Cost of living calculator

Monthly budget, including rent

€1,261 typical

Range €1,003 to €1,518 · 1 person in Athens

Itemised, low to high
Item	Low	Typical	High
Rent	€550	€650	€750
Utilities for an 85 m² apartment	€120	€160	€200
Home internet	€30	€38	€45
Groceries, single person	€200	€250	€300
Monthly public transport pass, Athens	€30	€30	€30
Gym membership	€43	€43	€43
Koinochrista (building common charges)	€30	€90	€150
Total	€1,003	€1,261	€1,518

Your biggest levers

Rent — €650 a month, 52% of the total.
Groceries, single person — €250 a month, 20% of the total.
Utilities for an 85 m² apartment — €160 a month, 13% of the total.

Bands come from cost-of-living aggregators that disagree with each other, so treat the range as the answer rather than the midpoint. Rent is the number worth checking against live listings.

The calculator needs JavaScript. The underlying figures are all published below, and the full set of scenario totals and rent bands is on the cost of living page.

The figures this calculator uses

Line items are reconciled across several aggregators. Rent bands are on the cost of living page, city by city.

Monthly living costs, 2026.
Item	Typical cost	Notes
Utilities for an 85 m² apartment	€120–€200	Strongly seasonal. Winter heating and summer cooling both produce spikes.
Home internet	€30–€45	—
Groceries, single person	€200–€300	—
Monthly public transport pass, Athens	€30	Athens, OASA
Gym membership	€43	—
Common charges (koinochrista)	€30–€150	Building maintenance, shared lighting and often central heating, billed separately from rent. Always ask for the monthly figure before signing.

Figures are drawn from the shared dataset. Open any figure elsewhere on this page to see its source and verification date, or read how we verify.

How this works

The calculator takes the rent band for the city and housing type you chose, adds the building's common charges, then adds each line item — scaling the ones that genuinely grow with household size, such as groceries and transport, and leaving the ones that do not, such as internet and utilities. The lifestyle setting adjusts everything except rent and common charges, which are set by the market rather than by how you spend. Low, typical and high columns come from the low and high ends of each published band.

What it does not do

It excludes health insurance, childcare, school fees, car ownership, travel home and tax — for some households, larger than anything it does include.
Its rent bands are orientation from aggregators, not quotations. Check live listings.
The shared-housing option approximates a room as a share of a larger flat rather than using a measured band.
It has bands for five city groups. Islands other than Crete are not covered, and their costs differ sharply.
It assumes a full month. A part-month arrival costs more than a pro-rata share, because deposits and set-up fees land at once.

This is an estimate for orientation only. It is not tax advice. Your actual liability depends on facts this tool does not ask about. Check the result with a Greek accountant before relying on it.

Dataset version 2026.09.1 · figures verified 12 September 2026 · how we verify

The number worth setting against this

Reported net pay at the April 2026 minimum wage is

€779 a month

Reported net pay at the minimum wage

Reported Consistently reported by several credible sources, but not confirmed against the primary source.

In force from 1 April 2026.

Source: Reported net-of-contributions figure at the April 2026 minimum

Last verified 12 September 2026 by spec-import.

— below what this calculator gives for a single person including rent in most cities. That gap is why multi-generational households are common here, and it is worth confronting before assuming Greek costs and Greek wages balance out.

Questions people actually ask

Why a range instead of one number?

Because the underlying sources disagree with each other. Some quote US dollars, some exclude rent, some assume shared housing, and most rely on user-submitted prices with uneven samples. Publishing a single precise figure would imply a confidence the data does not support. Treat the range as the answer.

What is not included?

Health insurance, which varies enormously by age and cover. Childcare and school fees. Car ownership, which matters a lot outside Athens and Thessaloniki. Travel home. Tax, which depends on your route and residence status. Add those yourself — for several households they are larger than any line here.

Why does the lifestyle slider not change rent?

Because rent is set by the market rather than by how carefully you spend. Choosing a smaller flat or a different neighbourhood is the lever, and that is what the housing selector is for.

Are these rents realistic?

They are orientation bands from property portals and aggregators, refreshed quarterly, not quotations. Athens rents in particular have risen sharply and central supply is constrained. Check live listings before you commit to a budget.

Can I share my result?

Yes. Your inputs are in the page address, so copying the link carries the whole budget with it. Nothing is sent to us.

How does this compare with earning here?

Set the total against the salary pages. Reported net pay at the minimum wage is below what this tool gives for a single person including rent in most cities, which is a fact worth confronting before assuming Greek costs and Greek wages balance.