Best of

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	AlexandriaEgypt	8	3
2	CairoEgypt	10	5
3	DelhiIndia	12	7
4	BangaloreIndia	13	8
5	ArequipaPeru	13	7
6	PenangMalaysia	13	8
7	HanoiVietnam	15	10
8	ValparaisoChile	16	8
9	MarrakechMorocco	16	11
10	JakartaIndonesia	16	9
11	Chiang MaiThailand	16	10
12	Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam	18	14
13	Kuala LumpurMalaysia	18	13
14	BogotaColombia	18	13
15	CasablancaMorocco	19	13
16	CebuPhilippines	19	12
17	LimaPeru	20	16
18	JohannesburgSouth Africa	20	11
19	ManilaPhilippines	20	13
20	DebrecenHungary	20	13
21	MumbaiIndia	20	17
22	SantiagoChile	21	13
23	São PauloBrazil	22	15
24	BangkokThailand	22	15
25	CordobaArgentina	22	11
26	MedellinColombia	23	17
27	BucharestRomania	24	16
28	Cluj-NapocaRomania	24	15
29	ShanghaiChina	24	20
30	BeijingChina	24	21
31	GuadalajaraMexico	24	18
32	Rio de JaneiroBrazil	24	19
33	OsakaJapan	25	17
34	BudapestHungary	25	17
35	ThessalonikiGreece	25	14
36	AthensGreece	26	16
37	Cape TownSouth Africa	26	21
38	JeddahSaudi Arabia	26	18
39	Buenos AiresArgentina	27	17
40	TaipeiTaiwan	28	20
41	Mexico CityMexico	28	22
42	KrakowPoland	28	20
43	AnkaraTurkey	29	21
44	BaliIndonesia	29	25
45	BrnoCzech Republic	29	21
46	TallinnEstonia	30	18
47	BusanSouth Korea	31	16
48	PragueCzech Republic	32	25
49	LyonFrance	32	19
50	GothenburgSweden	32	23
51	PortoPortugal	33	28
52	SeoulSouth Korea	33	20
53	WarsawPoland	34	27
54	AntwerpBelgium	34	23
55	RomeItaly	35	27
56	RiyadhSaudi Arabia	35	28
57	ValenciaSpain	36	32
58	IstanbulTurkey	36	27
59	TokyoJapan	37	29
60	MontrealCanada	38	30
61	SalzburgAustria	38	26
62	MadridSpain	39	34
63	HamburgGermany	39	29
64	LisbonPortugal	40	36
65	ViennaAustria	40	29
66	AucklandNew Zealand	40	31
67	WellingtonNew Zealand	40	30
68	BarcelonaSpain	41	36
69	FrankfurtGermany	41	30
70	BrusselsBelgium	41	31
71	FlorenceItaly	41	32
72	BerlinGermany	42	32
73	ParisFrance	44	35
74	MelbourneAustralia	45	36
75	EdinburghUnited Kingdom	45	35
76	TorontoCanada	46	38
77	StockholmSweden	47	37
78	ManchesterUnited Kingdom	47	40
79	MilanItaly	47	38
80	BrisbaneAustralia	47	42
81	MunichGermany	48	38
82	RotterdamNetherlands	49	40
83	Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates	49	45
84	VancouverCanada	50	43
85	OsloNorway	52	40
86	AustinUnited States	52	44
87	Tel AvivIsrael	52	41
88	CopenhagenDenmark	53	42
89	CorkIreland	53	48
90	Hong KongHong Kong	56	51
91	SydneyAustralia	57	53
92	DublinIreland	58	54
93	DubaiUnited Arab Emirates	59	56
94	AmsterdamNetherlands	61	56
95	ChicagoUnited States	61	55
96	SingaporeSingapore	66	65
97	SeattleUnited States	67	56
98	Los AngelesUnited States	68	60
99	GenevaSwitzerland	69	60
100	LondonUnited Kingdom	70	65
101	MiamiUnited States	70	64
102	ZurichSwitzerland	76	65
103	San FranciscoUnited States	90	87
104	New YorkUnited States	100	100

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.