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	6	22
2	CairoEgypt	8	24
3	ArequipaPeru	10	32
4	CordobaArgentina	10	30
5	DelhiIndia	10	26
6	CebuPhilippines	11	31
7	PenangMalaysia	11	35
8	AnkaraTurkey	12	32
9	MarrakechMorocco	12	31
10	Chiang MaiThailand	12	35
11	CasablancaMorocco	14	34
12	BogotaColombia	14	32
13	HanoiVietnam	14	33
14	ManilaPhilippines	15	34
15	DebrecenHungary	15	46
16	ValparaisoChile	16	40
17	LimaPeru	16	36
18	BucharestRomania	16	40
19	JohannesburgSouth Africa	16	39
20	JakartaIndonesia	16	35
21	Buenos AiresArgentina	18	29
22	Cluj-NapocaRomania	18	42
23	GuadalajaraMexico	18	36
24	MumbaiIndia	18	28
25	BusanSouth Korea	18	65
26	IstanbulTurkey	20	38
27	ThessalonikiGreece	20	61
28	BangaloreIndia	22	28
29	Kuala LumpurMalaysia	22	33
30	SantiagoChile	22	48
31	BaliIndonesia	22	32
32	Rio de JaneiroBrazil	22	41
33	Cape TownSouth Africa	24	42
34	JeddahSaudi Arabia	24	48
35	MedellinColombia	25	35
36	BrnoCzech Republic	25	53
37	Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam	28	36
38	Mexico CityMexico	28	38
39	BangkokThailand	28	38
40	BeijingChina	28	42
41	KrakowPoland	29	50
42	RiyadhSaudi Arabia	30	52
43	ShanghaiChina	32	44
44	AntwerpBelgium	34	71
45	São PauloBrazil	35	42
46	ValenciaSpain	38	58
47	FlorenceItaly	38	66
48	BudapestHungary	39	55
49	PortoPortugal	40	58
50	BrusselsBelgium	40	74
51	GothenburgSweden	40	85
52	MadridSpain	42	65
53	AthensGreece	42	62
54	WarsawPoland	42	54
55	WellingtonNew Zealand	44	74
56	AucklandNew Zealand	46	76
57	PragueCzech Republic	48	66
58	TaipeiTaiwan	48	62
59	SalzburgAustria	49	93
60	BarcelonaSpain	50	70
61	OsakaJapan	50	70
62	LisbonPortugal	51	67
63	TallinnEstonia	52	71
64	RomeItaly	52	75
65	Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates	54	72
66	BerlinGermany	55	75
67	TokyoJapan	55	82
68	LyonFrance	55	77
69	ParisFrance	60	83
70	SeoulSouth Korea	60	75
71	HamburgGermany	60	75
72	MontrealCanada	60	68
73	BrisbaneAustralia	62	72
74	RotterdamNetherlands	63	82
75	MilanItaly	65	80
76	TorontoCanada	66	72
77	CorkIreland	67	96
78	MelbourneAustralia	68	75
79	ChicagoUnited States	70	78
80	FrankfurtGermany	70	85
81	ViennaAustria	71	84
82	ManchesterUnited Kingdom	72	84
83	MunichGermany	75	88
84	SydneyAustralia	75	80
85	AustinUnited States	75	78
86	Los AngelesUnited States	75	84
87	StockholmSweden	77	97
88	EdinburghUnited Kingdom	78	90
89	VancouverCanada	78	80
90	SingaporeSingapore	80	92
91	DubaiUnited Arab Emirates	85	90
92	OsloNorway	85	95
93	MiamiUnited States	85	82
94	CopenhagenDenmark	86	106
95	SeattleUnited States	88	92
96	Tel AvivIsrael	88	92
97	AmsterdamNetherlands	89	97
98	GenevaSwitzerland	90	129
99	Hong KongHong Kong	95	88
100	New YorkUnited States	100	100
101	LondonUnited Kingdom	107	113
102	DublinIreland	110	113
103	San FranciscoUnited States	115	120
104	ZurichSwitzerland	126	144

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