Your best match: Southern Europe

Your best match: Southern Europe

Greece and Italy have full budgets in our data. Greece runs about $1,212 a month on a tight budget, $1,493 in the middle and $1,881 on a comfortable one for one person. A couple sharing one home runs $1,688 to $2,794. Italy runs about $1,524 a month on a tight budget, $1,833 in the middle and $2,262 on a comfortable one for one person. A couple sharing one home runs $2,093 to $3,191. Portugal and Spain use city proxies. Portugal runs about $1,497 a month on a tight budget, $1,895 in the middle and $2,308 on a comfortable one for one person. A couple sharing one home runs $1,951 to $3,249. Spain runs about $1,545 a month on a tight budget, $1,898 in the middle and $2,391 on a comfortable one for one person. A couple sharing one home runs $2,042 to $3,414. Prices shown in US dollars. Check current exchange rates.

Cities cost more than towns. A one-bedroom in Rome city-centre is $820 and outside the centre $641, against $549 and $444 in Athens. Lisbon is $1,610 and Madrid $1,521 in the side-by-side page. See the Portugal vs Spain page, the Italy vs Greece page and the Spain vs Italy page for the detail.

Visits come before permits. US citizens may stay 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area, and the Schengen 90/180 calculator counts your days. For a longer stay, Italy's elective residence visa points to roughly EUR 31,000 a year per person in passive income (about $2,933 a month at our rate), plus a registered lease or purchase contract, with no work allowed. Greece's digital nomad visa needs EUR 3,500 net a month (about $3,974). The Greek ministry page lists a permit for economically independent persons with no euro threshold shown. Portugal and Spain long-stay thresholds were not verified in our review. Also see the ETIAS guide.

Healthcare. The mid budgets carry a health insurance line of $80 in Greece and $69 in Italy. A private plan benchmark in the data is the SafetyWing Complete plan at $177.50 a month for ages 18 to 39, so a retiree should expect to pay more and should confirm age limits, pre-existing condition rules and US coverage with the insurer. Access to public healthcare for new foreign residents depends on the visa category you hold, so ask the local authority after your visa is approved.

Fit. Southern Europe rewards people who want four mild seasons, walkable towns and a short trip to other European countries, and who accept that the language is new in each country. The flight home is transatlantic, so plan for jet lag on each visit. Suppose your monthly income is $2,200. Against the mid figure of $1,493 for Greece, that leaves a margin of $707 a month, or $8,484 a year, before flights home, visa fees and the occasional big repair. The same income against Italy's mid figure of $1,833 leaves $367.

Next steps. Count your Schengen days, compare the countries on the pages above, and run your savings through the how-long-will-my-money-last-abroad calculator, the moving cost calculator and the movers vs truck vs container calculator. This quiz is informational only and is not legal or financial advice.

Source: Adventure Calcs cost-of-living pages built from Numbeo price data and ECB reference rates (30 Sep 2026); Adventure Calcs country-vs-country pages; Philippine Retirement Authority SRRV page (pra.gov.ph/SRRVisa); US State Department country information pages as cited on the compare pages; Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mofa.go.jp); Irish Immigration Service (irishimmigration.ie); Government of Canada entry requirements (canada.ca). Note: budgets are estimates from crowd-reported prices at a stated date; visa thresholds change, so confirm with the official source before you commit.

Planning guidance and estimates, not medical, legal or immigration advice. Fees, allowances, limits and entry rules change, so confirm with your airline, cruise line, customs agency or the official government source before you book or travel.

How Southern Europe compares

* Illustrative figures and notes, rounded -- use the calculators below for your exact numbers, and always check the official source for current rules and prices.