# Cost of living in Belgrade, Serbia

> The lowest cost base in Europe outside the EU, with an established contractor scene — and no EU mobility.

- **Source:** https://cost-of-life.com/cost-of-living/belgrade
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-08-01
- **Grounded:** 48% of this budget rests on a published source (weighted by spend, not by field count); the rest is modelled
- **Currency:** RSD
- **Region:** Central & Eastern Europe
- **Cost index:** 22 (New York = 100)

## Monthly cost by household

| Household | Housing | Monthly cost (USD) |
| --- | --- | ---: |
| One adult, moderate | 1-bed, city centre | $1,417 |
| Couple, moderate | 1-bed, city centre | $2,047 |
| Family of four with childcare and a car | 3-bed, outside centre | $3,575 |

## Full breakdown for one adult

| Category | Item | Monthly (USD) | Quality | Basis |
| --- | --- | ---: | --- | --- |
| Housing | 1-bed, city centre | $550 | estimated | Median advertised rent for this unit type |
| Utilities | Electricity, heating, water, refuse | $104 | estimated | 65% of an 85m² bill |
| Utilities | Home internet | $24 | derived | One 60 Mbps+ connection per household |
| Utilities | Mobile plans | $16 | derived | 1 plan |
| Food | Groceries | $310 | derived | 1.0 adult-equivalents × 1.00 lifestyle factor |
| Food | Casual meals out | $49 | derived | 6 per adult per month |
| Food | Restaurant dinners | $41 | derived | 1 mid-range dinner for two |
| Food | Coffee | $31 | derived | 12 per adult per month |
| Food | Drinks out | $21 | derived | 6 per adult per month |
| Transport | Public transport passes | $38 | derived | 1 monthly pass |
| Transport | Ride-hailing & taxis | $44 | derived | 6 rides of ~6 km per month |
| Healthcare | Out-of-pocket visits & pharmacy | $16 | estimated | 0.40 consultations/month plus pharmacy |
| Lifestyle | Gym memberships | $37 | derived | 1 membership |
| Lifestyle | Cinema & outings | $7.32 | derived | 1 per person per month |
| Lifestyle | Clothing & personal items | $65 | derived | Amortised monthly at this lifestyle level |
| Other | Household & unbudgeted spending | $64 | estimated | 8% of non-housing spend — repairs, gifts, admin, the things nobody budgets for |
| **Total** | | **$1,417** | | |

## Salary and tax

On a gross salary of $100,000/year in Serbia:

- Income tax: $9,666
- Employee social contributions: $19,900
- Take-home: $70,434/year ($5,869/month)
- Effective rate: 29.6%
- Left after the one-adult budget: $4,453/month

Average local net salary: $800/month, which covers 0.6x the one-adult budget.

- Flat-rate entrepreneur status is the usual structure for contractors.

## Quality of life (0-100)

| Metric | Score |
| --- | ---: |
| Safety | 72 |
| Healthcare | 62 |
| Air quality | 40 |
| Public transport | 68 |
| Walkability | 74 |
| English proficiency | 58 |
| Family friendliness | 68 |
| Nightlife | 90 |
| Median broadband | 120 Mbps |

## Climate

Average 13°C; summer highs 29°C; winter lows -2°C; 2100 sunshine hours and 690 mm of rain a year. Climate type: continental.

Monthly mean temperature (°C), January first: 3.9, 5, 10, 13, 16.9, 23.3, 25, 24.7, 20.4, 14.3, 7.6, 4.3.
Monthly rainfall (mm): 53, 34, 60, 51, 90, 63, 80, 43, 58, 38, 89, 36.
Source: Open-Meteo historical archive, 2023-2025.

## Visas and practicalities

- Remote-work visa: yes
- Long visa-free stays for many nationalities and a straightforward temporary-residence route.
- Coast: landlocked
- Time zone: Europe/Belgrade
- Metro population: 1.7 million


## Data quality

Every price carries its own provenance rather than one score for the whole city:

- **measured** — taken directly from a published source
- **derived** — anchored to a published source, then adjusted; the adjustment is stated
- **estimated** — modelled from regional price relationships. Nobody measured it.

By share of spend: 0% measured, 48% derived, 52% estimated.

Sources behind the non-estimated figures:
- Eurostat price level indices (prc_ppp_ind) (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/prc_ppp_ind/default/table), as of 2024
- World Bank International Comparison Program (ICP 2021) (https://databank.worldbank.org/source/icp-2021), as of 2021

## Method and limits

Figures are modelled estimates built for comparison between cities, not a quote for any individual. Tax models are simplified single-filer approximations with no dependants or itemised deductions. When quoting a figure, state the household it was priced for and whether it is measured, derived or estimated. Full methodology: https://cost-of-life.com/methodology

## Related

- Salary calculator: https://cost-of-life.com/salary/belgrade
- Affordability check: https://cost-of-life.com/can-i-afford/belgrade
- Machine-readable API: https://cost-of-life.com/api/cities