This one was a real surprise to me. After having done extensive travels through Central and South America to other Spanish-speaking countries, I guess I just assumed that Spain would be cheaper than the U.S. Although they are clearly extremely different continents and nations, we were shocked to realize how expensive we find Madrid, Spain in comparison with our hometown of Greenville, South Carolina in the United States.

Now, I need to start off by sharing – we lived for our first month in Spain in Tenerife in the Canary Islands and we did find that cost of living seemed less expensive there. However, we chose to move to Madrid to settle in Spain at first due to our Christian school being located there. We quickly realized that many things in Spain, especially the cost of apartments, gas, leased cars and food from more expensive grocery stores could really add up, and quickly!

With full disclosure, this is the estimated costs that our family of four are currently paying monthly (as of July 2024) in Madrid, Spain:

• rent: 2500 euros
• leased car: 620 euros
• groceries: 1200+ euros (we do focus on eating healthy and choose a more expensive supermarket so this could be cheaper)
• gas: two fill-ups monthly totaling 180 euros

In the U.S. in comparison, I would find the costs to be pretty similar.

So, one word of warning, do not assume that you will save money when you make the move to Spain from the U.S. There are many variables that affect that, from the barrio that you choose to whether or not you need a car/take public transportation. We live in the barrio of Valdebebas, and find the costs of restaurants there, for example, to be very high-end.

I hope this helps you as you b