Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Sunny Beach

For one person, living is cheaper in Sunny Beach: $1,038 a month against $2,223 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $14,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index
50

Cost of Living Index in Sunny Beach
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Sunny Beach Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,223

/mo nomad

Sunny Beach

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

$1,038

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Sunny Beach

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,223 in Lisbon versus $1,038 in Sunny Beach.

Lisbon $2,223
Sunny Beach $1,038

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,271 in Lisbon versus $1,578 in Sunny Beach.

Lisbon $3,271
Sunny Beach $1,578

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,319 in Lisbon versus $2,117 in Sunny Beach.

Lisbon $4,319
Sunny Beach $2,117

Living in Lisbon is roughly 114% more expensive than in Sunny Beach, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 65% above, Sunny Beach is 23% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.50 €14.67

$8.39 BGN 14.59

96.66%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.3 €54.5

$44.87 BGN 78.1

36.51%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.27 €10.03

$9.63 BGN 16.75

17.03%

Cappuccino

$3.06 €2.72

$2.86 BGN 4.98

6.99%

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

$2.26 €2.01

$1.74 BGN 3.02

29.89%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.73 €1.54

$1.56 BGN 2.71

10.90%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.39 €3.02

$2.31 BGN 4.03

46.75%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.40 €3.02

$1.73 BGN 3.02

96.53%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.12 €1.00

$1.76 BGN 3.06

-36.36%

White Bread (500g)

$1.86 €1.65

$0.75 BGN 1.30

148.00%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.53 €1.36

$2.18 BGN 3.79

-29.82%

Eggs

$3.96 €3.53

$3.69 BGN 6.42

7.32%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.76 €11.35

$8.40 BGN 14.61

51.90%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.90 €7.02

$8.56 BGN 14.90

-7.71%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$16.97 €15.09

$14.28 BGN 24.85

18.84%

Apples (1kg)

$2.27 €2.02

$1.70 BGN 2.95

33.53%

Banana (1kg)

$1.75 €1.55

$1.77 BGN 3.08

-1.13%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.85 €1.64

$1.91 BGN 3.32

-3.14%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.57 €2.28

$2.63 BGN 4.57

-2.28%

Potato (1kg)

$1.86 €1.65

$1.07 BGN 1.87

73.83%

Onion (1kg)

$2.02 €1.80

$1.05 BGN 1.83

92.38%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.44 €1.28

$1.16 BGN 2.02

24.14%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.82 €0.73

$0.71 BGN 1.24

15.49%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.56 €5.83

$4.10 BGN 7.13

60.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.62 €5.00

$6.27 BGN 10.92

-10.37%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.28 €1.14

$1.13 BGN 1.96

13.27%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.07 €1.84

$2.06 BGN 3.58

0.49%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.35 €2.09

$1.13 BGN 1.97

107.96%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.18 €39.30

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.99 €3.55

$1.27 BGN 2.21

214.17%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.09 €0.97

$0.65 BGN 1.12

67.69%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.64 €14.81

$10.32 BGN 17.96

61.24%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.28 €2.03

$1.58 BGN 2.75

44.30%

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

$33.7K €30.0K

$29.6K BGN 51.5K

13.87%

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

$39.3K €35.0K

$24.4K BGN 42.5K

60.92%

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

$167 €149

$114 BGN 199

46.63%

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

$18.80 €16.72

$18.46 BGN 32.12

1.84%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$33.09 €29.43

$15.66 BGN 27.25

111.30%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.01 €40.93

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.19 €17.07

Cinema Ticket

$9.84 €8.75

$8.90 BGN 15.48

10.56%

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

$677 €602

$519 BGN 902

30.61%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$16.9K €15.1K

$5,550 BGN 9,658

204.85%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$101 €90.1

$33.86 BGN 58.9

199.00%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$45.76 €40.70

$41.32 BGN 71.9

10.75%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$100.0 €88.9

$95.8 BGN 167

4.35%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$123 €109

$103 BGN 180

18.78%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,614 €1,436

$565 BGN 984

185.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,197 €1,065

$341 BGN 593

251.14%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,862 €2,545

$679 BGN 1,181

321.51%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,990 €1,770

$513 BGN 893

287.80%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,577 €6,740

$1,328 BGN 2,310

470.72%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,307 €3,831

$1,135 BGN 1,976

279.31%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,588 €1,412

$920 BGN 1,601

72.52%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

3.1

24.19%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 11, 2026

Last update for Sunny Beach: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.9%

Sunny Beach

$341 32.9% 71.5% $856

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$269 12.1%

Sunny Beach

$240 23.1% 10.9% $29

Eating Out

Lisbon

$242 10.9%

Sunny Beach

$159 15.3% 34.5% $84

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$219 9.9%

Sunny Beach

$148 14.3% 32.4% $71

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Sunny Beach

$123 11.9% 25.8% $43

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$66 3%

Sunny Beach

$18 * 1.7% 72.9% $48

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.8%

Sunny Beach

$9 * 0.9% 85.7% $54

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 $1,614 in Lisbon and $565 in Sunny Beach. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays 73% 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: $61.0 in Lisbon vs $45.00 in Sunny Beach for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $269 vs $240 per month, with Sunny Beach cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇧🇬 Sunny Beach

🕒 Local time

15:47 3:47 PM

17:47 5:47 PM

2 h ahead of Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

13,347

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Bulgarian Lev BGN лв.

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

1 BGN = 0.575 USD

1 BGN = 0.511 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

On the map

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Between locations

Lisbon Sunny Beach 3,110 km ≈ 4 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Lisbon
Sunny Beach

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

Lisbon vs Sunny Beach: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lisbon and Sunny Beach differ by about 114% in total monthly costs ($2,223 vs $1,038 including rent). Sunny Beach is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 73% higher in Lisbon, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,614 in Lisbon versus $565 in Sunny Beach. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 12% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you'll spend $2,223 per month in Lisbon versus $1,038 in Sunny Beach – a 114% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,038 in Sunny Beach versus $2,223 in Lisbon, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Sunny Beach but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Sunny Beach 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.

Safety-wise, Lisbon and Sunny Beach 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 Sunny Beach gentler on the wallet – expenses run 114% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.