Cost of living in Edinburgh
One person can expect roughly $2,235 a month in Edinburgh, before flights and one-off setup costs.
one person, monthly
$2,235
family of four, monthly
$7,740
What that actually covers.
| Item | USD / month |
|---|---|
| Rent, one bedroomverified From a named local source. | $1,420 |
| Food and groceries | $290 |
| Utilities | $175 |
| Mobile data | $17 |
| Local transport | $50 |
| Coworking 20/day × 4 days/mo regional estimate | $80 |
| Buffer Headroom for everything not itemised above. | $203 |
| Total | $2,235 |
Rent verified against a named source; the rest are modelled components.
What this figure leaves out
Flights, visa fees, health insurance, a rental deposit (often one to three months up front), agency fees, furniture, and the first-month overlap where you pay for a short stay and a lease at the same time. Budget for those separately; they are a one-off cash need, not a monthly cost.
where these numbers come from
- · Rent: national statistics offices and published rent indices where a source exists for the city, otherwise a country baseline.
- · Everyday costs: published operator and transit tariffs, plus regional baselines where no city figure exists.
- · Currency conversion: European Central Bank daily reference rates.
Last reviewed 2026-05-23. Full method, licences and the list of sources we rejected are on the methodology page.