Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Middlesbrough and Lisbon

For one person, living is cheaper in Middlesbrough: $2,089 a month against $2,223 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $1,600 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Lisbon outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

102

Cost of Living Index in Middlesbrough
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Middlesbrough Living Index
107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index

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Middlesbrough

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,089

/mo nomad

Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,223

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Middlesbrough and in Lisbon

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,089 in Middlesbrough versus $2,223 in Lisbon.

Middlesbrough $2,089
Lisbon $2,223

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,001 in Middlesbrough versus $3,271 in Lisbon.

Middlesbrough $3,001
Lisbon $3,271

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,913 in Middlesbrough versus $4,319 in Lisbon.

Middlesbrough $3,913
Lisbon $4,319

Living in Middlesbrough costs roughly 6% less than in Lisbon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Middlesbrough 55% above, Lisbon 65% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.80 £17.85

$16.50 €14.67

44.24%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$72.5 £54.4

$61.3 €54.5

18.30%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.73 £8.05

$11.27 €10.03

-4.79%

Cappuccino

$4.69 £3.52

$3.06 €2.72

53.27%

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

$2.41 £1.81

$2.26 €2.01

6.64%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.79 £1.35

$1.73 €1.54

3.47%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.70 £3.53

$3.39 €3.02

38.64%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$7.17 £5.38

$3.40 €3.02

110.88%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.22 £0.92

$1.12 €1.00

8.93%

White Bread (500g)

$1.41 £1.06

$1.86 €1.65

-24.19%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.45 £1.84

$1.53 €1.36

60.13%

Eggs

$3.70 £2.77

$3.96 €3.53

-6.57%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.68 £5.76

$12.76 €11.35

-39.81%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.29 £5.47

$7.90 €7.02

-7.72%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.41 £10.81

$16.97 €15.09

-15.09%

Apples (1kg)

$2.48 £1.86

$2.27 €2.02

9.25%

Banana (1kg)

$2.38 £1.79

$1.75 €1.55

36.00%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.57 £1.93

$1.85 €1.64

38.92%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.60 £1.95

$2.57 €2.28

1.17%

Potato (1kg)

$1.78 £1.34

$1.86 €1.65

-4.30%

Onion (1kg)

$1.54 £1.15

$2.02 €1.80

-23.76%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.16 £0.87

$1.44 €1.28

-19.44%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$3.03 £2.27

$0.82 €0.73

269.51%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.39 £16.79

$6.56 €5.83

241.31%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.42 £7.07

$5.62 €5.00

67.62%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$4.43 £3.32

$1.28 €1.14

246.09%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 £2.76

$2.07 €1.84

77.78%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$5.53 £4.15

$2.35 €2.09

135.32%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$92.6 £69.5

$44.18 €39.30

109.55%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.39 £3.29

$3.99 €3.55

10.03%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.09 €0.97

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$25.94 £19.46

$16.64 €14.81

55.89%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.99 £1.49

$2.28 €2.03

-12.72%

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

$37.6K £28.2K

$33.7K €30.0K

11.78%

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

$39.8K £29.9K

$39.3K €35.0K

1.41%

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

$346 £260

$167 €149

106.76%

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

$16.93 £12.70

$18.80 €16.72

-9.95%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$41.87 £31.41

$33.09 €29.43

26.53%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.69 £37.28

$46.01 €40.93

8.00%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$32.46 £24.35

$19.19 €17.07

69.15%

Cinema Ticket

$14.43 £10.83

$9.84 €8.75

46.65%

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

$795 £596

$677 €602

17.33%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$40.4K £30.3K

$16.9K €15.1K

138.82%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$106 £79.8

$101 €90.1

5.08%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.8 £40.36

$45.76 €40.70

17.57%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$110 £82.7

$100.0 €88.9

10.23%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$104 £78.2

$123 €109

-15.11%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$997 £748

$1,614 €1,436

-38.24%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$683 £513

$1,197 €1,065

-42.93%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$961 £721

$2,862 €2,545

-66.43%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$955 £716

$1,990 €1,770

-52.03%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,577 €6,740

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,307 €3,831

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,303 £1,728

$1,588 €1,412

45.05%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.64

3.85

46.49%

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

Last update for Middlesbrough: October 12, 2026

Last update for Lisbon: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Middlesbrough

$683 32.7%

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.9% 75.2% $514

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Middlesbrough

$405 19.4%

Lisbon

$219 9.9% 45.8% $186

Eating Out

Middlesbrough

$334 16%

Lisbon

$242 10.9% 27.4% $91

Groceries & Markets

Middlesbrough

$301 14.4%

Lisbon

$269 12.1% 10.6% $32

Clothing & Footwear

Middlesbrough

$169 8.1%

Lisbon

$166 7.5% 1.3% $2.2

Getting Around

Middlesbrough

$119 * 5.7%

Lisbon

$63 2.8% 47.1% $56

Sport & Entertainment

Middlesbrough

$79 3.8%

Lisbon

$66 3% 16.4% $13

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 $997 in Middlesbrough and $1,614 in Lisbon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Middlesbrough pays 45% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $72.0 in Middlesbrough vs $61.0 in Lisbon for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $301 vs $269 per month, with Lisbon cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Middlesbrough

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🕒 Local time

06:27 6:27 AM

Same time as Middlesbrough

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

139,000

545,923 Capital

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Middlesbrough Lisbon 1,860 km ≈ 2 h 45 min nonstop flight

From you

Middlesbrough
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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

Middlesbrough vs Lisbon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Middlesbrough and Lisbon differ by about 6% in total monthly costs ($2,089 vs $2,223 including rent). Middlesbrough is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 45% higher in Middlesbrough, 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: $997 in Middlesbrough versus $1,614 in Lisbon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $795 in Middlesbrough versus $677 in Lisbon. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Lisbon pay roughly 12% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $2,089 in Middlesbrough versus $2,223 in Lisbon, a $3,000 budget is realistic in Middlesbrough but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Middlesbrough 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, Middlesbrough and Lisbon 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 Middlesbrough gentler on the wallet – expenses run 6% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.