Singapore Budget Calculator
- Housing + utilities $2,483 61%
- Food & drink $749 18%
- Getting around $203 5%
- Work + connectivity $409 10%
- Health, gym, fun $249 6%
These are mid-market figures. Paying with a typical bank card in Singapore adds roughly 3% on top, about $123 a month on this budget. Find the best travel card for Singapore →
A solo digital-nomad month, per person, side by side with places in the region.
A month here is about 146% of a mid-size US city, so it costs more than home.
See the cost breakdown
- Rent (1-bed) 1× 1-bed $2,388
- Utilities + internet flat estimate $95
- Eating out (local) 32 × $4.85 $155
- Eating out (mid-range) 16 × $14 $217
- Groceries (cooking in) 32 meals × $2.90 $93
- Coffees 45 × $4.48 $202
- Beers out 10 × $8.21 $82
- Getting around transit pass + 12 taxis $203
- Coworking $373/mo $373
- SIM / data 7-day SIM × 4 $36
- Gym $63/mo $63
- Massages 2 × $49 $97
- Health (amortised) GP + dentist ÷ 12 $8.71
- Nightlife / buffer flat estimate $80
Figures assume a long-term stay (30+ days) and cover rent, food, transport, internet and everyday spending. Flights, visas and insurance aren't included. Rent, utilities and internet are shared across the household; everything else is per person. Rent, food and transport use the tracked prices below; utilities, the buffer and amortised health are modelled estimates.
Updated August 2026
Average prices in Singapore
Singapore is the most expensive city in the region and one of the priciest in the world. Rent is the reason: a central condo costs thousands a month. Hawker food, healthcare and the MRT stay cheap; housing, cars and anything with alcohol are where it gets expensive.
Supermarket prices
Rent in Singapore by area
Rent makes up a large part of the living cost in Singapore. There is a big price difference between public housing (HDB flats, where most Singaporeans live) and private condos: a room in an HDB flat costs a fraction of a condo. The areas below run priciest to cheapest, using our own estimates from local listings.
- Marina Bay / CBD Pricier Marina Bay and the CBD are the newest towers and the highest rents, walkable to the offices and the bars. You pay a premium for the address and the commute you do not have.
- Orchard / River Valley Pricier Orchard and River Valley are central and full of expats, next to the shopping belt and a short walk or MRT ride into town. Older condos here can cost a little less than the glass towers downtown.
- Tiong Bahru / Tanjong Pagar Mid Tiong Bahru and Tanjong Pagar are the walkable, cafe-heavy districts just outside the core. Popular with younger renters, a mix of old walk-ups and new condos, still central and still not cheap.
- East Coast / Katong Mid The East Coast and Katong sit by the water, greener and more residential, popular with families for the beach parks and the food. Rents are a notch below the center, and you trade the short commute for the space.
- Queenstown / one-north Cheaper Queenstown and one-north sit near the tech and biotech offices, a mix of HDB and condo with more room for the money. Well connected by MRT, and cheaper than anywhere truly central.
- Woodlands / Jurong Cheaper Woodlands, Jurong and the outer towns are the heartlands, mostly HDB, with the lowest rents in the country. The trade-off is a longer commute into town, though Jurong is growing into a second business hub of its own.
Is Singapore expensive?
Yes, very. Singapore is the most expensive city in the region and one of the priciest in the world, mostly because of rent and cars. A lot is still cheap: hawker food, good-value healthcare, and public transport that is a bargain. What gets expensive is housing, owning a car, restaurants outside the hawker centers, and anything with alcohol.
On the Digital Nomad setting the national average is about $4,090 a month, more than double Thailand and above a mid-size US or Australian city. Only Japan comes close in the region. What you buy for the money is a safe, green, efficient city where everything works.
Sending money to Singapore
If you earn abroad, you are converting to Singapore dollars, one of the stronger currencies in Asia. Transfer fees still matter on big sums, and with rent this high the sums are big. A weak rate plus a fee can cost 3 to 5% each time.
Rent usually means a deposit of one to three months plus an agent fee, paid by bank transfer or PayNow. Find the cheapest way to transfer money. Compare different providers below, then the full Singapore money guide covers cards, ATMs and PayNow.
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Paying rent, using ATMs, tapping a card? See the full Singapore money guide.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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How much do you need per month to live in Singapore?
About $1,840 a month for a basic setup with a room in a shared flat, $4,090 for a digital-nomad month with a condo and coworking, and $7,240 for a prime-area condo with taxis and restaurants, per person. Rent is most of it. Use the calculator above for your own area and currency.
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Why is Singapore so expensive?
Rent and cars, mostly. A small island with high demand keeps housing among the highest-cost in the world. Cars are worse: before you buy one you bid for a Certificate of Entitlement that often costs more than the car itself and only lasts ten years. Day to day, hawker food and the MRT are genuinely cheap; it is housing that sets the budget.
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Can you live in Singapore on $2,000 a month?
It is tight. $2,000 works if you rent a room in an HDB flat (foreigners can rent one, even though only locals can buy), eat mostly at hawker centers and skip the bars. A private condo alone costs more than that, so a $2,000 budget means sharing and going without a lot.
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Is Singapore more expensive than Japan?
On our numbers, yes, on average. A nomad month is about $4,090 in Singapore against $2,380 across Japan, mostly on rent. Central Tokyo closes the gap, but Singapore has no cheap second city to pull the average down the way Osaka or Sapporo do.
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What costs surprise people in Singapore?
Alcohol and cars. A beer out is $10 or more, and owning a car costs a fortune once you count the certificate you have to buy just for the right to own one. Rent deposits and agent fees at move-in also add up fast.