The Voyica Cost of Living Index 2026
The median cost of living across 340 cities in 102 countries is $1,620 per month for one person including rent. That figure hides an enormous spread: the cheapest city in the index, Jaipur, India, runs $391 a month, while the most expensive, Monaco, runs $10,219 — a factor of 26. 61% of cities cost under $2,000 a month and 27% under $1,000. By region, Africa is cheapest at a median of $861 and United States & Canada most expensive at $2,512, a 2.9× gap. Rent is the dominant variable everywhere: across the 198 cities with a fully reconciled breakdown it accounts for a median 47% of total monthly costs, ranging from 20% in Kathmandu to 85% in Monaco.
How affordable is the world in 2026?
The distribution matters more than the average. Budgets are thresholds, not midpoints — the useful question is not "what is typical" but "how many places fit what I can spend".
| Monthly budget | Cities under it | Share of index |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1,000/mo | 91 | 27% |
| Under $1,500/mo | 158 | 46% |
| Under $2,000/mo | 209 | 61% |
| Under $2,500/mo | 278 | 82% |
| Under $3,000/mo | 314 | 92% |
Cost of living by region
United States & Canada is the most expensive region in the index at a median of $2,512 per month, 2.9× the median of Africa at $861. Within-region spread is wider still than the gap between regions — Africa alone runs from $440 to $1,780.
| Region | Cities | Median /mo | Cheapest | Most expensive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 20 | $861 | Luxor $440 | Victoria $1,780 |
| Asia | 65 | $891 | Jaipur $391 | Singapore $3,225 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 63 | $951 | Utila $600 | Nassau $2,849 |
| Middle East | 9 | $1,729 | Amman $1,047 | Tel Aviv $2,879 |
| Europe | 91 | $1,849 | Bansko $849 | Monaco $10,219 |
| Oceania | 12 | $2,171 | Suva $991 | Gold Coast $2,580 |
| United States & Canada | 80 | $2,512 | Quebec City $1,609 | New York City $4,404 |
The 10 cheapest cities in the world
Every city below costs under $569 a month for one person including rent — around 35% of the global median of $1,620. 8 of the 10 are in Asia.
- Jaipur, India
$391/month for one person including rent
- Kathmandu, Nepal
$431/month for one person including rent
- Agra, India
$440/month for one person including rent
- Luxor, Egypt
$440/month for one person including rent
- Kampot, Cambodia
$480/month for one person including rent
- Goa, India
$487/month for one person including rent
- Dalat, Vietnam
$520/month for one person including rent
- New Delhi, India
$530/month for one person including rent
- Bengaluru, India
$558/month for one person including rent
- Cairo, Egypt
$569/month for one person including rent
The 10 most expensive cities in the world
Monaco is an outlier even among expensive places, at 2.3× the cost of the next city on the list. 5 of the 10 are in Europe.
- Monaco, Monaco
$10,219/month for one person including rent
- New York City, United States
$4,404/month for one person including rent
- San Francisco, United States
$4,403/month for one person including rent
- Zurich, Switzerland
$4,208/month for one person including rent
- Aspen, United States
$4,071/month for one person including rent
- Geneva, Switzerland
$4,035/month for one person including rent
- Boston, United States
$4,019/month for one person including rent
- San Diego, United States
$4,015/month for one person including rent
- London, United Kingdom
$3,802/month for one person including rent
- Lucerne, Switzerland
$3,694/month for one person including rent
How much of your money goes to rent?
Rent accounts for a median 47% of a single person's total monthly cost across the 198 cities where the full breakdown reconciles against the published total. This is the number that decides whether a move actually saves money: two cities can have near-identical grocery and restaurant prices and still differ by a factor of two once housing is included.
What everyday things cost, worldwide
Median prices across the index. Medians rather than averages, and no cheapest/priciest extremes — individual crowd-sourced prices carry occasional bad entries, and a median over 300+ cities absorbs them where a single extreme value would not.
| Item | Global median | Cities priced |
|---|---|---|
| Inexpensive restaurant meal | $14.13 | 326 |
| Cappuccino | $3.07 | 323 |
| Domestic beer (bar) | $4.71 | 321 |
| Monthly transit pass | $46.88 | 294 |
| Basic utilities (85m² flat) | $157.75 | 313 |
| Gym membership (monthly) | $46.00 | 325 |
Methodology
Sample. 340 cities across 102 countries. Cities are included when a monthly cost figure is available; no city is weighted or excluded on the basis of its result.
What the headline figure means. A single person's monthly cost of living including rent, calculated as Numbeo's single-person monthly cost (dining, groceries, transport, utilities, lifestyle) plus a one-bedroom rental outside the city centre. It is not a family budget, and it is not a tourist budget — Voyica tracks a separate short-stay figure for that.
Rent share. Computed only for the 198 cities where the two components reconcile against the published total to within $2. 325 cities carry a rent figure, but where it comes from a different snapshot than the total the ratio is not meaningful, so those cities are excluded rather than published with an unreliable percentage.
Regions. Reported as Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East, Europe, Oceania, and United States & Canada. Voyica's internal region field files most of Latin America under a broad "Americas" label, so the three overlapping American buckets are collapsed into one rather than reported separately.
Limitations. Underlying prices are crowd-sourced and therefore uneven in coverage — the "cities priced" column above shows the true sample for each item. Prices are in US dollars at the collection-time exchange rate, so a portion of any future change will be currency movement rather than local inflation. This is the first edition of the index, so it carries no year-over-year comparison; those figures will appear in the 2027 edition rather than being estimated now.
Data vintage. Cost snapshot last refreshed June 2026.
Citing this index
The index is free to cite and quote with attribution to Voyica and a link to this page.
Voyica Cost of Living Index 2026. Voyica, June 2026. voyica.com/cost-of-living-index
For a figure not shown here — a specific city, a custom cut, or a regional breakdown for a story — get in touch and we'll pull it.
Cost of Living Index FAQ
What is the average cost of living in the world in 2026?
Across the 340 cities in the Voyica Cost of Living Index 2026, the median cost of living is $1,620 per month for one person including rent. Half of all ranked cities fall below that figure. 61% of cities come in under $2,000 a month and 27% under $1,000, so a budget near the global median goes considerably further than it does in North America or Western Europe.
What is the cheapest city in the world to live in 2026?
Jaipur, India is the cheapest city in the Voyica Cost of Living Index 2026, at about $391 per month for one person including rent. The next cheapest are Kathmandu ($431), Agra ($440), Luxor ($440). All figures cover a single person's monthly costs including a one-bedroom rental outside the city centre.
What is the most expensive city in the world to live in 2026?
Monaco is the most expensive location in the Voyica Cost of Living Index 2026, at roughly $10,219 per month for one person including rent — driven overwhelmingly by housing, which accounts for 85% of the total. Excluding it, the most expensive cities are New York City ($4,404), San Francisco ($4,403), Zurich ($4,208).
How much of your cost of living is rent?
Across the 198 cities where Voyica can reconcile the full breakdown, rent accounts for a median of 47% of a single person's total monthly cost of living. The share ranges from 20% in Kathmandu to 85% in Monaco. That spread is the single biggest reason two cities with similar restaurant and grocery prices can have very different total costs.
Which region has the lowest cost of living in 2026?
Africa has the lowest median cost of living in the Voyica Cost of Living Index 2026, at $861 per month across 20 cities. United States & Canada is the most expensive at $2,512 across 80 cities — a 2.9× spread between the cheapest and most expensive regions.
Go deeper
Browse all 340 city guides → Compare two cities head-to-head → See all city rankings →