pays more for tech roles (€2,600 versus €2,400 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,505 in Bucharest at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €650 in Bucharest against €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Bucharest at 77 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.