Convert USD to RON US dollar ↔ Romanian leu Free Online Secure
Type an amount in US dollar and read it in Romanian leu at once. The page uses the European Central Bank's reference rate, and tells you which day that rate is from.
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Common amounts — Convert USD to RON (US dollar ↔ Romanian leu)
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The last thirty days
Where these codes and rates come from
The three letters in EUR, USD or JPY are not an abbreviation someone invented for a website: they are ISO 4217, a standard in which the first two letters are the country's own code and the third is usually the initial of the currency. The figures on this page come from the European Central Bank, which publishes one set of reference rates each working day, around 16:00 Central European time, agreed between the central banks of the Eurosystem. They are a daily snapshot meant for statistics and accounting, not a live trading feed — which is exactly why they are the same number for everyone, rather than whatever one bank happened to quote at one moment.
Where you meet an exchange rate
You meet an exchange rate four or five times a year without thinking about it: booking a trip, paying an invoice issued abroad, buying from a foreign shop, reading a salary offer in another currency, or checking what a card charge really cost. In all of these the reference rate is the honest middle, and the price you actually pay sits a little to one side of it. Knowing the middle is what lets you see how wide that margin is.
Questions people ask
Is this the rate my bank will give me?
No, and no page can promise one. This is the European Central Bank's reference rate: the midpoint published once a day for statistics. A bank, a card scheme or an exchange office adds its own margin on top — usually between half a percent and three percent, sometimes more at an airport counter. Use this figure to judge the offer you are given, not to predict it.
How often does the figure change, and what happens at weekends?
The European Central Bank publishes once each working day, in the afternoon, Central European time. There is no publication on Saturdays, Sundays or TARGET holidays, so on those days the page shows the last working day's rate and says which day it belongs to. The chart alongside is one year of the same daily series.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
Five Americans, five reasons to look up the leu
The software manager with a team in Bucharest
Dana runs an engineering group in Austin and has just opened a small office in Bucharest. Romania has become one of the largest technology hubs in Eastern Europe, and several American companies employ hundreds of engineers there. Dana pays salaries in lei through a local entity, but her budget is set in dollars. Each month she needs to Convert USD to RON for the payroll line, and a swing of five per cent in the rate changes her cost by tens of thousands of dollars a year. For her, this page is a planning tool, not a curiosity.
The soldier stationed at Mihail Kogălniceanu
Sergeant Reyes is posted for a rotation at the air base near Constanța, one of several sites in Romania where American troops serve. He is paid in dollars and spends in lei, in the shops of nearby towns, in restaurants and at weekends on the Black Sea. Prices are lower than at home, and his allowances stretch further, but the rate decides how much. He wants to know whether a 40-lei dinner is a bargain, and the answer is a quick conversion away.
The descendant looking for a village
Mark's grandparents left a village in Maramureș for Ohio in the 1920s, and he has saved for years to visit the place on his own. His budget for guesthouse, car and guide is in dollars. In the countryside, prices are in lei, cash is useful and a card is often refused. He will draw money from a bank machine on arrival, and he converts his budget first to know what a reasonable amount looks like.
The investor in a Romanian-founded unicorn
Romania produced UiPath, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, and other start-ups that attract American venture money. Investors in such companies think in dollars, but founders pay salaries in lei and rent in euros. For a venture partner reading a budget, the rate between the dollar and the leu shows how far a million dollars of funding goes in Cluj or Bucharest.
The retiree on a coach tour
Linda is on a two-week tour of Eastern Europe that includes Brașov, Sighișoara and Bucharest. Most of her trip is prepaid, and she expects to spend only on souvenirs, tips and a few meals. She would like a rough idea of what a handful of dollars buys, and she is happy with a table of common amounts that she can read in a shop.
Using the converter
Dollars in, lei out
Each time you Convert USD to RON on this page, read the date beside the answer first: it shows how fresh the rates are.
Type the amount in dollars. The page divides it by the published rate, which says how many dollars one euro costs, and combines it with the leu rate against the euro, because the European Central Bank publishes its rates against the euro. The result in lei appears with the date of the rates. A pair that does not include the euro is calculated from two rates on the same day, which is why the figure can differ in the last decimal from a rate quoted directly by a bank.
The table and the thirty-day line
Visitors who Convert USD to RON a few times in a week find the line a quick check on whether the leu has moved.
Under the converter you will find common amounts from one dollar to five thousand, and a line that follows the last thirty days. If you are in a shop, the table spares you retyping; if you have a bigger payment to make, the line tells you whether the leu has been steady.
The other direction
When you have lei left at the end of a trip or want to see a Romanian price in dollars, Convert RON to USD applies the same rates in the opposite direction.
The leu through an American's eyes
A lion and a hundred bani
Before you Convert USD to RON for a price you have copied, check which mark the website uses for thousands and which for decimals.
The word leu means lion, and the plural, lei, is pronounced like the English word lay. Each leu is divided into a hundred bani, singular ban. Prices are written with a comma before the bani, as in 12,50 lei, and large numbers use a full stop to separate thousands, the reverse of the American habit. The ISO code is RON.
Four zeros less since 2005
After years of high inflation, Romania replaced ten thousand old lei with one new leu on 1 July 2005. A few older Romanians still talk of millions when they mean hundreds of the new money, so a very large number in a story about prices usually refers to the old leu.
Notes you can wash
Romania was among the first countries to print banknotes on polymer, in the late 1990s. The notes are crisp, hard to tear and survive a washing machine. They come in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 lei, and each is a different colour.
Euro, dollar and leu: three yardsticks
Rents in Romanian cities are often agreed in euros, car prices are quoted in euros, and international trade is often invoiced in dollars. The leu itself is used for wages, taxes and everyday purchases. An American in Romania therefore meets three currencies, which is why a calculation in two steps, dollars to euros to lei, is the logic behind the figure on this page.
How the dollar-leu rate has moved
A weaker leu over time
Companies that must Convert USD to RON for payroll usually fix an internal budget rate and review it each quarter.
Since Romania's entry into the European Union in 2007, the leu has drifted lower against the euro, slowly, with some quick jumps in times of stress. The dollar has moved independently, so the dollar-leu rate has seen both direction and size change many times. In the years after the financial crisis the rate was calmer; in 2022 the dollar's strength lifted it to levels not seen in a generation.
The National Bank of Romania
The central bank manages the leu with a floating regime and intervenes to smooth sharp movements. It publishes its own official rate every working day around midday, which Romanian companies use for accounting. The reference rate here, published by the European Central Bank in the afternoon, is close but not identical.
What it means for you
For a traveller, a movement of a few per cent is invisible next to the price of a flight. For an employer paying hundreds of salaries, it is serious. If you have to Convert USD to RON for a large payment in a few months, ask your bank about a forward contract.
What a dollar buys in Romania
Food and drink
It helps to Convert USD to RON for three or four typical prices before you eat out, so that menus in lei are no longer abstract.
A coffee in Bucharest costs between two and four dollars, a main course at a decent restaurant between eight and fifteen, a beer in a pub two or three. Supermarket prices are lower than in the United States for bread, vegetables and local cheese, and higher for imported goods. A good lunch menu in a local restaurant costs about six to nine dollars.
Hotels and transport
A hotel of good standard in Bucharest costs from sixty to a hundred and twenty dollars a night, much less in smaller towns. Trains between cities are cheap and slow; a ticket from Bucharest to Brașov costs about ten dollars. Ride-hailing apps are widely used and show the fare in lei in advance.
Castles, monasteries and the Carpathians
Entrance to castles such as Bran and Peleș costs five to fifteen dollars. The painted monasteries of Bucovina charge a small fee, and the mountain roads, including the Transfăgărășan, are free but open only in summer. Roads are signed in kilometres, and an American can Convert KM to MI to turn a sign into miles.
Tipping
Tips of about ten per cent are customary in restaurants and are left in cash even when you pay by card. A few lei for a taxi driver or a hotel porter are appreciated.
Dollars between the United States and Romania
Romanian Americans and the money that crosses the ocean
Hundreds of thousands of people of Romanian origin live in the United States, concentrated in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Detroit. Many send money to relatives, pay for family weddings and buy property in the old country. The conversion that matters to them runs from dollars to lei, and they often check it before every transfer. A remittance of two hundred dollars a month carries twelve margins a year, so the choice of service matters more than the daily movement of the rate.
Doing business the other way
Buyers who have to Convert USD to RON for each order sometimes ask the seller to quote in dollars to move the risk.
American small businesses import Romanian furniture, honey, wine and software services, and Romanian exporters generally quote in euros. The American buyer therefore faces a two-step exchange from dollars to euros to lei, and the final cost depends on both rates. A buyer who negotiates a price in dollars moves the risk to the seller, who will normally add a cushion of three to five per cent.
A word on invoices
A Romanian invoice in dollars must show the value in lei at the National Bank's rate on the date of the supply. Romanian accountants therefore work with that rate, not the European one, and the small difference between the two is worth knowing about before a dispute arises.
Investment and real estate
Foreign buyers can purchase property in Romania, with some restrictions on land. Prices of flats in Bucharest, Cluj and Brașov are quoted in euros per square metre. An American who thinks in square feet can use Convert M2 to FT2 to see that a 60-square-metre flat is about 646 square feet, then multiply by the price per square metre in dollars to compare with home.
Visiting Romania: practicalities for an American
Entry and documents
Some hotels and car-rental firms quote in euros, so you may need a second step after you Convert USD to RON.
Americans can enter Romania without a visa for stays of up to ninety days in a hundred and eighty, with a passport valid for at least three months beyond the stay. Romania is in the European Union but not yet in the euro area, which means the leu is the money, even though some hotels and car-rental firms quote in euros.
Getting around
Trains are cheap and run between major cities, though slowly. Buses and minibuses fill the gaps, and car hire starts around thirty dollars a day. Driving outside the cities means mountain roads and, in places, horse-drawn carts, so allow extra time. A car-hire deposit is held on a card in lei or euros, and exchange-rate differences can leave a few dollars missing when it is released.
Seasons and festivals
Summer is for the Black Sea coast and the Carpathian hiking trails; winter for skiing at Poiana Brașov or Sinaia; Easter, which in the Orthodox calendar often falls on a different date from the Western one, for a deeply felt family holiday with midnight services and painted eggs. Hotels in popular areas cost more at Easter and in August.
Food and drink
A traditional meal of sarmale, cabbage rolls, with polenta and sour cream costs between five and ten dollars, a bottle of local wine between five and twelve. Țuică, the plum brandy, is sold by the bottle and often given as a gift. Portions are large, and tipping about ten per cent is expected.
Learning and working in Romania
Students and researchers
American students come to Romania on exchange programmes, Fulbright grants and language courses. Stipends are paid in lei or dollars, and living costs are low by American standards: a room in a shared flat costs between 150 and 300 dollars a month in most cities. Those who receive a fixed dollar sum benefit when the leu is weak and lose when it is strong.
Teaching English and volunteering
Language schools and volunteer programmes recruit English speakers. Salaries are paid in lei and are modest by American standards, but they cover the local cost of living. A volunteer who converts his savings at the start of the stay and keeps a modest reserve in dollars is protected against short-term changes.
Remote workers and digital nomads
Those who Convert USD to RON every month for rent should choose the transfer service that shows the rate before they confirm.
Romania has fast internet and low costs, and a number of Americans work remotely from Cluj, Brașov and Timișoara. They are paid in dollars and spend in lei, so every month they Convert USD to RON for their budget. A margin of one per cent or less on a good transfer is considered normal.
Paying and getting cash
Cards, cash and the countryside
In the countryside it is wiser to Convert USD to RON in a bank-owned machine on arrival than at an airport counter.
Cards are accepted in cities, hotels and larger shops, and contactless payment is common. In villages, markets and small guesthouses, cash in lei is useful. Banks have many bank machines, and a withdrawal in lei is the cheapest way to get cash.
The terminal that offers dollars
Some terminals will ask whether you wish to pay in dollars. Choose lei. The conversion by the terminal operator is usually three to six per cent worse than your bank's.
Exchange offices
Exchange offices post a buying and a selling rate. The spread is the cost of the service, and it is narrowest in offices in the town centre and widest at stations and airports. Ask for the total in lei before you hand over your dollars.
Time, distance and other everyday numbers
Calling home
Romania is seven hours ahead of New York in most of the year. A call at nine in the morning in Bucharest is two in the night in Chicago, so agree a time in advance. For the exact gap, Convert EST to EET shows the winter difference, which can vary for a week or two in spring and autumn.
Weather and clothing
Summers are hot, and winters are cold with snow. Forecasts are in Celsius, so an American can Convert C to F to read them: 30 degrees is 86 Fahrenheit, minus 10 is 14.
Euros and the neighbours
If your trip also takes you through the euro area, Convert USD to EUR is the natural companion, and the euro-leu pair is on Convert EUR to RON. For Hungary, which Americans often combine with Romania, there is Convert USD to HUF.
Mistakes when you Convert USD to RON
Reading the decimal mark backwards
1.250 lei is one thousand two hundred and fifty lei, not one and a quarter. The full stop separates thousands, and the comma marks the bani.
Forgetting the middle currency
Some prices are quoted in euros. Convert them to lei or to dollars with the right page.
Changing money twice
Changing dollars at home and the leftover lei back at the airport loses two margins. Use a card, and draw only what you need.
Trusting an old rate
A rate from last month may be out by several per cent. The date next to the result is there to prevent that.
Short answers
How do I Convert USD to RON here?
Type the dollars in the first field. The page shows the lei at the latest reference rates, with the date.
Is the amount stored?
No. It stays in your browser.
Your amount stays with you
Only the table of rates is fetched. The number you type never leaves your browser, and no account is needed. It is a quiet way to Convert USD to RON without telling a website what you plan to spend.
In short
To Convert USD to RON, type the dollars and read the lei at the latest reference rates of the European Central Bank, with their date. It is the midpoint of the market, so any counter will give a little less. Pay in lei, decline the terminal's offer of dollars, watch the decimal mark and remember that Romanian rents and cars are often quoted in euros.