A comfortable solo-nomad month ranges from $350 in Goa to $4,500 in Zurich. That is the same life costing 12.9x more depending on where you base yourself.
| # | City | Solo / mo | 1-bed rent | Monthly basket | Meal out | Transit pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GoaIndia | $350 | $180 | $170 | $3 | $10 |
| 2 | PokharaNepal | $380 | $130 | $250 | $3 | $20 |
| 3 | KathmanduNepal | $410 | $220 | $190 | $2 | $10 |
| 4 | BangaloreIndia | $530 | $320 | $210 | $3 | $19 |
| 5 | Siem ReapCambodia | $660 | $320 | $340 | $3 | $15 |
| 6 | HanoiVietnam | $690 | $420 | $270 | $2 | $9 |
| 7 | PenangMalaysia | $740 | $400 | $340 | $4 | $12 |
| 8 | Da NangVietnam | $780 | $510 | $270 | $2 | $4 |
| 9 | ColomboSri Lanka | $790 | $500 | $290 | $4 | $7 |
| 10 | MarrakechMorocco | $810 | $500 | $310 | $4 | $27 |
| 11 | NairobiKenya | $810 | $410 | $410 | $5 | $46 |
| 12 | QuitoEcuador | $820 | $470 | $340 | $5 | $21 |
| 13 | SofiaBulgaria | $840 | $410 | $440 | $9 | $15 |
| 14 | Chiang MaiThailand | $840 | $470 | $370 | $2 | $54 |
| 15 | Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam | $870 | $570 | $300 | $2 | $11 |
| 16 | MumbaiIndia | $900 | $650 | $260 | $5 | $5 |
| 17 | BatumiGeorgia | $900 | $460 | $440 | $11 | $11 |
| 18 | CebuPhilippines | $910 | $510 | $400 | $4 | $13 |
| 19 | SkopjeNorth Macedonia | $930 | $430 | $500 | $9 | $28 |
| 20 | BakuAzerbaijan | $930 | $540 | $400 | $9 | $21 |
| 21 | KigaliRwanda | $960 | $670 | $290 | $2 | $25 |
| 22 | ManilaPhilippines | $990 | $540 | $450 | $6 | $13 |
| 23 | CasablancaMorocco | $1,000 | $630 | $370 | $5 | $27 |
| 24 | AsunciónParaguay | $1,000 | $610 | $390 | $7 | $37 |
| 25 | Phnom PenhCambodia | $1,010 | $620 | $390 | $4 | $10 |
| 26 | Kuala LumpurMalaysia | $1,040 | $630 | $400 | $5 | $12 |
| 27 | SarajevoBosnia | $1,080 | $480 | $600 | $9 | $35 |
| 28 | SantiagoChile | $1,140 | $580 | $560 | $11 | $43 |
| 29 | BangkokThailand | $1,150 | $700 | $450 | $3 | $35 |
| 30 | PhuketThailand | $1,170 | $730 | $430 | $4 | $23 |
| 31 | TbilisiGeorgia | $1,180 | $700 | $480 | $10 | $15 |
| 32 | AntalyaTurkey | $1,220 | $570 | $650 | $9 | $25 |
| 33 | MéridaMexico | $1,240 | $680 | $560 | $12 | $21 |
| 34 | BucharestRomania | $1,330 | $710 | $620 | $15 | $22 |
| 35 | Bali (Canggu)Indonesia | $1,340 | $980 | $370 | $3 | $8 |
| 36 | IzmirTurkey | $1,350 | $630 | $720 | $9 | $43 |
| 37 | TaipeiTaiwan | $1,350 | $850 | $490 | $5 | $37 |
| 38 | TiranaAlbania | $1,350 | $820 | $530 | $10 | $20 |
| 39 | YerevanArmenia | $1,360 | $840 | $530 | $11 | $25 |
| 40 | MedellínColombia | $1,440 | $890 | $550 | $8 | $77 |
| 41 | GuadalajaraMexico | $1,450 | $910 | $540 | $14 | $32 |
| 42 | OsakaJapan | $1,460 | $710 | $750 | $6 | $32 |
| 43 | BelgradeSerbia | $1,480 | $850 | $630 | $12 | $0 |
| 44 | Buenos AiresArgentina | $1,490 | $720 | $770 | $20 | $28 |
| 45 | PalermoItaly | $1,490 | $760 | $730 | $16 | $37 |
| 46 | RigaLatvia | $1,510 | $600 | $900 | $17 | $35 |
| 47 | AthensGreece | $1,520 | $730 | $790 | $17 | $31 |
| 48 | IstanbulTurkey | $1,520 | $980 | $540 | $11 | $63 |
| 49 | MontevideoUruguay | $1,540 | $740 | $790 | $15 | $75 |
| 50 | BudapestHungary | $1,550 | $880 | $670 | $14 | $28 |
| 51 | VilniusLithuania | $1,580 | $880 | $690 | $14 | $44 |
| 52 | Las PalmasSpain | $1,580 | $1,000 | $580 | $14 | $16 |
| 53 | Cape TownSouth Africa | $1,630 | $1,040 | $600 | $12 | $60 |
| 54 | Playa del CarmenMexico | $1,630 | $1,070 | $570 | $13 | $29 |
| 55 | CartagenaColombia | $1,660 | $1,080 | $590 | $8 | $48 |
| 56 | Mexico CityMexico | $1,680 | $1,110 | $570 | $12 | $21 |
| 57 | TallinnEstonia | $1,710 | $830 | $880 | $18 | $35 |
| 58 | LyonFrance | $1,800 | $890 | $910 | $17 | $85 |
| 59 | SplitCroatia | $1,820 | $1,030 | $780 | $17 | $40 |
| 60 | ZagrebCroatia | $1,830 | $880 | $950 | $14 | $55 |
| 61 | Panama CityPanama | $1,840 | $1,240 | $600 | $10 | $21 |
| 62 | SeoulSouth Korea | $1,870 | $820 | $1,040 | $9 | $44 |
| 63 | TokyoJapan | $1,920 | $1,260 | $660 | $8 | $76 |
| 64 | PragueCzech Republic | $1,970 | $1,200 | $770 | $11 | $25 |
| 65 | RomeItaly | $2,010 | $1,240 | $770 | $17 | $40 |
| 66 | LjubljanaSlovenia | $2,100 | $1,090 | $1,010 | $17 | $43 |
| 67 | Puerto VallartaMexico | $2,110 | $1,450 | $660 | $14 | $23 |
| 68 | PortoPortugal | $2,140 | $1,320 | $820 | $14 | $46 |
| 69 | AucklandNew Zealand | $2,160 | $1,310 | $860 | $14 | $130 |
| 70 | ValenciaSpain | $2,280 | $1,450 | $830 | $17 | $40 |
| 71 | NiceFrance | $2,300 | $1,110 | $1,200 | $21 | $52 |
| 72 | MadridSpain | $2,330 | $1,580 | $750 | $18 | $39 |
| 73 | LisbonPortugal | $2,400 | $1,700 | $700 | $17 | $46 |
| 74 | CologneGermany | $2,400 | $1,170 | $1,230 | $17 | $73 |
| 75 | HelsinkiFinland | $2,410 | $1,250 | $1,160 | $18 | $83 |
| 76 | BarcelonaSpain | $2,440 | $1,700 | $740 | $18 | $26 |
| 77 | HamburgGermany | $2,490 | $1,320 | $1,170 | $17 | $73 |
| 78 | ViennaAustria | $2,500 | $1,280 | $1,220 | $21 | $59 |
| 79 | BerlinGermany | $2,520 | $1,500 | $1,020 | $17 | $73 |
| 80 | ParisFrance | $2,560 | $1,630 | $930 | $18 | $100 |
| 81 | BrusselsBelgium | $2,580 | $1,390 | $1,190 | $23 | $63 |
| 82 | FlorenceItaly | $2,610 | $1,460 | $1,150 | $28 | $45 |
| 83 | VancouverCanada | $2,640 | $1,840 | $800 | $18 | $82 |
| 84 | MilanItaly | $2,730 | $1,760 | $970 | $24 | $45 |
| 85 | MelbourneAustralia | $2,740 | $1,740 | $1,000 | $18 | $140 |
| 86 | EdinburghUK | $2,760 | $1,640 | $1,120 | $24 | $98 |
| 87 | San JuanPuerto Rico | $2,850 | $1,810 | $1,040 | $18 | $30 |
| 88 | AustinUnited States | $2,920 | $1,940 | $980 | $20 | $41 |
| 89 | CopenhagenDenmark | $2,960 | $1,950 | $1,010 | $23 | $120 |
| 90 | MunichGermany | $3,000 | $1,730 | $1,270 | $20 | $73 |
| 91 | OsloNorway | $3,250 | $1,990 | $1,260 | $21 | $84 |
| 92 | DubaiUAE | $3,350 | $2,440 | $910 | $12 | $68 |
| 93 | SydneyAustralia | $3,490 | $2,480 | $1,010 | $18 | $150 |
| 94 | DublinIreland | $3,550 | $2,490 | $1,060 | $24 | $110 |
| 95 | ChicagoUnited States | $3,690 | $2,410 | $1,270 | $20 | $75 |
| 96 | AmsterdamNetherlands | $3,730 | $2,630 | $1,100 | $24 | $120 |
| 97 | SingaporeSingapore | $3,840 | $2,990 | $860 | $12 | $100 |
| 98 | MiamiUnited States | $3,960 | $2,770 | $1,190 | $30 | $110 |
| 99 | LondonUK | $4,380 | $3,010 | $1,360 | $27 | $270 |
| 100 | ZurichSwitzerland | $4,500 | $3,080 | $1,420 | $36 | $110 |
Prices sourced from Numbeo (August 2026), converted to USD at rates from 01 Aug 2026. "Solo / mo" is a central 1-bedroom rent plus our one-person monthly basket. Real spend varies with lifestyle. Cities where Numbeo has no data keep an editorial estimate on their guide and are not listed here.
How this index is built
Most "cheapest cities" lists are guesses. This one is not. For every city we take current prices from Numbeo, the largest crowd-sourced cost-of-living database, and turn them into a single, comparable monthly budget for one remote worker, using the same recipe everywhere so the ranking is fair.
What the "solo / month" figure includes
The headline number is central 1-bedroom rent plus a fixed one-person monthly basket that we price from the same Numbeo data in every city:
- Groceries for one (a set list of staples: milk, bread, eggs, chicken, vegetables, fruit and so on)
- Twelve meals out at inexpensive restaurants
- Basic utilities, a mobile plan and home internet
- A monthly public-transport pass
- A gym membership and a few cinema tickets
Rent is the biggest and most variable cost, so it is shown separately too. The basket is deliberately modest and identical across cities: the point is a like-for-like comparison, not your exact spend. All local prices are converted to USD at published exchange rates.
How to read it
Sort by any column, or filter by region, to find where your money goes furthest. Then open a city's full guide for the detailed cost table, visa notes and neighbourhoods, or drop your income into the Geoarbitrage calculator to see your savings, and the Salary calculator to see what you would need to earn there.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the data come from?
Individual prices are from Numbeo, a large crowd-sourced database updated continuously. We aggregate them into a single monthly budget with a fixed, published basket, and convert to USD. Numbeo is credited on every city and linked throughout.
Why is my city more or less than I expected?
The basket is a modest single-person lifestyle and rent is city-centre. If you share a flat, live outside the centre or cook every meal you will spend less; a central apartment and eating out often will cost more. Use it to compare cities, not as your personal budget.
How current is it?
Prices reflect the latest Numbeo figures at the time we last refreshed the index (August 2026), with exchange rates from 01 Aug 2026. We refresh periodically.
Which cities are missing?
Numbeo does not cover many small towns and beach spots. Those keep an editorial cost estimate on their own guide but are left out of this ranking so it stays strictly like-for-like.