Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Sofia and Thika

For one person, living is cheaper in Thika: $516 a month against $1,585 in Sofia, rent and utilities included – about $12,800 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
25

Cost of Living Index in Thika
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Thika Living Index

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Sofia

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

$1,585

/mo nomad

Thika

🇰🇪 Kenya

$516

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Sofia and in Thika

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 Thika actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,585 per month in Sofia vs $516 in Thika, rent included.

Sofia $1,585
Thika $516

A couple spends around $2,486 per month in Sofia vs $880 in Thika, rent included.

Sofia $2,486
Thika $880

A family of three spends $3,387 per month in Sofia vs $1,245 in Thika, rent included.

Sofia $3,387
Thika $1,245

Sofia costs about 207% more than Thika, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Sofia sits 17% above the global median, while Thika is 62% below – they fall on opposite sides of the world average.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.57 BGN 28.84

$3.42 KES 444

384.50%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$67.7 BGN 118

$33.96 KES 4,409

99.29%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.68 BGN 20.33

$6.26 KES 813

86.58%

Cappuccino

$3.41 BGN 5.93

$1.93 KES 251

76.68%

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

$2.36 BGN 4.11

$0.30 KES 38.65

686.67%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.67 BGN 2.91

$0.63 KES 81.6

165.08%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.99 BGN 6.94

$1.96 KES 255

103.57%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.53 BGN 7.88

$2.15 KES 279

110.70%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.94 BGN 3.38

$0.73 KES 95.2

165.75%

White Bread (500g)

$1.55 BGN 2.70

$0.44 KES 57.6

252.27%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.35 BGN 4.09

$1.20 KES 155

95.83%

Eggs

$4.60 BGN 8.00

$1.41 KES 183

226.24%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$11.47 BGN 19.96

$10.96 KES 1,423

4.65%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$8.65 BGN 15.04

$6.73 KES 873

28.53%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.34 BGN 30.17

$3.94 KES 511

340.10%

Apples (1kg)

$2.15 BGN 3.73

$1.58 KES 206

36.08%

Banana (1kg)

$1.98 BGN 3.45

$0.61 KES 79.2

224.59%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.83 BGN 3.18

$0.74 KES 96.6

147.30%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.27 BGN 7.43

$1.15 KES 149

271.30%

Potato (1kg)

$1.04 BGN 1.82

$0.37 KES 47.83

181.08%

Onion (1kg)

$0.89 BGN 1.54

$0.45 KES 58.4

97.78%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.19 BGN 2.06

$0.69 KES 89.4

72.46%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.83 BGN 1.45

$0.39 KES 50.8

112.82%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.40 BGN 7.66

$2.79 KES 363

57.71%

Wine (Bottle)

$7.42 BGN 12.91

$5.72 KES 742

29.72%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.16 BGN 2.01

$1.78 KES 231

-34.83%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.90 BGN 3.30

$1.97 KES 256

-3.55%

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

$1.52 KES 198

9.87%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.85 BGN 1.49

$0.96 KES 125

-11.46%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.59 BGN 28.87

$2.93 KES 380

466.21%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.74 BGN 3.03

$1.41 KES 184

23.40%

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

$29.9K BGN 52.1K

$19.3K KES 2.5M

54.77%

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

$25.0K BGN 43.5K

$21.5K KES 2.8M

16.49%

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

$158 BGN 275

$34.90 KES 4,531

352.32%

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

$21.27 BGN 37.01

$14.86 KES 1,930

43.14%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$15.12 BGN 26.30

$34.82 KES 4,520

-56.58%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$46.85 BGN 81.5

$45.48 KES 5,905

3.01%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$27.82 BGN 48.41

Cinema Ticket

$10.00 BGN 17.39

$7.47 KES 970

33.87%

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

$815 BGN 1,419

$54.0 KES 7,004

1411.38%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$14.6K BGN 25.5K

$3,528 KES 458.1K

315.06%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$87.1 BGN 152

$28.24 KES 3,666

208.39%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$38.28 BGN 66.6

$29.33 KES 3,807

30.51%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$106 BGN 184

$69.2 KES 8,989

52.51%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$107 BGN 187

$19.51 KES 2,532

449.36%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$769 BGN 1,338

$99.5 KES 12.9K

672.46%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$593 BGN 1,032

$56.8 KES 7,379

943.46%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,530 BGN 2,662

$270 KES 35.0K

467.16%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,061 BGN 1,846

$178 KES 23.1K

495.14%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$4,526 BGN 7,875

$611 KES 79.3K

640.66%

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

14.71

-80.35%

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

Last update for Sofia: November 1, 2026

Last update for Thika: October 31, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Sofia

$593 37.4%

Thika

$57 11% 90.4% $536

Groceries & Markets

Sofia

$288 18.2%

Thika

$154 30% 46.3% $133

Eating Out

Sofia

$254 16%

Thika

$87 16.9% 65.6% $166

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Sofia

$194 12.3%

Thika

$85 16.4% 56.5% $110

Clothing & Footwear

Sofia

$152 9.6%

Thika

$66 12.8% 56.7% $86

Sport & Entertainment

Sofia

$67 4.2%

Thika

$60 11.7% 9.6% $6.4

Getting Around

Sofia

$38 2.4%

Thika

$6.3 * 1.2% 83.2% $31

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

Cost Breakdown

A central one-bedroom costs $769 in Sofia versus $100 in Thika. Rent is usually the largest line item in a monthly budget, so the gap here sets the tone for the overall comparison.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $68 in Sofia versus $34 in Thika. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $288 vs $155 – making Thika the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇧🇬 Sofia

🇰🇪 Thika

🕒 Local time

01:40 1:40 AM

02:40 2:40 AM

1 h ahead of Sofia

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

1,286,383 Capital

83,000

💱 Currency

Bulgarian Lev BGN лв.

Kenyan Shilling KES Sh

📈 Exchange rate

1 BGN = 0.575 USD

1 BGN = 0.512 EUR

1,000 KES = 7.7 USD

1,000 KES = 6.86 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

KES, 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).

Kenyan Shilling exchange rates as of November 5, 2026: 1 USD = 130 KES (1,000 KES = 7.7 USD). 1 EUR = 146 KES (1,000 KES = 6.86 EUR).

USD to BGN in detail →

On the map

Lowest

Highest

Between locations

Sofia Thika 5,050 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Sofia
Thika

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 Thika: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Monthly costs with rent: $1,585 in Sofia, $516 in Thika – Thika comes out roughly 67% cheaper. Outside of rent, the biggest gap is in eating out.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $2,378 per month in Sofia and $773 in Thika. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Rent is clearly cheaper in Thika, especially for central apartments: a one-bedroom in the center costs $100 there versus $769 in Sofia.

A mid-range dinner for two costs $68 in Sofia and $34 in Thika. That’s a good indicator of the overall restaurant and café pricing gap between the two cities.

Groceries cost about 86% more in Sofia, though the gap depends on what you buy.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Thika, where all-in costs run around $516, than in Sofia at $1,585. In Thika it covers expenses comfortably, while in Sofia it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

Families tend to lean toward Thika – lower housing and cheaper childcare make a real difference, especially on a single income or when paying for private education.