Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Santiago de Compostela and Cebu

For one person, living is cheaper in Cebu: $918 a month against $1,439 in Santiago de Compostela, rent and utilities included – about $6,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for about half of the difference.

70

Cost of Living Index in Santiago de Compostela
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Santiago de Compostela Living Index
45

Cost of Living Index in Cebu
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Cebu Living Index

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Santiago de Compostela

🇪🇸 Spain

$1,439

/mo nomad

Cebu

🇵🇭 Philippines

$918

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Santiago de Compostela and in Cebu

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,439 in Santiago de Compostela versus $918 in Cebu.

Santiago de Compostela $1,439
Cebu $918

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,215 in Santiago de Compostela versus $1,409 in Cebu.

Santiago de Compostela $2,215
Cebu $1,409

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $2,991 in Santiago de Compostela versus $1,900 in Cebu.

Santiago de Compostela $2,991
Cebu $1,900

Living in Santiago de Compostela is roughly 57% more expensive than in Cebu, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Santiago de Compostela is 7% above, Cebu is 32% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.22 €11.76

$3.09 ₱194

327.83%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$66.5 €59.2

$24.22 ₱1,525

174.57%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.21 €8.19

$3.92 ₱247

134.95%

Cappuccino

$1.95 €1.74

$2.51 ₱158

-22.31%

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

$2.69 €2.39

$1.59 ₱100

69.18%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.17 €1.93

$0.53 ₱33.43

309.43%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.10 €2.76

$1.78 ₱112

74.16%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.87 €3.44

$2.17 ₱137

78.34%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.20 €1.07

$1.92 ₱121

-37.50%

White Bread (500g)

$1.17 €1.04

$1.36 ₱85.4

-13.97%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.32 €1.17

$1.01 ₱63.5

30.69%

Eggs

$2.77 €2.47

$2.03 ₱128

36.45%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$8.85 €7.88

$9.86 ₱621

-10.24%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$6.67 €5.93

$4.39 ₱277

51.94%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.00 €15.12

$7.60 ₱479

123.68%

Apples (1kg)

$2.04 €1.81

$3.30 ₱208

-38.18%

Banana (1kg)

$2.09 €1.86

$1.39 ₱87.8

50.36%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.48 €1.32

$2.33 ₱147

-36.48%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.86 €2.54

$1.50 ₱94.3

90.67%

Potato (1kg)

$1.96 €1.74

$2.36 ₱149

-16.95%

Onion (1kg)

$1.47 €1.30

$1.90 ₱119

-22.63%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.13 €1.01

$1.19 ₱74.9

-5.04%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.84 €0.75

$0.63 ₱39.71

33.33%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.97 €5.31

$3.00 ₱189

99.00%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.12 €4.55

$6.03 ₱379

-15.09%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.45 €1.29

$1.23 ₱77.7

17.89%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.37 €2.11

$1.75 ₱110

35.43%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.19 €1.06

$0.25 ₱15.86

376.00%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$32.89 €29.26

$12.64 ₱796

160.21%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.87 €4.33

$0.77 ₱48.62

532.47%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.31 €1.17

$0.23 ₱14.53

469.57%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$18.83 €16.75

$4.46 ₱281

322.20%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.69 €1.50

$1.31 ₱82.8

29.01%

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

$35.4K €31.5K

$21.2K ₱1.3M

66.62%

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

$28.8K €25.7K

$19.1K ₱1.2M

50.63%

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

$155 €138

$120 ₱7,569

29.05%

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

$21.74 €19.34

$14.00 ₱882

55.29%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.64 €29.04

$27.54 ₱1,734

18.52%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$51.2 €45.56

$32.33 ₱2,035

58.43%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$2.19 €1.95

$6.65 ₱419

-67.07%

Cinema Ticket

$10.11 €8.99

$5.65 ₱356

78.94%

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

$331 €294

$275 ₱17.3K

20.20%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$8,249 €7,337

$7,918 ₱498.5K

4.18%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.7 €78.1

$49.33 ₱3,106

77.86%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$62.9 €55.9

$25.24 ₱1,589

149.01%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$100.0 €88.9

$77.0 ₱4,846

29.90%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$92.3 €82.1

$57.2 ₱3,601

61.31%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$712 €633

$500 ₱31.5K

42.53%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$516 €459

$309 ₱19.4K

67.04%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,047 €931

$1,078 ₱67.9K

-2.89%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$869 €773

$615 ₱38.7K

41.25%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,001 €2,670

$2,886 ₱181.7K

4.00%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$2,094 €1,863

$1,917 ₱120.7K

9.27%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,870 €1,663

$346 ₱21.8K

440.58%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.96

7.2

-58.89%

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

Last update for Santiago de Compostela: October 12, 2026

Last update for Cebu: October 12, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Santiago de Compostela

$516 35.9%

Cebu

$309 33.6% 40.1% $207

Groceries & Markets

Santiago de Compostela

$240 16.6%

Cebu

$206 22.4% 14.1% $34

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Santiago de Compostela

$210 14.6%

Cebu

$162 17.6% 22.8% $48

Eating Out

Santiago de Compostela

$199 13.9%

Cebu

$88 9.6% 55.7% $111

Clothing & Footwear

Santiago de Compostela

$154 10.7%

Cebu

$94 10.2% 39.1% $60

Sport & Entertainment

Santiago de Compostela

$71 5%

Cebu

$44 4.8% 38.9% $28

Getting Around

Santiago de Compostela

$49 3.4%

Cebu

$16 1.7% 68.3% $34

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $712 in Santiago de Compostela and $500 in Cebu. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Santiago de Compostela pays 441% 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: $66.0 in Santiago de Compostela vs $24.00 in Cebu for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $240 vs $206 per month, with Cebu cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇪🇸 Santiago de Compostela

🇵🇭 Cebu

🕒 Local time

01:41 1:41 AM

07:41 7:41 AM

6 h ahead of Santiago de Compostela

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

98,687

964,169

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Philippine Peso PHP ₱

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 PHP = 1.59 USD

100 PHP = 1.41 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

PHP, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of October 17, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Philippine Peso exchange rates as of October 17, 2026: 1 USD = 62.96 PHP (100 PHP = 1.59 USD). 1 EUR = 70.78 PHP (100 PHP = 1.41 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

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Between locations

Santiago de Compostela Cebu 12,390 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

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Santiago de Compostela
Cebu

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

Santiago de Compostela vs Cebu: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Cebu is cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. The 57% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 441% higher in Santiago de Compostela, 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: $712 in Santiago de Compostela versus $500 in Cebu. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you'll spend $1,439 per month in Santiago de Compostela versus $918 in Cebu – a 57% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

A monthly transit pass in Cebu runs roughly 160% less than in Santiago de Compostela. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

At $918 in Cebu versus $1,439 in Santiago de Compostela, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Cebu but tight or insufficient in Santiago de Compostela. The gap between the two cities makes Cebu the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, Cebu is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Santiago de Compostela, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Santiago de Compostela and Cebu 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 Cebu gentler on the wallet – expenses run 57% less than in Santiago de Compostela. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.