Best value countries for your money
About this page
Ranked on monthly costs, rent and purchasing power, with a floor on safety and healthcare.
This tab answers a narrow question: where does a month of ordinary life cost least, without dropping into places where safety or healthcare collapse? Monthly costs for one person, rent for a one-bedroom outside the centre, purchasing power, safety and healthcare are scored together. Countries below the twentieth percentile on safety or healthcare are removed before ranking, so the cheapest unstable destinations do not win by default.
The headline compares each country with a US baseline of $1,176 a month for one person excluding rent. Costs are estimates from published survey data, not quotes, and they exclude flights, visas and health insurance.
Treat the ordering as a starting point for a budget, not a promise about your own spending.
Countries at travel advisory level 3 or 4 are not ranked here.
Read the full methodBest value ranking
Tuvalu
Est. $450/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $231/mo.
- Low cost
- English widely spoken
Kiribati
Est. $305/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $587/mo.
- Low cost
Eritrea
Est. $304/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $141/mo.
- Low cost
Guinea
Est. $380/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $318/mo.
- Low cost
China
Est. $500/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $239/mo.
- Low cost
- Fast internet
- Path to residency
Benin
Est. $500/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $78/mo.
- Low cost
Bhutan
Est. $371/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $74/mo.
- Low cost
- Nomad visa
India
Est. $296/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $95/mo.
- Low cost
Taiwan
Est. $783/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $336/mo.
- Fast internet
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
Samoa
Est. $545/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $150/mo.
- Low cost
- English widely spoken
- Nomad visa
Japan
Est. $830/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $364/mo.
- Fast internet
- Clean air
- Nomad visa
Gambia
Est. $566/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $108/mo.
- English widely spoken
- Retirement visa
Malaysia
Est. $538/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $276/mo.
- Low cost
- English widely spoken
- Nomad visa
Andorra
Est. $877/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $1,000/mo.
- Fast internet
- Clean air
- Retirement visa
Brunei
Est. $823/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $529/mo.
- English widely spoken
Kosovo
Est. $530/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $224/mo.
- Low cost
Marshall Islands
Est. $547/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $833/mo.
- Low cost
- English widely spoken
- Path to residency
San Marino
Est. $900/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $577/mo.
- Nomad visa
- Retirement visa
Vietnam
Est. $431/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $264/mo.
- Low cost
- Fast internet
- Nomad visa
São Tomé and Príncipe
Est. $719/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $187/mo.
- Path to residency
Thailand
Est. $603/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $282/mo.
- Fast internet
- Nomad visa
- Retirement visa
South Korea
Est. $966/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $441/mo.
- Fast internet
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
Turkey
Est. $646/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $420/mo.
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
- Retirement visa
Tajikistan
Est. $454/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $287/mo.
- Low cost
Indonesia
Est. $430/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $178/mo.
- Low cost
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
Sri Lanka
Est. $465/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $176/mo.
- Low cost
- English widely spoken
Lithuania
Est. $863/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $448/mo.
- English widely spoken
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
Romania
Est. $659/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $383/mo.
- Fast internet
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
Bulgaria
Est. $691/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $365/mo.
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
North Macedonia
Est. $612/mo for one person (vs. $1,176 US average)
1BR rent outside the center: $260/mo.
- Path to residency
- Nomad visa
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