One person renting a 1-bedroom flat in central Lisbon needs about EUR 2,180 a month on today’s Numbeo prices: EUR 1,419.23 rent plus EUR 760.90 for everything else. Outside the centre it is about EUR 1,830. Rent is 65% of the central total, and the D8 visa income bar (EUR 3,680 a month) is 1.7 times it.
The sum, line by line
| Line | EUR a month | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Rent, 1-bedroom, city centre | 1,419.23 | Numbeo, updated 24 Sept 2026 |
| Everything else, one person | 760.90 | Numbeo’s estimate “excluding rent”, same date |
| Total, centre | 2,180.13 | 1,419.23 + 760.90 |
| Rent, 1-bedroom, outside centre | 1,067.20 | Numbeo |
| Total, outside centre | 1,828.10 | 1,067.20 + 760.90 |
| Rent share of the central total | 65% | 1,419.23 / 2,180.13 |
All figures are Numbeo, a user-submitted price database: 1,831 entries from 209 contributors over the last 12 months. It is not an official statistic, and we found no second rent source that allowed automated reading, so treat rent as one estimate and check current listings. Numbeo prices are already in euros, so no conversion is needed.
Everyday prices behind the estimate
Numbeo, 24 Sept 2026: inexpensive restaurant meal EUR 15; mid-range meal for two EUR 55; cappuccino EUR 2.70; domestic draught beer EUR 3; monthly public transport pass EUR 40; utilities for an 85 m2 flat EUR 147.65; broadband EUR 29.12; mobile plan EUR 16.12; gym EUR 42.02; milk (1 litre) EUR 1.02; 12 eggs EUR 3.52; 1 kg chicken fillets EUR 7.10; 1 kg rice EUR 1.34. Three-bedroom rents are EUR 2,526.09 in the centre and EUR 1,767.39 outside, which is where a family’s budget diverges.
The distinctive check: the visa bar against the city
Portugal’s residency visa page asks for average monthly income over the last three months of at least four times the monthly minimum guaranteed remuneration. With the 2026 figure of EUR 920 (DGERT), that is 4 x 920 = EUR 3,680 a month (the tracker records it as computed, since the visa page states only the multiple; see the D8 guide and the tracker row). Set beside the city:
- 3,680 / 2,180.13 = 1.69 times the central total
- 3,680 / 1,828.10 = 2.01 times the outside-centre total
The bar is under twice what a single person spends here. For comparison, Mexico City’s consulate income bar is 2.5 times that city’s total (Mexico City sums), and Thailand’s DTV sets a savings test instead (Chiang Mai sums). The lowest-income table puts Portugal beside the other schemes.
What the sum leaves out
Flights, visa and residence fees, health insurance (matrix), coworking (Lisbon coworking), deposits (renting is covered in renting an apartment in Lisbon) and tax, which depends on residence (tax residency basics). Neighbourhoods: Lisbon neighbourhood guide and the city page.
Method
Researched from Numbeo’s Lisbon page (24 Sept 2026), the Portuguese visa portal and DGERT for the visa bar, checked 29 Sept 2026. Totals and ratios are our arithmetic, shown above. Numbeo was read through an automated summariser; re-read the page before you decide. No figure is a measured personal spend. Re-checked every 30 days.