Cost of living · Madrid · Spain · 2023
🇪🇸 Cost of living in Madrid
What it costs to live in Madrid - rent, groceries, utilities and getting around, in local euros, plus how the city compares with Spain and the rest of Europe.
- City price index
- 92
- Rent, 1-bed centre
- €1,100
- Monthly essentials
- €1,225
- Transit pass
- €55
Madrid · Spain · 2023
Madrid's city price index is 92 (EU-27 = 100), 1% above Spain's national average of 91, about €1,225/month for core essentials outside the centre.
- 92
- city price index
- €1,100
- 1-bed centre rent
- €1,225
- monthly essentials
- 91
- Spain avg
City pages stay noindex while the cities class is DEAD; figures remain for country-linked readers.
Estimated monthly essentials
€1,225 / month
A single person renting a one-bedroom flat outside the centre: rent + groceries + utilities + a transit pass. This is a core-costs estimate and excludes discretionary spending such as eating out, leisure and travel.
Rent in Madrid
Monthly rent bars plus the city price-index dial against Spain's national average: two TYPES, same vintage.
Madrid - average monthly rent (EUR)
🇪🇸 Madrid vs Spain avg
Gauge reads the same city price index (92); the tick marks Spain avg (91).
Average advertised monthly rents in Madrid. Living outside the centre typically saves €300 a month on a one-bedroom flat.
How Madrid compares across every city we track
Madrid's city price index of 92 is cheaper than 88% of the 17 European cities on this site, ranking 2nd cheapest overall on the EU-27 = 100 scale - not just against Spain, but the full tracked distribution.
Madrid: city price index vs. every tracked European city
City price index, EU-27 = 100 - Eurostat urban audit
92 6th percentile higher than 6% of 17 tracked European cities
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more tracked European cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source Eurostat urban audit + national statistics offices · 2023
Living costs in Madrid, in context
Madrid tracks unusually flat against its national average for a capital or major city, where costs almost always run above the country-wide figure. That makes it one of the more reliable cases where the national number is a fair proxy for city-level budgeting.
Rent is the line that dominates a city budget. In Madrid, a one-bedroom flat runs €1,100 in the centre and €800 outside it, a gap of €300 a month - a fairly typical centre premium, so where in the city you live matters, though not as decisively as in the priciest capitals. A family-sized three-bedroom flat in the centre is around €2,150.
The steadier costs fill out the rest of the budget. Groceries are the standout line here at about €240 a month, well above utilities (€130) and the transit pass (€55) - the everyday food basket, not the fixed bills, drives the non-rent side of a Madrid budget.
Other cities in Spain
Cities with a similar cost of living
What to do with this Madrid data
Barcelona, Spain tracks closest to Madrid's cost index -- a real-world benchmark if you are weighing this city against an alternative.
- See Barcelona's full cost profile
- National cost of living for Spain
- Browse every city we track
- Run your own numbers in the calculator
These are city-level averages for general information, not a personal budget. The monthly-essentials figure is a core-costs estimate only; real costs depend on your neighbourhood, flat and lifestyle.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to live in Madrid?
For a single person renting a one-bedroom flat outside the centre, core monthly essentials in Madrid - rent (€800), groceries (€240), utilities (€130) and a transit pass (€55) - come to about €1,225 a month, before any discretionary spending. On the EU-27 = 100 price scale, Madrid sits at index 92.
How much is rent in Madrid?
A one-bedroom flat in the city centre averages €1,100 a month, €800 outside the centre. A three-bedroom flat in the centre is around €2,150. Rent is the largest part of any city budget.
Is Madrid expensive compared to the rest of Spain?
Madrid's city price index of 92 is about 1% above Spain's national average of 91 (EU-27 = 100). Capitals and big cities almost always cost more than the national figure.
Where does this Madrid data come from?
Figures are drawn from INE urban audit (2023). The city price index is on the same EU-27 = 100 scale used across the site; rent, grocery, utility and transit figures are local monthly amounts in euros.
How does Madrid compare to other cities we track?
Madrid's city price index of 92 is cheaper than 88% of the 17 European cities on this site, ranking 2nd cheapest overall. This places it against the full tracked distribution, not just its own country's cities.
PlainCostOfLiving is rendered directly from Eurostat comparative price levels and median equivalised net income, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026. Primary sources: Eurostat comparative price levels (prc_ppp_ind) and Eurostat median equivalised net income (ilc_di03).