Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ibb and Sofia

For one person, living is cheaper in Ibb: $882 a month against $1,585 in Sofia, rent and utilities included – about $8,400 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

42

Cost of Living Index in Ibb
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Ibb Living Index
76

Cost of Living Index in Sofia
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Sofia Living Index

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Ibb

🇾🇪 Yemen

$882

/mo nomad

Sofia

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

$1,585

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Ibb and in Sofia

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $882 in Ibb versus $1,585 in Sofia.

Ibb $882
Sofia $1,585

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,453 in Ibb versus $2,486 in Sofia.

Ibb $1,453
Sofia $2,486

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,024 in Ibb versus $3,387 in Sofia.

Ibb $2,024
Sofia $3,387

Living in Ibb costs roughly 44% less than in Sofia, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Ibb is 35% below, Sofia is 17% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$6.16 YER 1,454

$16.57 BGN 28.84

-62.82%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$19.26 YER 4,543

$67.7 BGN 118

-71.54%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.04 YER 2,132

$11.68 BGN 20.33

-22.60%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.98 YER 468

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.50 YER 589

Cappuccino

$3.78 YER 892

$3.41 BGN 5.93

10.85%

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

$1.16 YER 274

$2.36 BGN 4.11

-50.85%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.49 YER 115

$1.67 BGN 2.91

-70.66%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.99 BGN 6.94

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 BGN 7.88

Milk (1 liter)

$2.06 YER 485

$1.94 BGN 3.38

6.19%

White Bread (500g)

$0.98 YER 230

$1.55 BGN 2.70

-36.77%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.09 YER 492

$2.35 BGN 4.09

-11.06%

Eggs

$3.59 YER 847

$4.60 BGN 8.00

-21.96%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$14.22 YER 3,354

$11.47 BGN 19.96

23.98%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.22 YER 1,940

$8.65 BGN 15.04

-4.97%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$18.59 YER 4,385

$17.34 BGN 30.17

7.21%

Apples (1kg)

$3.33 YER 786

$2.15 BGN 3.73

54.88%

Banana (1kg)

$1.05 YER 248

$1.98 BGN 3.45

-46.97%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.17 YER 512

$1.83 BGN 3.18

18.58%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.71 YER 404

$4.27 BGN 7.43

-59.95%

Potato (1kg)

$1.54 YER 362

$1.04 BGN 1.82

48.08%

Onion (1kg)

$1.38 YER 326

$0.89 BGN 1.54

55.06%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.88 YER 208

$1.19 BGN 2.06

-26.05%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.63 YER 149

$0.83 BGN 1.45

-24.10%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$2.51 YER 591

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.87 YER 441

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.50 YER 590

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.90 YER 920

$4.40 BGN 7.66

-11.36%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.42 BGN 12.91

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 BGN 2.01

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.90 BGN 3.30

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.92 BGN 1.60

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$28.11 BGN 48.91

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$2.10 YER 496

$1.67 BGN 2.90

25.75%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.65 YER 626

$0.85 BGN 1.49

211.76%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.50 YER 1,770

$16.59 BGN 28.87

-54.79%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.03 YER 480

$1.74 BGN 3.03

16.67%

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

$17.1K YER 4.0M

$29.9K BGN 52.1K

-42.82%

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

$35.2K YER 8.3M

$25.0K BGN 43.5K

40.53%

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

$64.4 YER 15.2K

$158 BGN 275

-59.22%

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

$16.13 YER 3,805

$21.27 BGN 37.01

-24.17%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$29.81 YER 7,032

$15.12 BGN 26.30

97.16%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.85 BGN 81.5

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$27.82 BGN 48.41

Cinema Ticket

$5.84 YER 1,377

$10.00 BGN 17.39

-41.60%

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

$24.31 YER 5,736

$815 BGN 1,419

-97.02%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$2,332 YER 550.2K

$14.6K BGN 25.5K

-84.08%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$29.09 YER 6,862

$87.1 BGN 152

-66.60%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$124 YER 29.2K

$38.28 BGN 66.6

222.94%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$48.65 YER 11.5K

$106 BGN 184

-53.93%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$40.49 YER 9,553

$107 BGN 187

-62.22%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$317 YER 74.9K

$769 BGN 1,338

-58.72%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$256 YER 60.4K

$593 BGN 1,032

-56.83%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$777 YER 183.2K

$1,530 BGN 2,662

-49.24%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$628 YER 148.1K

$1,061 BGN 1,846

-40.81%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,526 BGN 7,875

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,109 BGN 5,410

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$361 YER 85.2K

$1,780 BGN 3,098

-79.71%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.25

2.89

289.27%

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

Last update for Ibb: October 31, 2026

Last update for Sofia: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Ibb

$256 29%

Sofia

$593 37.4% 132% $337

Groceries & Markets

Ibb

$251 28.5%

Sofia

$288 18.2% 14.5% $36

Eating Out

Ibb

$128 14.6%

Sofia

$254 16% 97.5% $125

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ibb

$110 12.5%

Sofia

$194 12.3% 76.1% $84

Clothing & Footwear

Ibb

$109 12.3%

Sofia

$152 9.6% 39.8% $43

Getting Around

Ibb

$15 * 1.7%

Sofia

$38 2.4% 145% $22

Sport & Entertainment

Ibb

$12 * 1.3%

Sofia

$67 4.2% 472% $55

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 $317 in Ibb and $769 in Sofia. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Sofia pays about 4.9 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $19 in Ibb vs $68 in Sofia for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $251 vs $288 per month, with Ibb cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇾🇪 Ibb

🇧🇬 Sofia

🕒 Local time

21:09 9:09 PM

20:09 8:09 PM

1 h behind Ibb

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

208,844

1,286,383 Capital

💱 Currency

Yemeni Rial YER ﷼

Bulgarian Lev BGN лв.

📈 Exchange rate

1,000 YER = 4.24 USD

1,000 YER = 3.77 EUR

1 BGN = 0.575 USD

1 BGN = 0.511 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

BGN, USD, EUR to YER – Yemeni Rial Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇾🇪 Yemeni Rial (﷼)

Yemeni Rial exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 236 YER (1,000 YER = 4.24 USD). 1 EUR = 265 YER (1,000 YER = 3.77 EUR).

Bulgarian Lev exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 1.74 BGN (1 BGN = 0.575 USD). 1 EUR = 1.96 BGN (1 BGN = 0.511 EUR).

USD to YER in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Ibb Sofia 3,770 km ≈ 5 h nonstop flight

From you

Ibb
Sofia

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

Ibb vs Sofia: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Ibb is about 44% cheaper overall, especially in eating out, leisure, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

On paper, salaries run 80% lower in Ibb. 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: $317 in Ibb versus $769 in Sofia. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 15% higher in Sofia. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $882 per month in Ibb versus $1,585 in Sofia – Ibb is about 44% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $882 in Ibb versus $1,585 in Sofia, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Ibb but tight or insufficient in Sofia. The gap between the two cities makes Ibb the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

It comes down to priorities – Ibb wins on affordability, Sofia on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.