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Cheapest cities in the Mundevo index (2026)

Every city in the catalog ranked by cost-of-living index. Lower = cheaper. Benchmarked against New York = 100.

Why this list matters

Cost-of-living index is the single most predictive metric for whether a salary stretches in a given city. Two cities can have identical median rents but very different food, transport, and leisure costs — the composite captures all six baskets at once.

Headline cheapness alone is not a relocation thesis; pair it with the quality-of-life and salary-band data per city before shortlisting.

How we ranked

Ranked ascending by composite cost-of-living index (housing + food + transport + utilities + healthcare + leisure baskets, normalized to NYC = 100). Rent index shown alongside as a separate signal.

#	City	Cost index	Rent index
1	BangaloreIndia	28	22
2	Buenos AiresArgentina	29	18
3	Kuala LumpurMalaysia	33	22
4	MedellinColombia	35	25
5	Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam	36	28
6	Mexico CityMexico	38	28
7	BangkokThailand	38	28
8	São PauloBrazil	42	35
9	BudapestHungary	45	32
10	WarsawPoland	48	38
11	PortoPortugal	52	36
12	AthensGreece	52	35
13	TallinnEstonia	55	40
14	PragueCzech Republic	58	42
15	ValenciaSpain	58	38
16	LisbonPortugal	60	45
17	TaipeiTaiwan	62	48
18	MadridSpain	65	42
19	ViennaAustria	65	55
20	MontrealCanada	68	60
21	BarcelonaSpain	70	50
22	ManchesterUnited Kingdom	70	60
23	LyonFrance	70	50
24	OsakaJapan	70	50
25	TorontoCanada	72	66
26	BrisbaneAustralia	72	62
27	RotterdamNetherlands	72	55
28	BerlinGermany	75	55
29	SeoulSouth Korea	75	60
30	RomeItaly	75	52
31	HamburgGermany	75	60
32	MelbourneAustralia	75	68
33	EdinburghUnited Kingdom	75	65
34	ParisFrance	76	55
35	StockholmSweden	78	62
36	AustinUnited States	78	75
37	ChicagoUnited States	78	70
38	SydneyAustralia	80	75
39	MilanItaly	80	65
40	VancouverCanada	80	78
41	TokyoJapan	82	55
42	MiamiUnited States	82	85
43	AmsterdamNetherlands	85	78
44	FrankfurtGermany	85	70
45	DublinIreland	87	85
46	MunichGermany	88	75
47	CopenhagenDenmark	88	72
48	Hong KongHong Kong	88	95
49	DubaiUnited Arab Emirates	90	85
50	SingaporeSingapore	92	80
51	SeattleUnited States	92	88
52	Tel AvivIsrael	92	88
53	LondonUnited Kingdom	95	90
54	OsloNorway	95	85
55	New YorkUnited States	100	100
56	San FranciscoUnited States	120	115
57	ZurichSwitzerland	131	115

The top three, in context

Buenos AiresArgentina

Buenos Aires sits in its own category. The headline cheapness reflects acute peso weakness and high inflation, which makes foreign-earned income unusually powerful but operationally complex — capital controls and dual exchange rates dominate the real-world experience.

Kuala LumpurMalaysia

Kuala Lumpur is the underrated entry in this list. Strong English-language usage in business and government, modern infrastructure, and the DE Rantau nomad pass make it more accessible than its Southeast Asian neighbors for English-speaking remote workers.

What this list doesn't tell you

The index doesn't capture macroeconomic context: Argentina's headline cheapness assumes you bring foreign currency, and Mexico City's cost has risen materially in expat-popular neighborhoods. Always check the per-city cost-breakdown before assuming the headline number applies to your situation.

Related rankings

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Want a different angle? Browse the full /best directory. Or run the numbers for your own city + lifestyle in the salary calculator.