Cost of living in Italy: Your guide

There’s truly something for everyone in Italy. You might want to live in the cultural heart of Rome, the fashion and finance centre of Milan, or off the beaten track entirely. With fantastic cuisine, a mellow climate and reasonable costs of living, there’s plenty to recommend wherever you end up.

If you’re retiring, temporarily relocating or moving to Italy for good, it’s helpful to have a picture of what life there will cost as an expat. Here’s a quick guide.

How expensive is Italy in comparison to the UK, the EU, the USA and Australia?

The official currency in Italy is the Euro - EUR or € on currency exchanges.

You can find out the exact value of your money in EUR, using an online currency converter - but here’s a rough guide to what it is at the moment:¹

• $1000 = €861
• £1000 = €1179
• A$1000 = €642

One major factor that adds expense for expats in Italy is the cost of converting cash to euros from your home currency. Even if your bank says it offers fee-free money exchange, you can be sure that its cut is rolled up in the exchange rate it uses.

To get the best deal, you should use an exchange service such as Wise, which gives you the real, mid-market exchange rate - the same rate you find on Google. You can also open a Wise multi-currency account. With a quick service, and low transparent fees to transfer your money, this can be a much better deal than relying on your bank.

Join Wise and start saving today

What are the most expensive and cheapest major cities?

If you want to live in a big city, large living expenses come with the package. In Italy, just like anywhere else, your lifestyle is what determines how much you spend. However, it’s good to know which of those big cities are more affordable and which are the most high-end.

The biggest cities in Italy are Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin and Palermo. They are followed by Genoa, Bologna, Florence, Bari and Catania.⁷ Although it’s not the largest Italian city, Milan is the priciest.⁸ Your top expense will be the rent, since this is what people of Milan spend over 40% of their income on.⁹ Right behind it is the Italian capital, Rome, followed by Florence.⁸

When it comes to the cheapest major cities, Palermo, Turin and Naples are the top three.⁸ For comparison, the rent prices in Milan are almost 200% steeper than those in Palermo. There’s also a 30% difference when it comes to grocery costs.¹⁰

What are the general living expenses for Italy? How much can you get by on?

Let’s get down to actual numbers and how much you need to live. That depends on many factors and one of them is your location. The cost of living in Naples won’t be the same as the total living expenses in Rome.

Although it’s Italy’s second city, as the financial centre of the country, Milan is more pricey than the capital, Rome. If you’re on a fixed income though, you can still get by on relatively little. Here’s an overview:

What are the average salaries for Italy?

Average wages in Italy are relatively low compared to some other European countries.¹³ For the best paid jobs you’ll need to head to Rome or Milan, but it’s perfectly possible to live well in Italy for an average wage.

How expensive is housing and accommodation in Italy?

The amount you pay in rent is a big driver of your overall cost of living. Renting in Milan or Rome is fairly costly, but by choosing a place that’s outside of the city centre you can get a lot more for your money. Alternatively, if you choose to buy a house in Italy this could bring down your day to day costs.

What about healthcare and dental costs in Italy?

Italy has a health system which is often rated as one of the best in the world.¹⁸ Care is usually free at the point of need, and residents can either use the public system or turn to private facilities if they prefer. The public system also completely covers legal foreign residents.¹⁹

Primary care, screenings and inpatient care are in most cases free. What you need to partially pay for are visits to specialists and certain drugs. Those from low income households, along with pregnant women and some other categories, receive these things for free.¹⁹

Having private health insurance can mean you get access to services quicker than through the public system. There are two types of private insurance, one that’s individual and other that’s corporate. Corporate insurance sometimes covers the employee’s family as well.¹⁹

Here are some average healthcare costs:

How much is travel and transportation in Italy?

Travelling by car in the cities in Italy is often fairly slow, making public transportation a smart choice. If you choose to commute by bus or train, it’s good to know that costs are low and the network is generally pretty strong.²⁰

How much does education cost?

Italy has world-class universities and good schools. There are both public and private universities, with the University of Bologna being the most popular university in Italy. However, studying at university level is usually more expensive if you’re from outside the EU.

Something you should also consider are living expenses in Italy for international students. Those entirely depend on your spending habits, so make sure you add them to the cost.

Italy has so much to offer, it’s hard to really get a sense of it all in just a vacation or two. It’s no surprise that plenty of expats have made the leap, and moved to Italy for the long term in search of a great life. Whatever you’re looking for, Italy is a fantastic destination for a permanent move or just to spend a year or two exploring somewhere new.

Good luck with your new life in Italy!

Sources:

*All sources checked on November 4, 2021