Cost of Living in Ruse, 🇧🇬 Bulgaria - For Locals, Nomads, and Tourists

Researched Updated Oct 28, 2026 Last changed Oct 31, 2026 About costs

Cost breakdown

Digital nomad: short-term stay (1-3 months). Furnished Airbnb or coliving near center, coworking, eating out ~3x/day, travel health insurance.

Expat: long-term resident (1+ years). Renting apartment in center, mix of cooking and dining out, local health insurance, settled lifestyle.

Family: middle-class 4-person family. 2-3 bedroom in suburbs, groceries for 4, international school, car/transport, family health plan.

Local: budget-conscious local resident. Renting outside center, cooking at home, public transport, local phone plan.

Tourist: short-stay visitor (1-14 days). Hotel/Airbnb nightly, all meals at restaurants, taxis, sightseeing.

CategoryCost

Housing 3 4 25 $281 $337 $449 $281 $281

Utilities 17 — $66 $99 $55 —

Internet & Mobile 6 7 14 $33 $33 $50 $33 $0

Groceries 12 20 $78 $167 $389 $111 $1

Transportation 11 15 $62 $54 $98 $40 $6

Dining Out 18 19 $538 $135 $305 $63 $27

Leisure Activities 23 22 24 $83 $79 $167 $48 $20

Health Insurance 8 $67 — — — $2

Visa & Legal Fees 9 $9 $9 $19 — —

Total $1,151 $880 $1,576 $631 $337

Itemized prices

Local prices converted to the selected currency.

Housing

Apartment (1 bedroom) 2 3 4 $310.00 $280 – $416 per month

Coworking Space $76.00 per month

Airbnb (1 month) $393.42 $337 – $449 per month

Coliving Space $280.62 per month

Food & Dining

Coffee 19 $2.35 per cup

Beer 1 12 $2.02 per pint

Meal (Inexpensive) 18 $8.97 per meal

Fast Food Combo 18 $11.21 per meal

Apples 12 $0.89 per kg

Bread 12 $0.73 per loaf

Milk 12 $1.12 per liter

Rice 12 $1.11 per kg

Chicken Fillets 12 $6.39 per kg

Beef 12 $10.92 per kg

Wine (Mid-range) 12 $5.60 per bottle

Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 18 19 $27.12 per meal

Water (1.5L bottle) 20 $0.51 per bottle

Transportation

Taxi Start 15 $1.38 per trip

Taxi per km 15 $0.60 per km

Monthly Transport Pass 11 $40.41 per month

Gasoline 5 $1.87 per liter

Ride-hailing (5km) 15 $4.39 per trip

Scooter Rental 10 $60.61 per month

Services

Mobile Plan 7 $17.21 per month

Internet (60 Mbps+) 14 $16.02 per month

Gym Membership 23 $43.05 per month

Tennis Court (Weekend) 24 $15.71 per hour

SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 6 $3.45 one-time

Entertainment

Cinema Ticket 22 $4.49 per ticket

Clothing

Jeans $34.78 per pair

Summer Dress $30.61 per dress

Running Shoes $77.80 per pair

Personal Care

Haircut $6.73 per visit

Laundry 21 $0.67 per kg

Healthcare

Doctor Visit (GP) 16 $28.05 per visit

Pharmacy (basic meds) 13 $2.68 per purchase

About these costs

Method: Researched
Last updated: Oct 28, 2026
Last changed: Oct 31, 2026
Exchange rate: 1 USD = 0.8909 EUR on Oct 19, 2026

Checked against the sources below and compared with similar cities. Numbers in the list point to these sources.

Compared with Veliko Tarnovo, Dobrich, Plovdiv, Hanoi, Budapest

Change history

Oct 31, 2026
- Method Generated Researched
- Currency BGN EUR
- Airbnb (1 month) 856.59 393.42
- Apartment (1 bedroom) 383.99 310
- Apples 1.42 0.89
- Beef 13 10.92
41 more changes
- Beer 2.36 2.02
- Bread 1 0.73
- Chicken Fillets 8.57 6.39
- Cinema Ticket 8.27 4.49
- Coffee 2.07 2.35
- Coliving Space 502.14 280.62
- Coworking Space 129.96 76
- Dining Out local 70.89, nomad 502.14, expat 248.11, family 383.99, tourist 41.35 local 62.79, nomad 538.2, expat 134.55, family 305.4, tourist 26.91
- Doctor Visit (GP) 26.58 28.05
- Fast Food Combo 9.45 11.21
- Gasoline 1.62 1.87
- Groceries local 224.48, nomad 118.15, expat 283.56, family 679.36, tourist 7.09 local 111.03, nomad 77.72, expat 166.55, family 388.61, tourist 1.46
- Gym Membership 32.49 43.05
- Haircut 14.77 6.73
- Health Insurance local 26.58, nomad 76.8, expat 47.26, family 129.96, tourist 4.73 local 0, nomad 67.2, tourist 2.24
- Housing local 265.84, nomad 649.82, expat 443.06, family 708.9, tourist 56.12 local 280.62, expat 336.74, family 448.98
- Internet & Mobile local 20.68, nomad 38.4, expat 26.58, family 50.21, tourist 2.95 local 33.23, family 50.44, tourist 0.35
- Internet (60 Mbps+) 13 16.02
- Jeans 64.98 34.78
- Laundry 5.91 0.67
- Leisure Activities local 35.44, nomad 165.41, expat 118.15, family 265.84, tourist 14.77 local 47.54, nomad 83.45, expat 78.96, family 166.9, tourist 20.2
- Meal (Inexpensive) 8.86 8.97
- Meal (Mid-range, 2 people) 44.31 27.12
- Milk 1.65 1.12
- Mobile Plan 20.68 17.21
- Monthly Transport Pass 29.54 40.41
- Pharmacy (basic meds) 8.27 2.68
- Rice 2.24 1.11
- Ride-hailing (5km) 5.61 4.39
- Running Shoes 94.52 77.8
- SIM Card (Tourist, prepaid) 8.86 3.45
- Scooter Rental 7.09 60.61
- Summer Dress 38.4 30.61
- Taxi Start 1.3 1.38
- Taxi per km 0.68 0.6
- Tennis Court (Weekend) 14.77 15.71
- Transportation local 17.72, nomad 35.44, expat 70.89, family 165.41, tourist 11.81 local 40.41, nomad 62.36, expat 53.58, family 98.38, tourist 6.07
- Utilities local 106.33, nomad 129.96, expat 141.78, family 248.11, tourist 0 local 54.9, nomad 0, expat 65.88, family 98.82, tourist 0
- Visa & Legal Fees local 0, expat 29.54, family 59.07 local 0, nomad 9.35, expat 9.35, family 18.71
- Water (1.5L bottle) 0.71 0.51
- Wine (Mid-range) 7.09 5.6
Fix pass corrected units, borrowed-price labels, unsupported citations and category calculations for Apartment (1 bedroom), Coworking Space, Coffee, Beer, Meal (Inexpensive), Fast Food Combo, Apples, Bread, Milk, Rice, Chicken Fillets, Beef, Wine (Mid-range), Taxi Start, Taxi per km, Monthly Transport Pass, Gasoline, Internet (60 Mbps+), Gym Membership, Tennis Court (Weekend), Cinema Ticket, Jeans, Summer Dress, Running Shoes, Housing, Utilities, Internet & Mobile, Groceries, Transportation, Dining Out, Leisure Activities, Health Insurance, Visa & Legal Fees, Airbnb (1 month), Coliving Space, Meal (Mid-range, 2 people), Water (1.5L bottle), Ride-hailing (5km), Scooter Rental, Haircut, Laundry, Doctor Visit (GP), Pharmacy (basic meds); unsupported accommodation and private-insurance totals withdrawn, comparison cities and country exchange rate preserved (laundromat.bg, cinemacity.bg, mfa.bg).

Ruse cost of living