Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Rochester and Lisbon

For one person, living costs are similar in Rochester and in Lisbon: $2,132 and $2,202 a month, rent and utilities included.

104

Cost of Living Index in Rochester
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Rochester Living Index
107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index

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Rochester

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,132

/mo nomad

Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,202

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Rochester 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 Rochester and in Lisbon actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,132 in Rochester versus $2,202 in Lisbon.

Rochester $2,132
Lisbon $2,202

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,270 in Rochester versus $3,274 in Lisbon.

Rochester $3,270
Lisbon $3,274

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,408 in Rochester versus $4,346 in Lisbon.

Rochester $4,408
Lisbon $4,346

Living in Rochester costs roughly 3% less than in Lisbon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Rochester 57% above, Lisbon 62% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$25.66 £19.25

$17.04 €15.15

50.59%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$95.2 £71.4

$62.3 €55.4

52.87%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.06 £7.55

$11.02 €9.80

-8.71%

Cappuccino

$4.99 £3.74

$3.12 €2.78

59.94%

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

$2.35 £1.76

$2.27 €2.02

3.52%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.38 £1.79

$1.74 €1.55

36.78%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$5.21 £3.91

$3.42 €3.04

52.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.68 £3.51

$3.74 €3.33

25.13%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.81 £1.36

$1.17 €1.04

54.70%

White Bread (500g)

$2.02 £1.52

$1.86 €1.66

8.60%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.12 £1.59

$1.54 €1.37

37.66%

Eggs

$3.55 £2.66

$4.06 €3.61

-12.56%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$6.21 £4.66

$12.91 €11.49

-51.90%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.46 £5.60

$7.90 €7.03

-5.57%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.78 £11.09

$17.64 €15.69

-16.21%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 £2.09

$2.26 €2.01

23.01%

Banana (1kg)

$1.90 £1.42

$1.75 €1.55

8.57%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.30 £1.72

$1.89 €1.68

21.69%

Tomato (1kg)

$3.29 £2.47

$2.56 €2.27

28.52%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 £1.45

$1.85 €1.64

4.86%

Onion (1kg)

$1.20 £0.90

$1.97 €1.75

-39.09%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.20 £0.90

$1.45 €1.29

-17.24%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.73 £1.30

$0.77 €0.69

124.68%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$24.04 £18.04

$6.71 €5.97

258.27%

Wine (Bottle)

$10.67 £8.01

$5.67 €5.04

88.18%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$3.06 £2.30

$1.37 €1.22

123.36%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.15 £2.36

$2.11 €1.88

49.29%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$4.10 £3.07

$2.32 €2.07

76.72%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.43 €39.52

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$5.09 £3.82

$3.95 €3.51

28.86%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$2.67 £2.00

$1.05 €0.93

154.29%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$39.41 £29.57

$17.15 €15.26

129.80%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.12 £1.59

$2.19 €1.95

-3.20%

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

$38.0K £28.5K

$33.8K €30.0K

12.53%

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

$40.3K £30.2K

$38.3K €34.0K

5.34%

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

$230 £173

$164 €146

40.68%

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

$16.51 £12.39

$18.48 €16.43

-10.66%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$36.34 £27.27

$32.96 €29.32

10.25%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$39.16 £29.38

$45.87 €40.80

-14.63%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$18.68 €16.61

Cinema Ticket

$17.33 £13.00

$9.75 €8.67

77.74%

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

$1,310 £983

$684 €608

91.54%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$30.8K £23.1K

$17.6K €15.7K

74.71%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$91.7 £68.8

$104 €92.3

-11.57%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$46.03 £34.53

$46.20 €41.09

-0.37%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$103 £77.6

$99.7 €88.7

3.71%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$91.3 £68.5

$125 €111

-26.81%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,536 £1,152

$1,589 €1,414

-3.36%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$952 £714

$1,169 €1,040

-18.59%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,079 £1,560

$2,851 €2,536

-27.06%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,695 £1,271

$1,993 €1,773

-14.98%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$5,339 £4,005

$7,793 €6,932

-31.49%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,521 £3,392

$4,418 €3,930

2.33%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,403 £2,553

$1,600 €1,423

112.71%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.12

3.85

32.99%

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

Last update for Rochester: October 17, 2026

Last update for Lisbon: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Rochester

$952 44.7%

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.1% 22.8% $217

Eating Out

Rochester

$350 16.4%

Lisbon

$247 11.2% 29.2% $102

Groceries & Markets

Rochester

$289 13.6%

Lisbon

$273 12.4% 5.5% $16

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Rochester

$283 13.3%

Lisbon

$215 9.8% 24% $68

Clothing & Footwear

Rochester

$150 7%

Lisbon

$168 7.7% 12.6% $19

Sport & Entertainment

Rochester

$74 3.5%

Lisbon

$65 3% 11.4% $8.4

Getting Around

Rochester

$35 * 1.6%

Lisbon

$63 2.9% 80.6% $28

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 $1,536 in Rochester and $1,589 in Lisbon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Rochester pays 113% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $95.0 in Rochester vs $62.0 in Lisbon for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $289 vs $273 per month, with Lisbon cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Rochester

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🕒 Local time

20:50 8:50 PM

Same time as Rochester

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

62,982

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 24, 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 24, 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

Rochester Lisbon 1,600 km ≈ 2 h 30 min nonstop flight

From you

Rochester
Lisbon

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

Rochester vs Lisbon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Rochester and Lisbon differ by about 3% in total monthly costs ($2,132 vs $2,202 including rent). Rochester is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 113% higher in Rochester, 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: $1,536 in Rochester versus $1,589 in Lisbon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Shoppers in Lisbon pay roughly 6% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

All in, you'll spend $2,132 per month in Rochester versus $2,202 in Lisbon – a 3% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $2,132 in Rochester versus $2,202 in Lisbon, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Rochester but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Rochester 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, Rochester 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 Rochester gentler on the wallet – expenses run 3% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.