Cost of Living in Spain vs the USA 2026: Rent, Food, Transport

On the official spending surveys, the average American spends roughly 1.8 to 2 times what the average person in Spain does, but that gap measures what people buy and earn, not what the same basket costs. Where the two surveys line up, groceries cost about the same per person (€2,301 in the US, €2,255 in Spain), while transport is about three times higher in the US (€4,924 against €1,611) and rent is lower in Spain outside Madrid.

All dollar figures are converted at the ECB reference rate of 6 October 2026: €1 = $1.1269. US spending comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2024, the latest year published (release of 19 December 2025). Spanish spending comes from the INE Household Budget Survey for 2025.

Compare per person, not per household

The BLS reports spending per “consumer unit”, which averaged 2.4 persons in 2024. The INE reports spending per household and per person. To compare, every US figure below is divided by 2.4. The INE table gives €35,101 per household and €14,066 per person, which implies about 2.5 people per Spanish household (our division, not an INE statement).

A US consumer unit spent $78,535 on average in 2024 (about €69,691). That is $32,723 per person, or €29,038. For Spain the INE figure is €14,066 per person.

Side by side: what people spend

Per person, a year	USA (2024)	Spain (2025)
Groceries (food at home)	$2,593 / €2,301	€2,255
Food away from home	$1,644 / €1,459	€1,315 (restaurants and accommodation)
Transport	$5,549 / €4,924	€1,611
Health care, all spending	$2,582 / €2,291	€566
Entertainment and recreation	$1,504 / €1,334	€710
Total, all categories	$32,723 / €29,038	€14,066

Sources: BLS table A (2024), INE table 73991 (2025), divisions and conversions ours.

Read the table with these limits:

• Spending is not price. Americans in the survey earn more (average income before taxes $104,207 per consumer unit, about $43,420 per person) and buy more, larger and newer things, notably vehicles. BLS vehicle purchases alone were $5,337 per consumer unit.
• Groceries are the cleanest match. Both surveys count food bought for home. Similar totals do not prove similar prices: diets, household sizes and incomes differ.
• The US total includes $9,797 per consumer unit for “personal insurance and pensions” (Social Security deductions and retirement contributions). We have not confirmed how the INE treats such payments, so the totals are indicative.
• The two surveys define categories differently. The INE “restaurants and accommodation” group includes hotels, and BLS “entertainment” is not the same list as the INE “recreation, sport and culture”. Treat those rows as rough.
• The BLS utilities line ($4,736 per consumer unit) includes telephone and public services, so we left it out of the table. For the Spanish side see Cost of Living in Spain, which separates water, power and gas.

Rent: a median paid against an asking price

The US figure is the Census Bureau’s median gross rent of $1,487 a month in 2024 (ACS 1-year estimate), which Census defines as rent plus the cost of utilities. That is about €1,320. It describes renters already in their homes, across the whole country and all home sizes.

The Spanish figures in our Spain guide are idealista’s September 2026 asking rents per m², which describe homes currently listed. They exclude utilities. Applying them to a 60 m² flat gives:

Monthly rent	Amount
US median gross rent, 2024 (includes utilities)	$1,487 / €1,320
Spain, national asking rent, 60 m² (€15.1/m²)	€906
Alicante, 60 m²	€834
Valencia, 60 m²	€978
Barcelona, 60 m²	€1,206
Madrid, 60 m²	€1,404

Different things are being compared: a national median of existing leases against current asking prices for a fixed flat size in cities. A median also hides city differences and 2024 is the latest year we could open. We did not find a US asking-rent figure from a primary source, so we do not give one. For how renting works in Spain, see renting as a foreigner.

The BLS “rented dwellings” line ($5,660 a year per consumer unit) is an average over all consumer units, owners included. Do not read it as a rent.

Health care is a different system

The BLS shows $6,197 per consumer unit on health care in 2024, of which $4,055 is health insurance (premiums the household itself pays, averaged over all households, including those with none or with employer-paid cover). Spaniards spent €566 per person on health in the INE survey, within a system funded through taxes and social contributions.

A newcomer’s case is not either average. Residents who pay into the Spanish system or qualify for public cover use it, while some visas, including the non-lucrative visa, require private insurance. We did not find a primary-source premium schedule, so we give no price here. See healthcare in Spain for expats.

What to take from it

• Day-to-day food costs are similar per person; transport and health spending are far lower in Spain.
• In all five Spanish cities in our data, the asking rent for a 60 m² flat is below the US median gross rent, though sizes, utilities and the type of figure differ.
• Americans in Spain still file US returns: see US taxes for Americans in Spain.
• Dollar incomes lose or gain value with the exchange rate. At 1.1269, $1,000 is €887.

Checked 7 October 2026. The exchange rate moves daily; recompute with the current ECB rate.