Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cebu and Taby

For one person, living is cheaper in Cebu: $915 a month against $2,122 in Taby, rent and utilities included – about $14,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

44

Cost of Living Index in Cebu
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Cebu Living Index
102

Cost of Living Index in Taby
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Taby Living Index

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Cebu

🇵🇭 Philippines

$915

/mo nomad

Taby

🇸🇪 Sweden

$2,122

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cebu and in Taby

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 Taby actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $915 in Cebu versus $2,122 in Taby.

Cebu $915
Taby $2,122

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,418 in Cebu versus $3,043 in Taby.

Cebu $1,418
Taby $3,043

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,921 in Cebu versus $3,964 in Taby.

Cebu $1,921
Taby $3,964

Living in Cebu costs roughly 57% less than in Taby, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Cebu is 33% below, Taby is 57% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.05 ₱192

$13.66 SEK 135

-77.67%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.00 ₱1,511

$65.8 SEK 652

-63.55%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.99 ₱251

$10.09 SEK 100.0

-60.46%

Cappuccino

$2.50 ₱157

$4.28 SEK 42.41

-41.59%

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

$1.54 ₱97.1

$3.58 SEK 35.48

-56.98%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.50 ₱31.37

$2.34 SEK 23.19

-78.63%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.78 ₱112

$6.95 SEK 68.9

-74.39%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.17 ₱136

$8.79 SEK 87.1

-75.31%

Milk (1 liter)

$2.00 ₱126

$1.70 SEK 16.83

17.65%

White Bread (500g)

$1.37 ₱86.2

$3.02 SEK 29.90

-54.64%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.03 ₱64.9

$3.91 SEK 38.75

-73.66%

Eggs

$2.03 ₱128

$5.20 SEK 51.5

-60.96%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.20 ₱642

$12.81 SEK 127

-20.37%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.45 ₱280

$12.82 SEK 127

-65.29%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.67 ₱483

$17.59 SEK 174

-56.40%

Apples (1kg)

$3.31 ₱208

$3.13 SEK 31.05

5.75%

Banana (1kg)

$1.46 ₱91.8

$2.62 SEK 25.97

-44.27%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.32 ₱146

$1.97 SEK 19.52

17.77%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.49 ₱94.0

$4.50 SEK 44.60

-66.89%

Potato (1kg)

$2.34 ₱147

$1.70 SEK 16.88

37.65%

Onion (1kg)

$1.94 ₱122

$1.80 SEK 17.80

7.78%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.16 ₱73.0

$2.33 SEK 23.13

-50.21%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.68 ₱42.89

$1.90 SEK 18.87

-64.21%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$2.99 ₱188

$7.00 SEK 69.4

-57.29%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.24 ₱393

$12.21 SEK 121

-48.89%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.23 ₱77.3

$1.90 SEK 18.84

-35.26%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.73 ₱109

$2.21 SEK 21.90

-21.72%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.23 ₱14.36

$4.17 SEK 41.32

-94.48%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.34 ₱777

$101 SEK 1,002

-87.80%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.79 ₱49.96

$5.87 SEK 58.1

-86.54%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.22 ₱13.86

$1.55 SEK 15.38

-85.81%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.54 ₱286

$57.4 SEK 569

-92.09%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.32 ₱82.9

$1.84 SEK 18.22

-28.26%

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

$21.0K ₱1.3M

$33.3K SEK 330.3K

-36.99%

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

$19.4K ₱1.2M

$32.7K SEK 324.2K

-40.70%

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

$119 ₱7,464

$177 SEK 1,758

-33.20%

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

$14.22 ₱896

$27.61 SEK 274

-48.50%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.47 ₱1,730

$40.66 SEK 403

-32.44%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$32.31 ₱2,034

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.50 ₱409

Cinema Ticket

$5.40 ₱340

$17.11 SEK 170

-68.44%

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

$276 ₱17.4K

$156 SEK 1,543

77.21%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,866 ₱495.3K

$16.3K SEK 161.4K

-51.71%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$49.37 ₱3,108

$98.0 SEK 971

-49.62%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$24.58 ₱1,548

$53.0 SEK 526

-53.66%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$76.6 ₱4,825

$94.4 SEK 935

-18.81%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$58.9 ₱3,706

$183 SEK 1,813

-67.83%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$503 ₱31.7K

$1,023 SEK 10.1K

-50.80%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$305 ₱19.2K

$870 SEK 8,625

-65.02%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 ₱67.7K

$1,411 SEK 14.0K

-23.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$632 ₱39.8K

$1,189 SEK 11.8K

-46.86%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,870 ₱180.7K

$5,994 SEK 59.4K

-52.12%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,877 ₱118.2K

$6,951 SEK 68.9K

-72.99%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$336 ₱21.1K

$3,306 SEK 32.8K

-89.84%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.2

2.8

157.14%

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

Last update for Cebu: October 19, 2026

Last update for Taby: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cebu

$305 33.3%

Taby

$870 41% 186% $566

Groceries & Markets

Cebu

$210 22.9%

Taby

$380 17.9% 81.3% $170

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cebu

$160 17.5%

Taby

$246 11.6% 53.4% $86

Clothing & Footwear

Cebu

$94 10.3%

Taby

$193 9.1% 105% $99

Eating Out

Cebu

$88 9.6%

Taby

$267 12.6% 204% $179

Sport & Entertainment

Cebu

$43 4.7%

Taby

$34 * 1.6% 20.6% $8.9

Getting Around

Cebu

$15 1.7%

Taby

$131 6.2% 768% $116

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $503 in Cebu and $1,023 in Taby. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Taby pays 884% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $24.00 in Cebu vs $66.0 in Taby for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $210 vs $380 per month, with Cebu cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇭 Cebu

🇸🇪 Taby

🕒 Local time

06:17 6:17 AM

00:17 12:17 AM

6 h behind Cebu

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

964,169

58,123

💱 Currency

Philippine Peso PHP ₱

Swedish Krona SEK kr

📈 Exchange rate

100 PHP = 1.59 USD

100 PHP = 1.41 EUR

100 SEK = 10.09 USD

100 SEK = 8.98 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SEK, 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).

Swedish Krona exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 9.91 SEK (1 SEK = 0.101 USD). 1 EUR = 11.14 SEK (100 SEK = 8.98 EUR).

USD to PHP in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Cebu Taby 9,900 km ≈ 13 h nonstop flight

From you

Cebu
Taby

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 Taby: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cebu is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, clothing, and eating out. The 132% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 884% lower in Taby. 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: $503 in Cebu versus $1,023 in Taby. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $915 per month in Cebu versus $2,122 in Taby – a 132% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Cebu runs roughly 720% less than in Taby. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $915 in Cebu versus $2,122 in Taby, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Cebu but tight or insufficient in Taby. The gap between the two cities makes Cebu the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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

Safety-wise, Cebu and Taby 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 Cebu gentler on the wallet – expenses run 132% less than in Taby. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.