47 Cheapest Cities to Live in the World in 2024 for a $1000, $1500, and $2000 a month budget for ex-pats, nomads, and travelers

Many of the cheapest cities to live in the world not only deliver low prices, but high quality of life and value as well, if you know where to look.

In this report, we’ll share the best cities around the world to live on a budget of $1,000, $1,500, or $2,000 monthly while maintaining a good quality of life. Whether you want to live in Europe, on a tropical island, in Japan, or soaking up the vibrance in South America without paying a fortune, it is possible, if you choose the right destination.

This report is the product of analyzing cost of living date from 6744 cities around the world to find the best cities around the world that deliver high value for low cost, suitable for aspiring expats, nomads, and FIRE retirees.

Read on to discover the best cities to live in the world, for you and your budget.

Be sure to visit or report on monthly cost of living by country to find countries for long term living that fit your budget

---

Main Findings from this Lowest Cost of Living Cities Analysis

1. The cheapest cities in the world to live are Giza, Egypt ($549 per month) and Pokhara, Nepal ($475 per month) (jump to…)
2. A $1000 to $1500 per month budget offers a wealth of largely “off the beaten path” regional “second cities**” and “third cities**” in eastern Europe and the Balkans, Latin America, and Asia with much to offer against very livable, lightly trafficked backdrops (jump to…)
3. In the $1500 to $2000 monthly budget range, many cities “regional second cities” in mainstream European countries and Japan open up, with rich cultural heritage, high quality of life, and outside of the crowded tourist bubbles making for an even more livable city. (jump to…)
4. The cheapest 50 cities to live in the world are primarily in Indian, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and Bangladesh (jump to…)
5. ~$1,750 is the optimal base monthly budget for longterm living abroad offering many great options in most countries, and sufficient for the best, strategically chosen “regional second and third cities”. This budget target delivers cities that give you the same quality as of life as their more popular, more highly trafficked, and more expensive national second cities and tourist hotspots that suffer from notoriety and high international traffic in nearly all developed countries in the world
6. Balkan countries, such Albania, Istrian Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro dominated as the cheapest countries in Europe. For those that already cannot stay in EU countries longer than 90 days in a 180 period, these places are great options to base cheaply and travel to Europe at will, delivering underrated quality of life and low cost of living, in areas with few expats and good infrastructure (jump to…)

Regional Insights

• Romania, Albania, and Hungary deliver the cheapest cities to live in Europe (jump to…)
• Tunisia, Morroco, Egypt and Madagascar offer the cheapest livable destinations in the continent of Africa (jump to…)
• Zambia and South Africa (Pretoria) are the cheapest destinations in sub-Saharan Africa (jump to…)
• Argentina tops the list of cheapest livable destinations in South America with Mendoza and Rosario (jump to…)
• Pakistan, China, and Vietnam top the list of cheap destinations in Asia (jump to…)
• Mexico’s off the radar destinations like Puebla, Toluca, and Saltillo top the list for cheapest cities in North America (jump to…)

Contents of this Report: The Cheapest Cities to Live in the World

• Quick list of 44 of the cheapest cities to live in around the world
• Methodology
• Top Cities Under $1000
• Top Cities Under $1500
• Top Cities Under $2000
• Top Value Cities Under $2500
• Top Value Cities Under $3000
• Top 11 Cheapest Places to Live in Europe
• Top 12 Affordable Cities in Asia
• Top Affordable Cities in South America
• Top Value cities in North Africa
• Top Value Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Full List of Cost of Living of Cities Around the World
• Why we’ve completed this analysis: To help you find better places to live
• What are “regional second cities” and “regional third cities” and “sustainable georabritage?”
• FAQs
• Methodology

Quick list of 44 of the highest value and cheapest cities to live in the world

• Pokhara, Nepal: $467
• Giza, Egypt: $549
• Burgas, Bulgaria: $772
• Oradea, Romania: $816
• Alexandria, Egypt: $917
• Hanoi, Vietnam: $1,063
• Pretoria, South Africa: $1187
• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: $1,207
• Fortaleza, Brazil: $1267
• Rijeka, Croatia: $1251
• Surabaya, Indonesia: $1294
• Antalya, Turkey: $1266
• Quito, Ecuador: $1385
• Bucharest, Romania: $1364
• Arequipa, Peru: $1419
• Poznan, Poland: $1479
• Kavala, Greece: $1446
• Kathmandu, Nepal: $1461
• Salamanca, Spain: $1492
• Zadar, Croatia: $1590
• Guadalajara, Mexico: $1596
• Accra, Ghana: $1597
• Amman, Jordan: $1560
• Kuching, Malaysia: $1589
• Osaka, Japan: $1673
• Athens, Greece: $1677
• Braga, Portugal: $1602
• Tirana, Albania: $1645
• Florianopolis, Brazil: $1603
• Buenos Aires, Argentina: $1652
• Brasov, Romania: $1665
• Cartagena, Colombia: $1685
• Helsingborg, Sweden: $1704
• Oviedo, Spain: $1720
• Palermo, Italy: $1732
• Fukuoka, Japan: $1750
• Cuenca, Ecuador: $1,737
• Cuenca, Ecuador: $1,737
• Montevideo, Uruguay: $1738
• Istanbul, Turkey: $1752
• Durban, South Africa: $1793
• Casablanca, Morocco: $1871
• Izmir, Turkey: $1875
• Christchurch, New Zealand: $1886
• Montpellier, France: $1894
• Uppsala, Sweden: $1855
• Hanover, Germany: $1915
• Santiago, Chile: $1947

(Back to Table of Contents)

Our methodology for finding the lowest cost of living cities that deliver high quality of life

A Brother Abroad researched a list of 6,744 cities around the globe that expats and nomads call home, combining cost of living data reported by expats via Numbeo, Expatistan, US State Department, the World Bank, IMF and Statista.

Quality of life data was drawn from the Global Peace Index from the Institute for Economics and Peace to objectively and subjectively check the assessed “cheapest cities” for livability for expats, nomads, and FIRE retirees.

Data was then screen for completeness (sufficient number of cost of living data points reported per city) to identify cities with sufficient cost of living data supported by expats and data available on quality of life.

While all cities are represented in the complete cities list data table, the cities selected as “livable” were partially selected based on objective analysis of quality of life data and subjective analysis of anecdotal reports on which cities deliver high value (quality of life, infrastructure, suitability for expats/nomads) and which do not.

The monthly cost of living is the cost for a single person, living in the for an extended period (6 months to 1+ years), including an apartment in the city center or typical home rental prices for a single expatand all monthly costs of living (includes typical grocery prices and food costs such as dining out as locals would, transportation, “standard” entertainment), excluding, visa, travel, and immigration fees. The costs of living below reflect the monthly costs of living reported by expats on extended stays.

All data was collected and compiled in January 1, 2024, and normalized to USD using the currency exchange rate on the day of data collection to express relative purchasing power and serve as a local purchasing power index.

Read below here** for full information on the methodology for this study and analysis. **

Top Cities Under $1000

• Pokhara, Nepal: $467
• Giza, Egypt: $549
• Szeged, Hungary: $996
• Iasi, Romania: $894
• Alexandria, Egypt: $917
• Shkoder, Albania: $882
• Oradea, Romania: $816
• Burgas, Bulgaria: $772
• Constantine, Algeria: $794

Top Value Cities Under $1500

• Hanoi, Vietnam: $1,063
• Quito, Ecuador: $1385
• Bucharest, Romania: $1364
• Fortaleza, Brazil: $1267
• Rijeka, Croatia: $1251
• Salamanca, Spain: $1492
• Surabaya, Indonesia: $1294
• Arequipa, Peru: $1419
• Poznan, Poland: $1479
• Kavala, Greece: $1446
• Kathmandu, Nepal: $1461
• Pretoria, South Africa: $1187
• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina: $1,207
• Antalya, Turkey: $1266

Also Consider

• Granada, Spain: $1295
• Recife, Brazil: $1325
• Acapulco, Mexico: $1215
• Plovdiv, Bulgaria: $1194
• Budapest, Hungary: $1498
• Pattaya, Thailand: $1483
• Bydgoszcz, Poland: $1446
• Rimini, Italy: $1446
• Podgorica, Montenegro: $1416
• Thessaloniki, Greece: $1342
• Yogyakarta, Indonesia: $1423

Top Cities Under $2000

The best of Europe, without the tourists and tourist pricing

• Zagreb, Croatia: $1,791
• Zadar, Croatia: $1590
• Pescara, Italy: $1524
• Palermo, Italy: $1732
• Helsingborg, Sweden: $1704
• Osaka, Japan: $1673
• Fukuoka, Japan: $1750
• Oviedo, Spain: $1720
• Barranquilla, Colombia: $1676
• Athens, Greece: $1677
• Braga, Portugal: $1602
• Busan, South Korea: $1591
• Guadalajara, Mexico: $1596
• Accra, Ghana: $1597
• Florianopolis, Brazil: $1603
• Cartagena, Colombia: $1685
• Tirana, Albania: $1645
• Buenos Aires, Argentina: $1652
• Amman, Jordan: $1560
• Kuching, Malaysia: $1589
• Brasov, Romania: $1665
• Durban, South Africa: $1793
• Casablanca, Morocco: $1871
• Izmir, Turkey: $1875
• Uppsala, Sweden: $1855
• Hanover, Germany: $1915
• Santiago, Chile: $1947
• Christchurch, New Zealand: $1886
• Montpellier, France: $1894
• Montevideo, Uruguay: $1738
• Istanbul, Turkey: $1752

Other Great Options to Consider

• Riga, Latvia: $1538
• Genoa, Italy: $1680
• Lima, Peru: $1544
• Haifa, Israel: $1614
• Rennes, France: $1621
• Belem, Brazil: $1708
• Monterrey, Mexico: $1850
• Bologna, Italy: $1880
• Kingston, Jamaica: $1881
• Ensenada, Mexico: $1908
• Dubrovnik, Croatia: $1950
• Lagos, Nigeria: $1957
• Sofia, Bulgaria: $1901
• Kigali, Rwanda $1,565

Top Value Cities Under $2500

• Kyoto, Japan: $2065
• Faro, Portugal: $2070
• Taipei, Taiwan: $2186
• Marseille, France: $2214
• Toulouse, France: $2223
• Malaga, Spain: $2242
• Veracruz, Mexico: $2243
• Florence, Italy: $2256
• Madrid, Spain: $2380
• Tallinn, Estonia: $2477
• Lisbon, Portugal: $2496
• Liege, Belgium: $2073
• Verona, Italy: $2183
• Odense, Denmark: $2014
• Pamplona, Spain: $2025
• Tangier, Morocco: $2029
• Suva, Fiji: $2030

Top Value Cities Under $3000

• Nantes, France: $2530
• Yokohama, Japan: $2530
• Nairobi, Kenya: $2548
• Nice, France: $2569
• Naples, Italy: $2626
• Johannesburg, South Africa: $2635
• Bordeaux, France: $2671
• Helsinki, Finland: $2816
• Tartu, Estonia: $2819
• Stuttgart, Germany: $2829
• Manchester, United Kingdom: $2837
• Cologne, Germany: $2843
• Oslo, Norway: $2853
• Beijing, China: $2859
• Tokyo, Japan: $2945
• Tegucigalpa, Honduras: $2955
• Calgary, Canada: $2976
• Shanghai, China: $2990
• Innsbruck, Austria: $2993
• Salzburg, Austria: $2997
• Venice, Italy: $3001

(Back to Table of Contents)

Top 11 Most affordable cities in Europe (Best Value)

1. Oradea, Romania: $816
2. Burgas, Bulgaria: $772
3. Bucharest, Romania: $1364
4. Rijeka, Croatia: $1251
5. Salamanca, Spain: $1492
6. Poznan, Poland: $1479
7. Kavala, Greece: $1446
8. Palermo, Italy: $1732
9. Helsingborg, Sweden: $1704
10. Athens, Greece: $1677
11. Braga, Portugal: $1602

Top 12 affordable cities in East and Southeast Asia

1. Pokhara, Nepal: $467
2. Hanoi, Vietnam: $1,063
3. Surabaya, Indonesia: $1294
4. Kathmandu, Nepal: $1461
5. Antalya, Turkey: $1266
6. Osaka, Japan: $1673
7. Fukuoka, Japan: $1750
8. Busan, South Korea: $1591
9. Kuching, Malaysia: $1589
10. Amman, Jordan: $1560
11. Istanbul, Turkey: $1752
12. Yogyakarta, Indonesia: $1423

Top Affordable cities in South America

1. Rosario, Argentina: $998
2. Mendoza, Argentina: $1029
3. Fortaleza, Brazil: $1267
4. Arequipa, Peru: $1419
5. Recife, Brazil: $1325
6. Lima, Peru: $1,544
7. Buenos Aires, Argentina: $1,652
8. Cartagena, Colombia: $1,685
9. Cuenca, Ecuador: $1,737
10. Montevideo, Uruguay: $1,738

Top Value cities in North Africa

• Giza, Egypt: $549
• Tunis, Tunisia: $880
• Rabat, Morocco: $1,395
• Alexandria, Egypt: $917
• Constantine, Algeria: $794

Top Value Cities in Sub-saharan Africa

• Durban, South Africa
• Accra, Ghana: $1597
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Lagos, Nigeria: $1957
• Pretoria, South Africa: $1187
• Tangier, Morocco: $2029
• Kigali, Rwanda $1,565

(Back to Table of Contents)

List of Best Value and Cheapest Cities to Live in Around the World

Cities with Complete Data Only

Full list of cost of living for cities around the world

List includes cities with complete and partial cost of living data. This means the cost of living represents a complete reported monthly cost of living number, but may the single reported number may not be corroborated.

Cost of Living for Cities around the World (Complete and Partial Data)

(Back to Table of Contents)

Why we’ve completed this analysis: To help you find better places to live

With the recent spikes in cost of living around the world, and overpopulation of many of the popular nomad and FIRE retiree destinations – such as Bali, Tulum, Mexico, and Lisbon, Portugal – we saw a need to identify and highlight alternative destinations. Not only to avoid help nomads and expats avoid the cost of living spikes due to “supply and demand” issues, but also to travel and explore in a way that disperses the concentration of expats while still guiding expats, nomads, and FIRE retirees to places that align with their target life.

By highlighting low cost, high quality of life destinations that do not make it into the main stream travel and expat recommendations, we can help expats, nomads, and FIRE retirees avoid cost of living spikes created by flooding once reputed locals and avoid the undeserved cost of living increase impacts on locals.

Additionally with this analysis, we hope to help aspiring expats, nomads, and FIRE retirees understand costs of living to expect around the world and plan accordingly, and highlight opportunities not commonly discussed

What are “regional second cities” and “regional third cities”, and how can they help expats, nomads, and FIRE retirees identify sustainable georabritage opportunities?

Regional second cities are commonly overlooked cities within a region of a country or commonly recognized area (e.g. Patagonia, an island cluster or archipelago, etc.) that are often second in population size and economic value to the regional capitols and major cities, and deliver similar quality of life but are less trafficked and lower cost.

Examples would be Pretoria to Johannesburg, South Africa, Zadar and Rijeka to Dubrovnik, Croatia, or Chiang Mai to Bangkok, Thailand.

Regional second cities and third serve as great opportunities to find livable destinations, not strained by the city traffic that comes with notoriety.

In this analysis, second cities were identified first by finding cities with cost of living within a specific range, then cross referencing with quality of life data. An insight discovered was that many of these cheap, livable cities were in close proximity to and overshadowed by a regional or national “first city”, that offered a similarly high quality of life.

In practice, expats, nomads, and FIRE retirees can find regional second cities that suit their target lifestyle, by identifying cities with their target quality of life and lifestyle but at the threshold of or beyond their target cost of living. Then, explore the surrounding second cities for population size, infrastructure, cost of living, and, foremost, quality of life. Through this process of filtering and elimination, you will more efficiently find suitable potential for your target lifestyle, not suffering from overtourism and the commonly associated price spikes and change in environment.

What are “opportunity population centers”

Opportunity population centers are areas that, for a variety of potentially economic, cyclical, and social factors, is experiencing a value situation of low cost (indexed to the US dollar and Euro) while being large enough to host an expat population without significant detrimental impact.

Buenos Aires, Argentina is an excellent example of opportunity population centers as buying power in US dollars and euros is high while an influx of expats or retirees would have little impact on the city.

(Back to Table of Contents)

FAQs

• What city has lowest cost of living?
  • At $ 467 per month, Pokhara, Nepal has the lowest cost of living in the world among cities with good quality of life
• Where is the nicest but cheapest place to live?
  • At $816 per month, Oradea, Romania is the cheapest developed city with good quality of life in the world. Hanoi, Vietnam follows closely in second at $1,063 per month
• What is the cheapest and safest country to live in?
  • Oradea, Romania is one of the cheapest cities in the world to live in and is the safest city in Romania with a very low crime rate, and is a very developed country in the European Union.
• What country is inexpensive to live?
  • Argentina, Malaysia, and Vietnam are the cheapest countries to live in that still deliver high quality of life (learn more here)
• What is the cheapest world-class city in the world?
  • The cheapest large cities that could be considered “world class” are Quito, Ecuador ($1385 per month), Bucharest, Romania ($1364 per month), and Arequipa, Peru ($1419 per month). Among smaller cities, Cordoba, Argentina, Mendoza Argentina, Hanoi, Vietnam Poznan, Poland ($1479 per month) are the top value smaller cities delivering low cost and high quality of life.
• What is the easiest and cheapest country to live?
  • Malaysia is arguably the cheapest developed country to live in long term, that to great infrastructure, low cost of living, and several long stay visa options (learn more here)
• What is the 1 expensive city in the world?
  • Singapore is the most expensive city in the world at $5,522 per month, closely followed by Syndey Australia ($5,493 per month) and Zurich, Switzerland ($5,313 per month)

Data Sources

• A Brother Abroad’s Global Digital Nomad Study
• Numbeo
• Expatistan
• World Bank
• US State Department
• Global Peace Index
• Ookla
• https://www.worldbank.org/en/home
• https://www.imf.org/en/home
• https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

(Back to Table of Contents)

More Great Cost of Living and Destination Info

• Costs of Living Around the World by Country
• What is Geoarbitrage‘
• 21 Best Digital Nomad Communities around the World