The cheapest cities for remote workers in 2026

Rent, utilities, groceries, and transit summed across our covered cities. Official statistical sources, EUR-converted at published rates.

Cheapest city in the set: Egypt — Alexandria at €368/mo. Most expensive of the top 25: Japan — Yokohama at €1,116/mo. 25-item ranking.
01 EG Egypt · Alexandria rent €220 · food €110 · utilities €30 €368/mo 02 EG Egypt · Giza rent €280 · food €125 · utilities €32 €447/mo 03 EG Egypt · Cairo rent €300 · food €130 · utilities €35 €475/mo 04 BR Brazil · Porto Alegre rent €380 · food €150 · utilities €55 €610/mo 05 MA Morocco · Marrakech rent €440 · food €160 · utilities €40 €658/mo 06 MX Mexico · Guadalajara rent €480 · food €170 · utilities €35 €703/mo 07 MA Morocco · Rabat rent €480 · food €170 · utilities €40 €710/mo 08 CN China (Mainland) · Chengdu rent €480 · food €200 · utilities €55 €760/mo 09 ZA South Africa · Durban rent €500 · food €170 · utilities €70 €785/mo 10 MA Morocco · Casablanca rent €550 · food €180 · utilities €45 €800/mo 11 KR South Korea · Daejeon rent €360 · food €258 · utilities €150 €802/mo 12 KR South Korea · Daegu rent €374 · food €262 · utilities €153 €824/mo 13 JP Japan · Fukuoka rent €446 · food €217 · utilities €118 €837/mo 14 MX Mexico · Monterrey rent €600 · food €190 · utilities €45 €855/mo 15 BR Brazil · Rio de Janeiro rent €600 · food €180 · utilities €65 €880/mo 16 ZA South Africa · Johannesburg rent €580 · food €190 · utilities €75 €900/mo 17 KR South Korea · Busan rent €442 · food €272 · utilities €156 €908/mo 18 MX Mexico · Mexico City rent €650 · food €200 · utilities €40 €910/mo 19 JP Japan · Kyoto rent €527 · food €229 · utilities €124 €942/mo 20 BR Brazil · São Paulo rent €700 · food €200 · utilities €70 €1,010/mo 21 JP Japan · Osaka rent €589 · food €236 · utilities €124 €1,017/mo 22 PT Portugal · Braga rent €680 · food €230 · utilities €115 €1,053/mo 23 ZA South Africa · Cape Town rent €720 · food €210 · utilities €80 €1,070/mo 24 KR South Korea · Incheon rent €612 · food €286 · utilities €160 €1,098/mo 25 JP Japan · Yokohama rent €651 · food €248 · utilities €136 €1,116/mo

How this is computed. Rent (1-bed city centre) + utilities (85m² flat) + groceries (one person) + monthly transit pass. All in EUR at published rates. Cities without all four components are excluded.

Methodology on the methodology page. Each row links to the country brief with full source attribution.

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