How much does it cost to live in Albania per month, by city?

The table adds up the recurring bills of one person renting a furnished 1+1 on a yearly contract. Rents are advertised rents; tenants usually pay 5-10% less. Groceries are a fixed basket priced at one national supermarket chain (see below); people who shop at markets and discount chains pay less, people who buy imported goods pay more. Not included: eating out, clothes, a car, travel, school fees and anything you would spend in any country of your choosing.

A couple does not pay twice as much: rent, internet and utilities are shared, so add roughly EUR 200-250 for the second person's food, phone and insurance.

Shelf prices from the online shop of SPAR, a national chain with about a hundred stores, read on 24 October 2026. Vegetables, fruit, eggs and bread are usually cheaper at the daily markets (pazar) and from bakeries; imported brands, olive oil and cheese are where Albania stops being cheap.

Tirana is the only city where you need a bus pass; Durrës, Vlorë and Sarandë are walkable and most flats are within reach of the sea on foot. Fuel is not cheap: the state caps pump prices several times a week and in mid-October 2026 diesel was capped at 213 lek a litre (about EUR 2.31) and petrol at 190 lek (EUR 2.06). An intercity bus costs 235 lek from Tirana to Durrës and 700 lek to Vlorë under the regulated distance tariff, and the airport bus to the centre of Tirana 400 lek.

The average gross monthly wage was 92,150 lek (about EUR 1,000) in the second quarter of 2026, up 9.8% in a year, and the minimum wage is 50,000 lek (EUR 543). Consumer prices rose 2.9% in the year to September 2026. Rent in Tirana takes a very large share of a local salary, which is why most Albanians own rather than rent and why foreigners with a European income find the coast cheap but Tirana's centre less so.

If you are planning a longer stay, the long-term rent page gives rents by district, and the rent-or-buy page shows when buying a flat costs less than renting one.