Best of

Cities with the cheapest rent (2026)

Ranked by median asking rent for a central one-bedroom, normalized to New York = 100. Filters for relocators where housing is the largest line item.

Why this list matters

For most relocators, housing is the dominant line item — typically 30-50% of net income at the balanced lifestyle tier. Two cities at the same cost-of-living index can have very different rent indices; the rest of the basket adjusts.

If you can be flexible on neighborhood, the rent index understates how much you can save by moving 15 minutes off-center. The figure shown is the median asking rent for a central one-bedroom.

How we ranked

Ranked ascending by rent index — median asking rent for a one-bedroom in a central neighborhood, normalized to NYC = 100. Lower means cheaper.

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

What this list doesn't tell you

Rent indices measure central one-bedroom asking rents. Suburban or peripheral rents are lower; furnished short-term rentals are higher. The figure is a starting point, not a quote.

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Cheapest cities in the Mundevo index (2026)

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Cheapest cities in Europe (2026)

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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.