Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Sofia and Al-Qusayr

For one person, living is cheaper in Al-Qusayr: $642 a month against $1,585 in Sofia, rent and utilities included – about $11,300 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

76

Cost of Living Index in Sofia
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Sofia Living Index
31

Cost of Living Index in Al-Qusayr
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Al-Qusayr Living Index

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Sofia

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

$1,585

/mo nomad

Al-Qusayr

🇸🇾 Syria

$642

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Sofia and in Al-Qusayr

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $1,585 in Sofia versus $642 in Al-Qusayr.

Sofia $1,585
Al-Qusayr $642

Estimated couple costs with rent: $2,486 in Sofia versus $1,015 in Al-Qusayr.

Sofia $2,486
Al-Qusayr $1,015

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,387 in Sofia versus $1,388 in Al-Qusayr.

Sofia $3,387
Al-Qusayr $1,388

Living in Sofia is roughly 147% more expensive than in Al-Qusayr, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Sofia is 17% above, Al-Qusayr is 53% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.57 BGN 28.84

$9.93 SYP 1,206

66.87%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.7 BGN 118

$41.72 SYP 5,069

62.22%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.68 BGN 20.33

$7.16 SYP 869

63.13%

Cappuccino

$3.41 BGN 5.93

$3.64 SYP 442

-6.32%

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

$2.36 BGN 4.11

$2.23 SYP 271

5.83%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.67 BGN 2.91

$0.86 SYP 105

94.19%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.99 BGN 6.94

$1.92 SYP 233

107.81%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 BGN 7.88

$3.97 SYP 482

14.11%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.94 BGN 3.38

$1.05 SYP 127

84.76%

White Bread (500g)

$1.55 BGN 2.70

$0.44 SYP 53.7

252.27%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.35 BGN 4.09

$1.57 SYP 190

49.68%

Eggs

$4.60 BGN 8.00

$1.57 SYP 191

192.99%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.47 BGN 19.96

$3.86 SYP 469

197.15%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.65 BGN 15.04

$5.87 SYP 713

47.36%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.34 BGN 30.17

$13.88 SYP 1,687

24.93%

Apples (1kg)

$2.15 BGN 3.73

$1.07 SYP 130

100.93%

Banana (1kg)

$1.98 BGN 3.45

$1.42 SYP 172

39.44%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.83 BGN 3.18

$1.13 SYP 137

61.95%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.27 BGN 7.43

$1.07 SYP 130

299.07%

Potato (1kg)

$1.04 BGN 1.82

$0.79 SYP 96.3

31.65%

Onion (1kg)

$0.89 BGN 1.54

$0.80 SYP 97.4

11.25%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 BGN 2.06

$0.43 SYP 52.8

176.74%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.83 BGN 1.45

$0.67 SYP 80.9

23.88%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 BGN 7.66

$2.77 SYP 337

58.84%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.42 BGN 12.91

$4.85 SYP 589

52.99%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 BGN 2.01

$1.15 SYP 140

0.87%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.90 BGN 3.30

$2.89 SYP 351

-34.26%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.92 BGN 1.60

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$28.11 BGN 48.91

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.67 BGN 2.90

$0.98 SYP 119

70.41%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.85 BGN 1.49

$1.54 SYP 187

-44.81%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.59 BGN 28.87

$7.76 SYP 943

113.79%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.74 BGN 3.03

$3.78 SYP 459

-53.97%

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

$29.9K BGN 52.1K

$14.9K SYP 1.8M

101.40%

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

$25.0K BGN 43.5K

$19.0K SYP 2.3M

31.79%

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

$158 BGN 275

$140 SYP 16.9K

13.16%

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

$21.27 BGN 37.01

$9.49 SYP 1,153

124.13%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$15.12 BGN 26.30

$46.20 SYP 5,614

-67.27%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.85 BGN 81.5

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$27.82 BGN 48.41

Cinema Ticket

$10.00 BGN 17.39

$5.55 SYP 675

80.18%

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

$815 BGN 1,419

$65.9 SYP 8,005

1137.69%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.6K BGN 25.5K

$1,761 SYP 213.9K

731.72%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.1 BGN 152

$28.55 SYP 3,469

205.04%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.28 BGN 66.6

$39.84 SYP 4,840

-3.92%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 BGN 184

$59.5 SYP 7,228

77.51%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 BGN 187

$59.1 SYP 7,182

81.32%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$769 BGN 1,338

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$593 BGN 1,032

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,530 BGN 2,662

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,061 BGN 1,846

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,526 BGN 7,875

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$3,109 BGN 5,410

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,780 BGN 3,098

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

2.89

14.25

-79.72%

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

Last update for Sofia: November 1, 2026

Last update for Al-Qusayr: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Sofia

$593 37.4%

Al-Qusayr

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Sofia

$288 18.2%

Al-Qusayr

$169 26.3% 41.4% $119

Eating Out

Sofia

$254 16%

Al-Qusayr

$174 27.2% 31.2% $79

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Sofia

$194 12.3%

Al-Qusayr

$195 30.4% 0.5% $0.9

Clothing & Footwear

Sofia

$152 9.6%

Al-Qusayr

$84 13.1% 44.7% $68

Sport & Entertainment

Sofia

$67 4.2%

Al-Qusayr

$11 * 1.7% 83.4% $56

Getting Around

Sofia

$38 2.4%

Al-Qusayr

$8.7 * 1.4% 77% $29

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

Dining out: $68 in Sofia vs $42 in Al-Qusayr for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $288 vs $169 per month, with Al-Qusayr cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇧🇬 Sofia

🇸🇾 Al-Qusayr

🕒 Local time

23:06 11:06 PM

00:06 12:06 AM

1 h ahead of Sofia

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,286,383 Capital

29,818

💱 Currency

Bulgarian Lev BGN лв.

Syrian Pound SYP £

📈 Exchange rate

1 BGN = 0.575 USD

1 BGN = 0.512 EUR

1,000 SYP = 8.23 USD

1,000 SYP = 7.33 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SYP, USD, EUR to BGN – Bulgarian Lev Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇧🇬 Bulgarian Lev (лв.)

Bulgarian Lev exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 1.74 BGN (1 BGN = 0.575 USD). 1 EUR = 1.95 BGN (1 BGN = 0.512 EUR).

Syrian Pound exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 122 SYP (1,000 SYP = 8.23 USD). 1 EUR = 136 SYP (1,000 SYP = 7.33 EUR).

USD to BGN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Sofia Al-Qusayr 1,470 km ≈ 2 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Sofia
Al-Qusayr

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

Sofia vs Al-Qusayr: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Al-Qusayr is about 59% cheaper overall, especially in groceries, eating out, and clothing. That difference adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

You’d need roughly $2,378 in Sofia and $963 in Al-Qusayr to live well. The gap comes down to housing and overall price levels. Both cities are liveable on less, but these numbers represent actual comfort.

Supermarket bills run roughly 71% higher in Sofia. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $1,585 per month in Sofia versus $642 in Al-Qusayr – Al-Qusayr is about 59% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $642 in Al-Qusayr versus $1,585 in Sofia, a $1,000 budget is realistic in Al-Qusayr but tight or insufficient in Sofia. The gap between the two cities makes Al-Qusayr 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.