Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cebu and Roman

For one person, living is cheaper in Roman: $840 a month against $918 in Cebu, rent and utilities included – about $940 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Cebu outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

45

Cost of Living Index in Cebu
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Cebu Living Index
41

Cost of Living Index in Roman
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Roman Living Index

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Cebu

🇵🇭 Philippines

$918

/mo nomad

Roman

🇷🇴 Romania

$840

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cebu and in Roman

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Cebu and in Roman actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $918 in Cebu versus $840 in Roman.

Cebu $918
Roman $840

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,409 in Cebu versus $1,393 in Roman.

Cebu $1,409
Roman $1,393

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,900 in Cebu versus $1,946 in Roman.

Cebu $1,900
Roman $1,946

Living in Cebu is roughly 9% more expensive than in Roman, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities sit below the global median: Cebu 32% lower, Roman 38% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.09 ₱194

$10.42 RON 49.30

-70.35%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.22 ₱1,525

$33.99 RON 161

-28.74%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.92 ₱247

$7.31 RON 34.59

-46.37%

Cappuccino

$2.51 ₱158

$2.43 RON 11.49

3.29%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.59 ₱100

$1.38 RON 6.54

15.22%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.53 ₱33.43

$1.06 RON 5.03

-50.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.78 ₱112

$2.05 RON 9.69

-13.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.17 ₱137

$2.17 RON 10.29

Milk (1 liter)

$1.92 ₱121

$1.19 RON 5.61

61.34%

White Bread (500g)

$1.36 ₱85.4

$0.66 RON 3.10

106.06%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.01 ₱63.5

$1.43 RON 6.75

-29.37%

Eggs

$2.03 ₱128

$2.89 RON 13.65

-29.76%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.86 ₱621

$7.55 RON 35.72

30.60%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.39 ₱277

$5.72 RON 27.05

-23.25%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.60 ₱479

$8.63 RON 40.85

-11.94%

Apples (1kg)

$3.30 ₱208

$1.07 RON 5.05

208.41%

Banana (1kg)

$1.39 ₱87.8

$1.51 RON 7.15

-7.95%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.33 ₱147

$1.42 RON 6.71

64.08%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 ₱94.3

$1.75 RON 8.30

-14.29%

Potato (1kg)

$2.36 ₱149

$0.72 RON 3.39

227.78%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 ₱119

$0.88 RON 4.16

115.91%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 ₱74.9

$0.88 RON 4.17

35.23%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.63 ₱39.71

$0.72 RON 3.41

-12.50%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.00 ₱189

$5.62 RON 26.58

-46.62%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.03 ₱379

$5.34 RON 25.25

12.92%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.23 ₱77.7

$0.97 RON 4.59

26.80%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.75 ₱110

$1.19 RON 5.61

47.06%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.25 ₱15.86

$0.76 RON 3.62

-67.11%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.64 ₱796

$21.67 RON 103

-41.67%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.77 ₱48.62

$0.66 RON 3.13

16.67%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.23 ₱14.53

$0.64 RON 3.04

-64.06%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.46 ₱281

$7.04 RON 33.30

-36.65%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.31 ₱82.8

$1.74 RON 8.22

-24.71%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$21.2K ₱1.3M

$28.1K RON 133.1K

-24.49%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$19.1K ₱1.2M

$25.1K RON 118.6K

-23.63%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$120 ₱7,569

$146 RON 691

-17.65%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$14.00 ₱882

$6.96 RON 32.93

101.15%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.54 ₱1,734

$7.80 RON 36.88

253.08%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$32.33 ₱2,035

$37.11 RON 176

-12.88%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.65 ₱419

$20.05 RON 94.9

-66.83%

Cinema Ticket

$5.65 ₱356

$6.42 RON 30.40

-11.99%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$275 ₱17.3K

$295 RON 1,397

-6.75%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,918 ₱498.5K

$4,901 RON 23.2K

61.57%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$49.33 ₱3,106

$96.3 RON 456

-48.78%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$25.24 ₱1,589

$25.51 RON 121

-1.06%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$77.0 ₱4,846

$61.4 RON 290

25.38%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$57.2 ₱3,601

$58.0 RON 274

-1.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$500 ₱31.5K

$213 RON 1,008

134.49%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$309 ₱19.4K

$157 RON 745

96.25%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,078 ₱67.9K

$605 RON 2,863

78.09%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$615 ₱38.7K

$454 RON 2,146

35.62%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,886 ₱181.7K

$1,862 RON 8,812

54.97%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,917 ₱120.7K

$1,356 RON 6,413

41.39%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$346 ₱21.8K

$820 RON 3,880

-57.81%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.2

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Cebu: October 12, 2026

Last update for Roman: October 13, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Cebu

$309 33.6%

Roman

$157 18.7% 49% $151

Groceries & Markets

Cebu

$206 22.4%

Roman

$176 20.9% 14.7% $30

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cebu

$162 17.6%

Roman

$161 19.1% 0.6% $1

Clothing & Footwear

Cebu

$94 10.2%

Roman

$109 12.9% 15.5% $15

Eating Out

Cebu

$88 9.6%

Roman

$159 18.9% 79.9% $71

Sport & Entertainment

Cebu

$44 4.8%

Roman

$50 6% 14.5% $6.3

Getting Around

Cebu

$16 1.7%

Roman

$29 3.4% 83.7% $13

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $500 in Cebu and $213 in Roman. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Roman pays 137% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $24.00 in Cebu vs $34.00 in Roman. Groceries flip the comparison at $206 vs $176, with Roman cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇵🇭 Cebu

🇷🇴 Roman

🕒 Local time

17:00 5:00 PM

12:00 12:00 PM

5 h behind Cebu

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

964,169

80,328

💱 Currency

Philippine Peso PHP ₱

Romanian Leu RON lei

📈 Exchange rate

100 PHP = 1.59 USD

100 PHP = 1.41 EUR

1 RON = 0.211 USD

1 RON = 0.188 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

RON, USD, EUR to PHP – Philippine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇭 Philippine Peso (₱)

Philippine Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 62.96 PHP (100 PHP = 1.59 USD). 1 EUR = 70.78 PHP (100 PHP = 1.41 EUR).

Romanian Leu exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 4.73 RON (1 RON = 0.211 USD). 1 EUR = 5.32 RON (1 RON = 0.188 EUR).

USD to PHP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cebu Roman 9,700 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Cebu
Roman

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Cebu vs Roman: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Roman is cheaper overall, especially in groceries and utilities. The 9% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 137% lower in Roman. That's worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $500 in Cebu versus $213 in Roman. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $918 per month in Cebu versus $840 in Roman – a 9% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Roman runs roughly 71% less than in Cebu. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

Either city works on $1,000 a month, though Roman gives you more room to save. At this income level, the choice is more about lifestyle than financial pressure.

For families, Roman is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Cebu, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Cebu and Roman are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Roman gentler on the wallet – expenses run 9% less than in Cebu. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.