Cost of living · Milan · Italy · 2023
🇮🇹 Cost of living in Milan
What it costs to live in Milan - rent, groceries, utilities and getting around, in local euros, plus how the city compares with Italy and the rest of Europe.
- City price index
- 110
- Rent, 1-bed centre
- €1,300
- Monthly essentials
- €1,469
- Transit pass
- €39
Milan · Italy · 2023
Milan's city price index is 110 (EU-27 = 100), 12% above Italy's national average of 98, about €1,469/month for core essentials outside the centre.
- 110
- city price index
- €1,300
- 1-bed centre rent
- €1,469
- monthly essentials
- 98
- Italy avg
City pages stay noindex while the cities class is DEAD; figures remain for country-linked readers.
Estimated monthly essentials
€1,469 / month
A single person renting a one-bedroom flat outside the centre: rent + groceries + utilities + a transit pass. This is a core-costs estimate and excludes discretionary spending such as eating out, leisure and travel.
Rent in Milan
Monthly rent bars plus the city price-index dial against Italy's national average: two TYPES, same vintage.
Milan - average monthly rent (EUR)
🇮🇹 Milan vs Italy avg
Gauge reads the same city price index (110); the tick marks Italy avg (98).
Average advertised monthly rents in Milan. Living outside the centre typically saves €350 a month on a one-bedroom flat.
How Milan compares across every city we track
Milan's city price index of 110 is cheaper than 59% of the 17 European cities on this site, ranking 7th cheapest overall on the EU-27 = 100 scale - not just against Italy, but the full tracked distribution.
Milan: city price index vs. every tracked European city
City price index, EU-27 = 100 - Eurostat urban audit
110 35th percentile higher than 35% of 17 tracked European cities
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more tracked European cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source Eurostat urban audit + national statistics offices · 2023
Living costs in Milan, in context
Milan carries a real and noticeable premium over its national average. National figures average the whole country, so they understate what a resident of Milan actually pays; the city figure is the one that matches the life you would actually live there.
Rent is the line that dominates a city budget. In Milan, a one-bedroom flat runs €1,300 in the centre and €950 outside it, a gap of €350 a month - a fairly typical centre premium, so where in the city you live matters, though not as decisively as in the priciest capitals. A family-sized three-bedroom flat in the centre is around €2,600.
The steadier costs fill out the rest of the budget, and in Milan utilities stand out: at €205 a month, heating, power and water run noticeably higher here than the groceries basket (€275) or the transit pass (€39) - a climate-and-energy-market effect worth budgeting for separately from the more predictable food and transport lines.
Other cities in Italy
Cities with a similar cost of living
What to do with this Milan data
Berlin, Germany tracks closest to Milan's cost index -- a real-world benchmark if you are weighing this city against an alternative.
- See Berlin's full cost profile
- National cost of living for Italy
- Browse every city we track
- Run your own numbers in the calculator
These are city-level averages for general information, not a personal budget. The monthly-essentials figure is a core-costs estimate only; real costs depend on your neighbourhood, flat and lifestyle.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to live in Milan?
For a single person renting a one-bedroom flat outside the centre, core monthly essentials in Milan - rent (€950), groceries (€275), utilities (€205) and a transit pass (€39) - come to about €1,469 a month, before any discretionary spending. On the EU-27 = 100 price scale, Milan sits at index 110.
How much is rent in Milan?
A one-bedroom flat in the city centre averages €1,300 a month, €950 outside the centre. A three-bedroom flat in the centre is around €2,600. Rent is the largest part of any city budget.
Is Milan expensive compared to the rest of Italy?
Milan's city price index of 110 is about 12% above Italy's national average of 98 (EU-27 = 100). Capitals and big cities almost always cost more than the national figure.
Where does this Milan data come from?
Figures are drawn from ISTAT urban audit (2023). The city price index is on the same EU-27 = 100 scale used across the site; rent, grocery, utility and transit figures are local monthly amounts in euros.
How does Milan compare to other cities we track?
Milan's city price index of 110 is cheaper than 59% of the 17 European cities on this site, ranking 7th cheapest overall. This places it against the full tracked distribution, not just its own country's cities.
PlainCostOfLiving is rendered directly from Eurostat comparative price levels and median equivalised net income, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026. Primary sources: Eurostat comparative price levels (prc_ppp_ind) and Eurostat median equivalised net income (ilc_di03).