Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Cebu and Tesanj

For one person, living costs are similar in Cebu and in Tesanj: $918 and $880 a month, rent and utilities included.

45

Cost of Living Index in Cebu
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Cebu Living Index
42

Cost of Living Index in Tesanj
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Tesanj Living Index

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Cebu

🇵🇭 Philippines

$918

/mo nomad

Tesanj

🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina

$880

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Cebu and in Tesanj

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $918 in Cebu versus $880 in Tesanj.

Cebu $918
Tesanj $880

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,409 in Cebu versus $1,288 in Tesanj.

Cebu $1,409
Tesanj $1,288

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,900 in Cebu versus $1,696 in Tesanj.

Cebu $1,900
Tesanj $1,696

Living in Cebu is roughly 4% more expensive than in Tesanj, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in clothing.

Both cities sit below the global median: Cebu 32% lower, Tesanj 35% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$3.09 ₱194

$3.38 BAM 5.87

-8.58%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$24.22 ₱1,525

$16.14 BAM 28.07

50.06%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$3.92 ₱247

$2.82 BAM 4.91

39.01%

Cappuccino

$2.51 ₱158

$0.84 BAM 1.46

198.81%

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

$1.59 ₱100

$1.39 BAM 2.42

14.39%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.53 ₱33.43

$0.83 BAM 1.44

-36.14%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.78 ₱112

$1.97 BAM 3.42

-9.64%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.17 ₱137

$1.70 BAM 2.95

27.65%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.92 ₱121

$0.83 BAM 1.44

131.33%

White Bread (500g)

$1.36 ₱85.4

$0.83 BAM 1.44

63.86%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.01 ₱63.5

$2.47 BAM 4.30

-59.11%

Eggs

$2.03 ₱128

$3.07 BAM 5.34

-33.88%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$9.86 ₱621

$10.03 BAM 17.44

-1.69%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$4.39 ₱277

$7.09 BAM 12.33

-38.08%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$7.60 ₱479

$14.12 BAM 24.56

-46.18%

Apples (1kg)

$3.30 ₱208

$0.99 BAM 1.72

233.33%

Banana (1kg)

$1.39 ₱87.8

$1.60 BAM 2.79

-13.13%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.33 ₱147

$1.22 BAM 2.12

90.98%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.50 ₱94.3

$1.76 BAM 3.06

-14.77%

Potato (1kg)

$2.36 ₱149

$1.05 BAM 1.82

124.76%

Onion (1kg)

$1.90 ₱119

$1.09 BAM 1.89

74.31%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 ₱74.9

$1.15 BAM 2.00

3.48%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.63 ₱39.71

$0.97 BAM 1.69

-35.05%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.00 ₱189

$3.79 BAM 6.59

-20.84%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.03 ₱379

$8.67 BAM 15.07

-30.45%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.23 ₱77.7

$1.11 BAM 1.94

10.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.75 ₱110

$1.33 BAM 2.31

31.58%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.25 ₱15.86

$1.48 BAM 2.57

-83.11%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$12.64 ₱796

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$0.77 ₱48.62

$1.16 BAM 2.02

-33.62%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.23 ₱14.53

$0.59 BAM 1.03

-61.02%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$4.46 ₱281

$10.46 BAM 18.18

-57.36%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.31 ₱82.8

$1.58 BAM 2.75

-17.09%

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

$21.2K ₱1.3M

$30.2K BAM 52.6K

-29.75%

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

$19.1K ₱1.2M

$22.0K BAM 38.3K

-13.09%

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

$120 ₱7,569

$93.1 BAM 162

29.20%

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

$14.00 ₱882

$18.33 BAM 31.87

-23.62%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$27.54 ₱1,734

$28.91 BAM 50.3

-4.74%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$32.33 ₱2,035

$33.13 BAM 57.6

-2.41%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$6.65 ₱419

$28.53 BAM 49.62

-76.69%

Cinema Ticket

$5.65 ₱356

$2.79 BAM 4.86

102.51%

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

$275 ₱17.3K

$135 BAM 235

103.41%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$7,918 ₱498.5K

$3,835 BAM 6,668

106.49%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$49.33 ₱3,106

$58.2 BAM 101

-15.24%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$25.24 ₱1,589

$32.70 BAM 56.9

-22.81%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$77.0 ₱4,846

$95.7 BAM 166

-19.60%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$57.2 ₱3,601

$128 BAM 222

-55.25%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$500 ₱31.5K

$318 BAM 554

56.88%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$309 ₱19.4K

$260 BAM 452

18.80%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,078 ₱67.9K

$470 BAM 817

129.43%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$615 ₱38.7K

$367 BAM 638

67.73%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$2,886 ₱181.7K

$2,412 BAM 4,195

19.64%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,917 ₱120.7K

$1,780 BAM 3,096

7.65%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$346 ₱21.8K

$685 BAM 1,191

-49.49%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

7.2

4.3

67.44%

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

Last update for Cebu: October 12, 2026

Last update for Tesanj: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Cebu

$309 33.6%

Tesanj

$260 29.5% 15.8% $49

Groceries & Markets

Cebu

$206 22.4%

Tesanj

$222 25.2% 7.8% $16

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Cebu

$162 17.6%

Tesanj

$140 15.9% 13.3% $21

Clothing & Footwear

Cebu

$94 10.2%

Tesanj

$142 16.1% 50.6% $48

Eating Out

Cebu

$88 9.6%

Tesanj

$68 7.7% 23.3% $21

Sport & Entertainment

Cebu

$44 4.8%

Tesanj

$39 4.4% 11.2% $4.9

Getting Around

Cebu

$16 1.7%

Tesanj

$10 * 1.1% 35.6% $5.5

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 $500 in Cebu and $318 in Tesanj. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Tesanj pays 98% 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 $16.00 in Tesanj. Groceries flip the comparison at $206 vs $222, with Cebu cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇵🇭 Cebu

🇧🇦 Tesanj

🕒 Local time

12:08 12:08 PM

06:08 6:08 AM

6 h behind Cebu

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

964,169

5,500

💱 Currency

Philippine Peso PHP ₱

Bosnia and Herzegovina Convertible Mark BAM KM

📈 Exchange rate

100 PHP = 1.59 USD

100 PHP = 1.41 EUR

1 BAM = 0.575 USD

1 BAM = 0.512 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BAM, USD, EUR to PHP – Philippine Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇵🇭 Philippine Peso (₱)

Philippine Peso exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 62.96 PHP (100 PHP = 1.59 USD). 1 EUR = 70.78 PHP (100 PHP = 1.41 EUR).

Bosnia and Herzegovina Convertible Mark exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 1.74 BAM (1 BAM = 0.575 USD). 1 EUR = 1.95 BAM (1 BAM = 0.512 EUR).

USD to PHP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Cebu Tesanj 10,430 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Cebu
Tesanj

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 Tesanj: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Tesanj is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, leisure, and transport. The 4% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 98% lower in Tesanj. 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 $318 in Tesanj. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Cebu pay roughly 8% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you'll spend $918 per month in Cebu versus $880 in Tesanj – a 4% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

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

For families, Tesanj 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 Tesanj 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 Tesanj gentler on the wallet – expenses run 4% less than in Cebu. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.