Barcelona

Spain

Population
1.7 million
Coordinates
41.39Β° N, 2.16Β° E
Time zone
Europe/Madrid
Prices for
Sep 2026

One person needs about $2,545 a month in Barcelona, rent included: 57% less than in New York. The average net salary is $2,392 a month.

High confidence266 contributors
Barcelona at 41.39Β° N, 2.16Β° E

Livability

Seven domain scores, weighted by how much each matters to daily life; each is a percentile among the cities with that data. Ranks count only high-confidence cities: six or more domains and twenty or more contributors.

62out of 100
LivabilityHigh confidence
  • Purchasing power25%59
  • Safety20%48
  • Health care15%77
  • Climate10%96
  • Air quality10%74
  • Connectivity10%77
  • Cost10%19
How each domain is scored
Purchasing power, 25%
What a local net salary buys against local prices, as a percentile.
Safety, 20%
Numbeo safety index for the city, or for its country when the city has no survey.
Health care, 15%
Numbeo health care index, city first, then country.
Climate, 10%
Numbeo climate index where surveyed, otherwise a comfort score from NASA climate normals.
Air quality, 10%
30-day mean US AQI on a 0-100 scale: 100 at AQI 25 or cleaner, 0 at 150 or worse.
Connectivity, 10%
Percentile of median fixed broadband download speed, city first, then country.
Cost, 10%
Cheaper places score higher: the percentile of the cost-of-living plus rent index, inverted.
Worldwide, among high-confidence cities
#420
Livability rank in Spain
#64
Cheapest-city rank, worldwide
#2,973

What it costs

US dollars a month. Indices compare with New York, which is 100; changes are against the same month a year earlier.

Cost of living index
57.1
New York = 100, rent excluded
+0.1%in 12 months
Rent index
33.9
New York = 100
+7.8%in 12 months
Purchasing power
107.4
Net salary against costs, New York = 100
Net salary
$2,392
Average, after tax
One person
$2,545
$857 without rent
Family of four
$5,806
$3,214 without rent
Rent, one bedroom in the centre
$1,688
71% of a net salary
Price to income
13.4
Years of income to buy a 90 mΒ² flat

Prices

55 everyday prices in US dollars, the median of this month's contributions, each against a base you choose.

Compare with

Differences are against New York; teal marks a price that is lower (or a salary that is higher).

Prices in Barcelona, US dollars, compared with New York
ItemBarcelonaNew YorkDifference
Restaurants
Meal, inexpensive restaurant$18.46$25.00βˆ’26%
Meal for 2, mid-range restaurant (3 courses)$69.23$140βˆ’51%
McMeal at McDonald's (or equivalent combo meal)$13.84$14.00βˆ’1%
Domestic beer (0.5 l, draught)$4.04$8.00βˆ’50%
Imported beer (0.33 l bottle, restaurant)$4.62$10.00βˆ’54%
Cappuccino (regular)$3.20$6.37βˆ’50%
Coke/Pepsi (0.33 l bottle)$2.93$3.80βˆ’23%
Water (0.33 l bottle)$1.92$2.89βˆ’34%
Markets
Milk (1 l)$1.28$1.36βˆ’6%
Loaf of fresh white bread (500g)$2.12$4.68βˆ’55%
Rice, white (1 kg)$1.76$6.97βˆ’75%
Eggs (12)$5.02$5.73βˆ’12%
Local cheese (1 kg)$17.74$17.38+2%
Chicken fillets (1 kg)$9.37$15.11βˆ’38%
Beef round (1 kg, or equivalent red meat)$19.97$17.77+12%
Apples (1 kg)$3.17$6.11βˆ’48%
Bananas (1 kg)$2.18$2.20βˆ’1%
Oranges (1 kg)$2.62$5.77βˆ’55%
Tomato (1 kg)$2.80$6.25βˆ’55%
Potato (1 kg)$2.18$3.47βˆ’37%
Onion (1 kg)$2.14$4.17βˆ’49%
Lettuce (1 head)$1.58$2.72βˆ’42%
Water (1.5 l bottle)$0.91$2.50βˆ’64%
Bottle of wine, mid-range$8.08$20.00βˆ’60%
Domestic beer (0.5 l bottle)$1.51$3.21βˆ’53%
Imported beer (0.33 l bottle)$2.78$3.96βˆ’30%
Cigarettes (20 pack, Marlboro)$7.21$19.00βˆ’62%
Transport
One-way ticket, local transport$3.05$3.00+2%
Monthly pass, regular price$26.31$140βˆ’81%
Taxi start, normal tariff$3.18$3.00+6%
Taxi, 1 km, normal tariff$1.53$2.18βˆ’30%
Taxi, 1 hour waiting, normal tariff$34.56$42.00βˆ’18%
Gasoline (1 l)$1.75$1.10+59%
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (or equivalent new car)$36,343$35,458+2%
Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW (or equivalent new car)$30,997$25,309+22%
Utilities, per month
Basic utilities, 85mΒ² apartment (electricity, heating, cooling, water, garbage)β€”β€”β€”
Mobile plan (calls + 10GB data)$15.24$73.50βˆ’79%
Internet (60 Mbps+, unlimited, cable/ADSL)$37.24$71.93βˆ’48%
Sports and leisure
Fitness club, monthly fee (1 adult)$55.69$126βˆ’56%
Tennis court rent (1 hour, weekend)$16.80$62.38βˆ’73%
Cinema, 1 seat, international release$11.54$23.00βˆ’50%
Childcare
Preschool, full day, private (monthly, 1 child)$986$3,366βˆ’71%
International primary school (yearly, 1 child)$16,841$60,589βˆ’72%
Clothing and shoes
1 pair of jeans (Levi's 501 or similar)$91.82$72.80+26%
1 summer dress, chain store (Zara, H&M)$40.38$53.22βˆ’24%
1 pair of Nike running shoes, mid-range$109$118βˆ’7%
1 pair of men's leather business shoes$123$125βˆ’1%
Rent, per month
Apartment (1 bedroom) in city centre$1,688$4,417βˆ’62%
Apartment (1 bedroom) outside centre$1,313$3,033βˆ’57%
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in city centre$2,592$9,242βˆ’72%
Apartment (3 bedrooms) outside centre$1,923$5,461βˆ’65%
Buying an apartment
Price per square meter, apartment in city centre$7,566$18,759βˆ’60%
Price per square meter, apartment outside centre$5,241$6,523βˆ’20%
Salary and financing
Average monthly net salary, after tax$2,392$5,178βˆ’54%
Mortgage interest rate, 20-year fixed rate (%)3.16%6.49%βˆ’3.3 pts

Three years of prices

Each line starts at 100 in its first month, so a rise in rent can be read against a rise in salary on the same scale. The core basket is twelve everyday prices. Hover for the actual values.

Show the monthly values
MonthCore basket indexRent, 1 bedroomNet salary
Sep 2026β€”$1,688$2,392
Aug 2026β€”$1,700$2,452
Jul 2026β€”β€”β€”
Jun 2026β€”β€”β€”
May 202657.5$1,686$2,400
Apr 202655.8$1,694$2,421
Mar 202655.1$1,627$2,425
Feb 202656.2$1,672$2,517
Jan 202656.4$1,608$2,476
Dec 202555.4$1,589$2,330
Nov 202553.5$1,563$2,244
Oct 202555.2$1,591$2,240
Sep 202555.4$1,566$2,275
Aug 202555.0$1,573$2,207
Jul 202555.5$1,570$2,139
May 202554.4$1,506$1,979
Apr 202554.6$1,491$1,976
Mar 202553.4$1,411$1,877
Feb 202551.7$1,352$1,985
Jan 202551.6$1,343$1,972
Dec 202452.7$1,364$2,045
Nov 202452.8$1,371$2,085
Oct 202454.6$1,388$2,173
Sep 202454.0$1,410$2,267
Aug 202454.7$1,369$2,403
Jul 202454.5$1,352$2,209
Jun 202450.9$1,336$2,174
May 202451.7$1,342$2,156
Apr 202453.2$1,328$2,160
Mar 202454.2$1,344$2,160
Feb 202452.2β€”β€”
Jan 202452.6$1,342$2,110
Dec 202353.0$1,353$2,077
Nov 202353.5$1,255$2,041
Oct 202353.5$1,238$1,945

Safety

Numbeo crime survey, 2026-mid. Both indices run 0 to 100; they are two sides of the same answers.

Safety index47.9Higher is saferβˆ’0.2 since the previous survey
Crime index52.1Lower is better
  • Feeling safe overall47.9
  • Safety in the quality-of-life survey47.9

Quality of life

Numbeo's published indices for Barcelona, 2026-mid. Listed as Numbeo computes them, next to this index's own figures above.

Quality of lifeHigher is better
145.5
Health careHigher is better
76.7
Purchasing powerHigher is better
88.8
ClimateHigher is better
95.7
PollutionLower is better
62.8
Traffic commute timeLower is better
29.8
One-way commuteMinutes, average
30
Property price to incomeYears; lower is better
13.8
Cost of living (Numbeo)New York = 100
59.9
Rent (Numbeo)New York = 100
35.5
Groceries (Numbeo)New York = 100
60.2
Restaurants (Numbeo)New York = 100
62.0

Climate

Monthly means from NASA POWER climate normals. Temperature bands use the same scale on every city page.

Annual mean
15.6 Β°C
Warmest monthJuly
24.7 Β°C
Coldest monthJanuary
7.4 Β°C
Rain a year
519 mm
HumidityRelative, annual mean
70%
SunshineSolar energy per day
4.4 kWh/mΒ²
Clear-sky daysA year
11
Comfort score0-100, 100 at 14-22 Β°C
100

Air, internet and housing

The last 30 days of air, the latest month of broadband tests, and the property survey.

Air

Moderate
US AQI, the latest day
Unhealthy days
0AQI above 100
Worst day
57
PM2.5
17.3Β΅g/mΒ³, mean
Air score
740-100

Internet

Measured in Barcelona
276Mbps download, fixed broadband, median+9% since Aug 2025
Aug 2025Aug 2026
Upload
221Mbps, fixed
Latency
5ms, fixed
Mobile download
153Mbps
Mobile latency
22ms

Speedtest Global Index, Aug 2026.

Housing

$7,566Per mΒ² to buy in the centre, $5,241 outside
Price to income
13.4Years of income, 90 mΒ² flat
Price to rent
21.9Years of rent, centre
Rental yield
4.6%Gross, centre
Mortgage rate
3.16%20-year fixed
80 mΒ² in the centre
21.1Years of net salary

Numbeo property survey, 20 Sept 2026.

Cities like Barcelona

In other countries, with the closest livability score and cost of living index.

About these numbers

What the figures on this page rest on.

Confidence
High confidence
Contributors
266Numbeo price survey
Latest prices
Sep 20264 readings that month
Months with prices
11 of 12Last 12 months
Items priced
98%1 basket items from the country median
Location
Matched to a GeoNames reference city
Index rebuilt
24 Sept 2026

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