Cheapest cities in Hungary
Hello everyone,
Budget is an important consideration when moving to Hungary. Ideally, 做厙輦⑹s would settle down in a city in Hungary where the cost of living is low but where they could also enjoy a decent quality of life. Would you be able to give a few tips to someone planning a move to Hungary by answering the questions below?
What are the cheapest cities in Hungary?
Why are they cheap? What singles them out as a city where the cost of living is low?
What is the average budget for one person living in these cities?
Is it easy to find a job as an 做厙輦⑹ in these cities? What is the overall quality of life like?
Are they 做厙輦⑹ friendly? Would you recommend these cities to someone looking to settle in Hungary?
Please share your experience,
Bhavna
180km south of Budapest there is a medium-sized University town called Szeged. Population around 200,000 people. It's nice it's clean and safe and the prices are quite lower than those of Budapest whether you are looking to buy property or rent. The town has a large population of young people because it hosts several universities with both domestic and foreign students. The job opportunity is probably not as good as that of Budapest because to be able to work you do have to speak Hungarian since it's a small town and large companies are not represented where you could be only an English-speaking employee . But it's perfect for studying over there. They have English education at the University in medicine pharmacology dentistry engineering and there could be some others I don't know of.

For what it is worth, there are only 8 large cities, and 11 small to medium sized cities in Hungary. So not a lot to choose from.
What's a city?泭 Depends on the definition.泭 Here, there are many places which are large but are only towns but might be classified as cities elsewhere.泭 In my own country (UK) it seems cities are usually only cities if they historically have a cathedral.泭 But I think the new thing is for the Queen to give her permission.泭 Every so often they have a competition to acquire the description "City".泭 泭Here in HU, I don't know what the criteria is.
But where you live depends who you are.泭 If you're on an 做厙輦⑹ package, you're going to live close to the place of work.泭 泭If you come here looking for something to do, I think it's going to be (again) job and remuneration driven.泭
Then it comes down to good accounting - 1/3 housing and utilities,泭 1/3 food and 1/3 savings/clothing/entertainment.
If you're in for the long term, then if you have kids the main thing people move out of the city is for a garden, access to green spaces, schools and possibly public transport.泭 Moving just a few km outside of the city can make a massive difference in house prices.泭 My own village is for some weird reason expensive (utterly undeservedly) but just down the road 3-5km, it can be 1/2 the price for a family home.泭 泭There's a LOT of building work going on here all the time and we've just acquired a new secondary school.

fluffy2560 wrote:What's a city?泭 .... In my own country (UK)
I think we should go with the local Hungarian definition. Not a foreign one.
klsallee wrote:fluffy2560 wrote:What's a city?泭 .... In my own country (UK)
I think we should go with the local Hungarian definition. Not a foreign one.
Well, yes, I was hoping someone would put me straight on what a city is in Hungary.泭 Might be population size rather than an award by the monarch as in my own country.泭
I think in the USA, a city becomes incorporated but what that really means I have no idea.泭
Maybe it's like a business - like Los Angeles Inc.泭 泭Or Detroit Inc.
I could Wiki it but sometimes, asking is more interesting.
"A hat獺rozat szerint azok a telep羹l矇sek 羹tik meg az 獺tlagos v獺rosi szintet, ahol a lakoss獺g l矇leksz獺ma el矇ri a 10 ezer ft, 矇s az az elm繳lt 繹t 矇vben folyamatosan n繹vekedett, csatorn獺zotts獺ga minimum hatvansz獺zal矇kos, a belter羹leti utak kilencven sz獺zal矇ka szil獺rd burkolat繳, van alapfok繳 矇s k繹z矇pfok繳 nevel矇si-oktat獺si int矇zm矇nye, van rendrkapit獺nys獺ga vagy helyi rendrrse, hivat獺sos t鑄zolt籀s獺ga, katasztr籀fav矇delmi rse vagy 繹nkorm獺nyzati t鑄zolt籀s獺ga. Van eg矇szs矇g羹gyi alapell獺t獺s, van tanuszod獺ja vagy t繹bbc矇l繳 sportcsarnoka, az elb穩r獺l獺st megelz 矇vben a helyi 繹nkorm獺nyzat bev矇teleinek legal獺bb h繳sz sz獺zal矇ka a helyi ipar鑄z矇si ad籀b籀l folyt be."
So the criteria:
-more than 10000 inhabitants
-uninterrupted growth in the past 5 years
-ratio of sewers 60%
-asphalted roads over 90%
-has emelemtary and secondary school
-has own police
-has own firefighters
-has doctor's office
-has swimming pool or sports complex
-at least 20% of the income of the settlement was from business tax in the previous year
Rawlee wrote:.....
So the criteria:
-more than 10000 inhabitants
-uninterrupted growth in the past 5 years
-ratio of sewers 60%
-asphalted roads over 90%
-has elementary and secondary school
-has own police
-has own firefighters
-has doctor's office
-has swimming pool or sports complex
-at least 20% of the income of the settlement was from business tax in the previous year
Useful if a little complicated.泭
Can a city be downgraded once it's a city?泭
What does city status do for a place?

Rawlee wrote:-has doctor's office
Even our little village of 300 people has a doctors office..... Due to National Health requirements.
So that is a rather silly requirement for a city.
Leave it to politicians and bureaucrats to make useless, silly and non-sense regulations.
Rawlee wrote:-
-has swimming pool or sports complex
LOL!!! I can but assume that is a OV requirement.... The *little* football fan... Good grief.....泭
klsallee wrote:Rawlee wrote:-has doctor's office
Even our little village of 300 people has a doctors office..... Due to National Health requirements.
So that is a rather silly requirement for a city.
Leave it to politicians and bureaucrats to make non-sense regulations.Rawlee wrote:-
-has swimming pool or sports complex
LOL!!! I can but assume that is a OV requirement.... The little football fan... Good grief.....
For OV, the sports complex could only be a football stadium and a narrow gauge railway line.
If it was me, I'd include a check on the proportion of the population with more than 4 children and how many minivans.泭 泭
I might also check how many Labrador doggies the fire chief has and how many donuts are consumed per week at the police station.
If there were not enough paved roads or sewer pipes, I'd blame it on Soros, Juncker and the EU.

fluffy2560 wrote:Can a city be downgraded once it's a city?
Good point.泭 Very good point.
Such as... uninterrupted growth... That is an easy point of failure.
Because... Sh*t happens....
I doubt the Hungarian politicians have thought that through....泭 泭

fluffy2560 wrote:If there were not enough paved roads or sewer pipes, I'd blame it on Soros, Juncker and the EU.
郭倏郭!!!泭
But... Actually... Not.
In desperation, they may indeed try that....泭 泭
Scary.....泭
klsallee wrote:fluffy2560 wrote:If there were not enough paved roads or sewer pipes, I'd blame it on Soros, Juncker and the EU.
郭倏郭!!!泭![]()
But... Actually... Not.
In desperation, they may indeed try that....泭泭
Scary.....泭
A lot of these kind of infrastructure things are paid for by EU grant money and the banner "cohesion" funds - a misnomer perhaps.泭 泭
I suppose they could "legitimise" lack of pipes by blaming it on the EU泭 -泭 i.e. a grant was not awarded (.......to泭 OV's relatives).泭
Juncker is going to retire soon and his co-conspirator Soros is ancient.泭
I wonder who OV has lined up to blame for the next round?
You are really a miserable bunch, full of hate.
You didnt even read the article I posted, only comment BS. The answer is right in there. Cities arent "demoted". All these criterias are actually quite objective, they show which settlements have potential, which villages can function as regional engines for growth. They get this rank to show if they are good places to live at, where one can find all the basic necessities (my grandmother's village doesnt have sewers or piped water, or police, firefighters or doctor, not even a school, there is only 1 shop - open 4 hours a day - and a single pub, no post office, the priests only visits once a week for an hour; if you wanna check, its called Fony).
Compared to before 2015 (when this law was made), cities were awarded this title based on political reasons.
"A泭 legink獺bb泭 a泭 rend-szerv獺ltoz獺s泭 矇v矇ben泭 ugrott泭 meg泭 a泭 v獺rosok泭 sz獺ma,泭 amikor泭 minden泭 idk泭 legnagyobb泭 v獺ross獺 nyilv獺n穩t獺sa zajlott le, hiszen addig m矇g egyetlen esztendben sem lett 41 telep羹l矇s泭 egyszerre泭 v獺ros.泭 Belej獺tszott泭 ebbe泭 a泭 nagyon泭 sima泭 v獺ross獺泭 nyilv獺n穩t獺sba泭 泭 mivel泭 minden jelentkez szinte automatikusan megkapta a c穩met a politikai vezet矇s j籀kora nagyvonal繳s獺ga泭 矇s泭 az,泭 hogy泭 mindez泭 a泭 nagy泭 rem矇nyek,泭 a泭 hatalmas泭 lelkesed矇s泭 矇s泭 euf籀-ria泭 idej矇n泭 t繹rt矇nt.泭 "
Left-wing government basically doubled the amount of cities in 1990, just because.
Rawlee wrote:You are really a miserable bunch, full of hate.
Pot, kettle, black.泭 It's called satire.
Rawlee wrote:....
You didnt even read the article I posted, only comment BS. The answer is right in there. Cities arent "demoted". All these criterias are actually quite objective, they show which settlements have potential, which villages can function as regional engines for growth. They get this rank to show if they are good places to live at, where one can find all the basic necessities (my grandmother's village doesnt have sewers or piped water, or police, firefighters or doctor, not even a school, there is only 1 shop - open 4 hours a day - and a single pub, no post office, the priests only visits once a week for an hour; if you wanna check, its called Fony).
I did read the posted text, the link was TLDR between sips of coffee and looking for diversions to put off doing any work.泭
Rawlee wrote:....
Compared to before 2015 (when this law was made), cities were awarded this title based on political reasons.
And politics has absolutely nothing to do with it now?
I see no hatred here, if those here hated it so much they would not be living in Hungary. That aside the OP is going off topic slightly I would say
SimCityAT wrote:I see no hatred here, if those here hated it so much they would not be living in Hungary. That aside the OP is going off topic slightly I would say
Sort of off topic but Cheapest might expand to Best or other description.
Really so the premise of the question is imprecise.
I prefer to live in the burbs of a big city - advantages of country and town and good for kids. Cheap never really came into it.泭 泭QoL (Quality of Life) and accessibility are far more important criteria than cheap amongst many others.
I suppose OP's "cheap" in this context should really be interpreted as "affordable" as one part of a larger shopping list.
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