Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Ruse and Lisbon

For one person, living is cheaper in Ruse: $990 a month against $2,202 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $14,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

48

Cost of Living Index in Ruse
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Ruse Living Index
107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index

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Ruse

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

$990

/mo nomad

Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,202

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $990 in Ruse versus $2,202 in Lisbon.

Ruse $990
Lisbon $2,202

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,470 in Ruse versus $3,274 in Lisbon.

Ruse $1,470
Lisbon $3,274

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,949 in Ruse versus $4,346 in Lisbon.

Ruse $1,949
Lisbon $4,346

Living in Ruse costs roughly 55% less than in Lisbon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Ruse is 27% below, Lisbon is 62% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$9.07 BGN 15.77

$17.04 €15.15

-46.77%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$34.26 BGN 59.6

$62.3 €55.4

-45.00%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.55 BGN 16.62

$11.02 €9.80

-13.34%

Cappuccino

$1.68 BGN 2.93

$3.12 €2.78

-46.15%

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

$1.48 BGN 2.58

$2.27 €2.02

-34.80%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.83 BGN 1.45

$1.74 €1.55

-52.30%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.76 BGN 3.07

$3.42 €3.04

-48.54%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.80 BGN 4.88

$3.74 €3.33

-25.13%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.75 BGN 3.04

$1.17 €1.04

49.57%

White Bread (500g)

$1.01 BGN 1.76

$1.86 €1.66

-45.70%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.28 BGN 3.96

$1.54 €1.37

48.05%

Eggs

$2.55 BGN 4.43

$4.06 €3.61

-37.19%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.93 BGN 15.54

$12.91 €11.49

-30.83%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 BGN 13.52

$7.90 €7.03

-1.65%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.42 BGN 25.10

$17.64 €15.69

-18.25%

Apples (1kg)

$1.40 BGN 2.44

$2.26 €2.01

-38.05%

Banana (1kg)

$1.85 BGN 3.21

$1.75 €1.55

5.71%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.01 BGN 3.50

$1.89 €1.68

6.35%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.02 BGN 3.52

$2.56 €2.27

-21.09%

Potato (1kg)

$1.08 BGN 1.87

$1.85 €1.64

-41.62%

Onion (1kg)

$1.06 BGN 1.84

$1.97 €1.75

-46.19%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.21 BGN 2.11

$1.45 €1.29

-16.55%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.66 BGN 1.15

$0.77 €0.69

-14.29%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.40 BGN 5.91

$6.71 €5.97

-49.33%

Wine (Bottle)

$6.12 BGN 10.66

$5.67 €5.04

7.94%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.13 BGN 1.97

$1.37 €1.22

-17.52%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.17 BGN 2.04

$2.11 €1.88

-44.55%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.84 BGN 1.46

$2.32 €2.07

-63.79%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$15.93 BGN 27.71

$44.43 €39.52

-64.15%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.25 BGN 2.17

$3.95 €3.51

-68.35%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.61 BGN 1.06

$1.05 €0.93

-41.90%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$10.22 BGN 17.79

$17.15 €15.26

-40.41%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.51 BGN 2.63

$2.19 €1.95

-31.05%

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

$30.2K BGN 52.5K

$33.8K €30.0K

-10.74%

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

$22.6K BGN 39.3K

$38.3K €34.0K

-41.01%

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

$104 BGN 182

$164 €146

-36.31%

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

$17.91 BGN 31.17

$18.48 €16.43

-3.08%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$12.89 BGN 22.44

$32.96 €29.32

-60.89%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$31.68 BGN 55.1

$45.87 €40.80

-30.94%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$8.80 BGN 15.32

$18.68 €16.61

-52.89%

Cinema Ticket

$5.60 BGN 9.74

$9.75 €8.67

-42.56%

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

$518 BGN 902

$684 €608

-24.25%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$5,381 BGN 9,363

$17.6K €15.7K

-69.47%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$50.9 BGN 88.6

$104 €92.3

-50.94%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$28.15 BGN 48.99

$46.20 €41.09

-39.07%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$72.0 BGN 125

$99.7 €88.7

-27.83%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$87.2 BGN 152

$125 €111

-30.06%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$348 BGN 606

$1,589 €1,414

-78.10%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$305 BGN 531

$1,169 €1,040

-73.88%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$526 BGN 914

$2,851 €2,536

-81.56%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$409 BGN 712

$1,993 €1,773

-79.46%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$1,660 BGN 2,889

$7,793 €6,932

-78.70%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$1,210 BGN 2,105

$4,418 €3,930

-72.62%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$966 BGN 1,681

$1,600 €1,423

-39.61%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.1

3.85

-19.48%

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

Last update for Ruse: October 18, 2026

Last update for Lisbon: October 19, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Ruse

$305 30.9%

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.1% 283% $864

Groceries & Markets

Ruse

$230 23.3%

Lisbon

$273 12.4% 18.5% $43

Eating Out

Ruse

$145 14.7%

Lisbon

$247 11.2% 70.6% $102

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Ruse

$135 13.7%

Lisbon

$215 9.8% 59.3% $80

Clothing & Footwear

Ruse

$107 10.8%

Lisbon

$168 7.7% 57.1% $61

Sport & Entertainment

Ruse

$43 4.3%

Lisbon

$65 3% 52.5% $23

Getting Around

Ruse

$24 2.4%

Lisbon

$63 2.9% 167% $39

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $348 in Ruse and $1,589 in Lisbon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays 66% 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: $34.00 in Ruse vs $62.0 in Lisbon for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $230 vs $273 per month, with Ruse cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇧🇬 Ruse

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🕒 Local time

13:48 1:48 PM

11:48 11:48 AM

2 h behind Ruse

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

159,798

545,923 Capital

💱 Currency

Bulgarian Lev BGN лв.

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 BGN = 0.575 USD

1 BGN = 0.511 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to BGN – Bulgarian Lev Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇧🇬 Bulgarian Lev (лв.)

Bulgarian Lev exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 1.74 BGN (1 BGN = 0.575 USD). 1 EUR = 1.96 BGN (1 BGN = 0.511 EUR).

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

USD to BGN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Ruse Lisbon 2,960 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Ruse
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

Ruse vs Lisbon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Ruse and Lisbon differ by about 122% in total monthly costs ($990 vs $2,202 including rent). Ruse is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 66% lower in Lisbon. 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: $348 in Ruse versus $1,589 in Lisbon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $518 in Ruse versus $684 in Lisbon. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 19% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $990 in Ruse versus $2,202 in Lisbon, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Ruse but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Ruse 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, Ruse 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 Ruse gentler on the wallet – expenses run 122% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.