Can You Live in Lisbon on €1,500 a Month? (2026)
Based on Eurostat's 2025 figure for a good-quality 1-bedroom flat in Lisbon: €1,400 a month, not including utilities. All budgets below are take-home (net) income per month.
Short answer: the exact minimum for a 1-bedroom flat of your own in Lisbon to stay under Eurostat's 40% housing-cost overburden line is €3,500 a month after tax. Of the budgets in the table below, €4,000 is the first that clears that line. On a smaller budget, the common options are sharing a flat, renting a smaller or older home, or living further from the centre.
| Monthly budget (net) | Rent share, own 1-bed flat | Left after rent | Rent share if you split with one person | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €1,000 | 140% | minus €400 | 70% | No: the rent alone is more than this budget |
| €1,500 | 93% | €100 | 47% | Very hard: even half the rent is over the 40% line |
| €2,000 | 70% | €600 | 35% | Only if you share: own flat is over the 40% line |
| €2,500 | 56% | €1,100 | 28% | Only if you share: own flat is over the 40% line |
| €3,000 | 47% | €1,600 | 23% | Only if you share: own flat is over the 40% line |
| €4,000 | 35% | €2,600 | 18% | Yes, but tight: rent between 30% and 40% |
Rent: Eurostat, good-quality 1-bedroom flat, 2025. Shares are rent divided by the budget. "Left after rent" must still cover utilities, food, transport, phone, health insurance and everything else.
What is left after rent in Lisbon
We do not publish an invented "monthly living cost" for Lisbon, because no official source measures one budget that fits everyone. What official statistics do show is the price level: on Eurostat's index, everyday prices in Lisbon are about 8% below Brussels (92.4, Brussels = 100). Use that to judge how far the money left after rent will go compared with other capitals.
How these budgets compare with local incomes
The average resident of the region around Lisbon has about €1,550 a month after tax (2023). This average includes children and retired people, so a full-time worker usually has more. Compare your own budget with this figure to see where you would stand locally.
How to read this table
- 40% line: Eurostat counts a household as overburdened when housing costs are more than 40% of disposable income (definition).
- 30% guideline: a common rule of thumb for comfortable housing costs.
- Rent is for a good-quality 1-bedroom flat, collected the same way in every capital. Older or smaller flats, rooms in shared flats and homes outside the centre usually cost less; new-build flats in central areas usually cost more.
- Net, not gross: the budgets are take-home pay. Your gross salary must be higher, by an amount that depends on the country's tax rules.
See also: salary needed to live in Lisbon · Lisbon city profile · budgets in other capitals · methodology
General information based on official statistics. Not financial or tax advice.