🇧🇬 Bulgaria · 2026

Cost of Living in Sofia

33.1% above the Bulgaria average

Ranked #341 of 577 cities · More expensive than 40.9% of cities worldwide

+33.1%
Cost of Living
+45.7%
Rent
+16.4%
Groceries
+11.0%
Purchasing Power

Compared to Bulgaria average · See Bulgaria ranking →

Rent Prices in Sofia

Apartment City Centre Outside Centre You Save
1-Bedroom EUR 693/mo ≈ $779 EUR 536/mo ≈ $602 23%
3-Bedroom EUR 1,370/mo ≈ $1,541 EUR 933/mo ≈ $1,049 32%
Numbeo · 2026-10-02

Multi-Source Comparison

★★★ High Confidence

Sofia has a cost of living index of 34.2 (New York = 100, rent included), the average of 3 of 4 data sources. ShouldIMove price index is left out because it sits more than 15% away from the others.

34.2
Index
4
Sources
3.7
Gap between sources

Source Values (NYC = 100)

Numbeo
36.7
Expatistan
33.0
LivingCost
33.0
ShouldIMove price index
21.8
left out

ShouldIMove price index: our own basket of real item prices plus rent.

Eurostat Validation (EU27 = 100) Gov. Data
Eurostat
60.0

Based on 60 country PLI x 1 city factor

View all 577 cities | Data collected: Numbeo October 2026 · Expatistan March 2026 · LivingCost October 2026

Cost Indices

Cost of Living
+33.1% Very expensive
Rent
+45.7% Very expensive
Groceries
+16.4% Expensive
Restaurants
+25.8% Very expensive
Purchasing Power
+11.0% Strong

Living in Sofia: What to Expect

Sofia is mid-priced by global standards (ranked #341 of 577 cities). It is 33.1% more expensive than the Bulgaria average, based on 5 cities.

Groceries are expensive and dining out is very expensive. The best value is groceries and the priciest is rent.

Workers in Bulgaria earning EUR 50,000 gross take home EUR 3,478/month after tax (16.5% effective rate). See full Bulgaria tax calculator →

How Does Sofia Compare?

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