Cost of Living for Medical Students Abroad 2026: Index of 214 University Cities
08.10.2026
Short answer
Monthly living costs for medical students in 214 university cities in 37 countries: rent, food and transport, from about 150 € to 1,500 € per month.
Living costs for medical students abroad by city
Monthly budget for a student in a shared flat or student residence, including rent, food, local transport and everyday expenses. Cities are ordered from the lowest to the highest budget.
| City | Country | Living costs per month | Universities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osh | Kyrgyzstan | 150 – 300 € | 1 |
| Almaty | Kazakhstan | 200 – 400 € | 6 |
| Astana | Kazakhstan | 200 – 400 € | 2 |
| Karaganda | Kazakhstan | 200 – 400 € | 1 |
| Kokshetau | Kazakhstan | 200 – 400 € | 1 |
| Petropavlovsk | Kazakhstan | 200 – 400 € | 1 |
| Semei | Kazakhstan | 200 – 400 € | 1 |
| Shymkent | Kazakhstan | 200 – 400 € | 1 |
| Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan | 200 – 400 € | 4 |
| Jalal-Abad | Kyrgyzstan | 200 – 400 € | 1 |
| Kant | Kyrgyzstan | 200 – 400 € | 1 |
| Arkhangelsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Astrakhan | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Barnaul | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Belgorod | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Blagoveshchensk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Cheboksary | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Chelyabinsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Chita | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Irkutsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Ivanovo | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Izhevsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Kemerovo | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Kursk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Makhachkala | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Nalchik | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Omsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Orenburg | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Oryol | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Perm | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Petrozavodsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Ryazan | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Saransk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Saratov | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Smolensk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Stavropol | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Tomsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Tula | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Tver | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Tyumen | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Ufa | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Ulan-Ude | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Ulyanovsk | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Vladikavkaz | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Volgograd | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Voronezh | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Yoshkar-Ola | Russia | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Andijan | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 2 |
| Angren | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Bukhara | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 3 |
| Fergana | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 3 |
| Gulistan | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Karshi | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Khiva | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Namangan | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 3 |
| Navoi | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 2 |
| Nukus | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Samarkand | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 1 |
| Tashkent | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 8 |
| Termez | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 2 |
| Urgench | Uzbekistan | 250 – 400 € | 2 |
| Khabarovsk | Russia | 250 – 450 € | 1 |
| Novosibirsk | Russia | 250 – 450 € | 1 |
| Chernivtsi | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Dnipro | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 2 |
| Ivano-Frankivsk | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Kharkiv | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 3 |
| Kropyvnytskyi | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Kyiv | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 5 |
| Lviv | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 2 |
| Mykolaiv | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Odesa | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 2 |
| Poltava | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Rivne | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 2 |
| Sumy | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Ternopil | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Uzhhorod | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Vinnytsia | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Zaporizhzhia | Ukraine | 300 – 450 € | 1 |
| Vanadzor | Armenia | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Nakhchivan | Azerbaijan | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Gomel | Belarus | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Grodno | Belarus | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Minsk | Belarus | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Vitebsk | Belarus | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Craiova | Romania | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Oradea | Romania | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Kazan | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 2 |
| Krasnodar | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Nizhny Novgorod | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Rostov-on-Don | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Samara | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Vladivostok | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 2 |
| Yakutsk | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Yekaterinburg | Russia | 300 – 500 € | 1 |
| Dushanbe | Tajikistan | 300 – 500 € | 2 |
| Kutaisi | Georgia | 350 – 550 € | 2 |
| Belgrade | Serbia | 400 – 500 € | 2 |
| Foča | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 400 – 550 € | 1 |
| Changchun | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Chengdu | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Chongqing | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Dalian | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Fuzhou | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Guangzhou | China | 350 – 600 € | 3 |
| Harbin | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Hefei | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Jilin | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Jinan | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Jinzhou | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Kunming | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Luzhou | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Nanchong | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Nanjing | China | 350 – 600 € | 2 |
| Nanning | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Nantong | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Ningbo | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Peking | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Qingdao | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Shanghai | China | 350 – 600 € | 2 |
| Shantou | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Shenyang | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Shihezi | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Shijiazhuang | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Suzhou | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Tianjin | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Wuhan | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Yichang | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Yinchuan | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Zhenjiang | China | 350 – 600 € | 1 |
| Yerevan | Armenia | 400 – 600 € | 4 |
| Mostar | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Pleven | Bulgaria | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Batumi | Georgia | 400 – 600 € | 3 |
| Chisinau | Moldova | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Famagusta (Gazimağusa) | North Cyprus | 350 – 650 € | 1 |
| Güzelyurt (Morphou) | North Cyprus | 500 € | 1 |
| Lublin | Poland | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Olsztyn | Poland | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Arad | Romania | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Cluj-Napoca | Romania | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Galați | Romania | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Iași | Romania | 450 – 550 € | 2 |
| Târgu Mureș | Romania | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Saint Petersburg | Russia | 400 – 600 € | 4 |
| Kragujevac | Serbia | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Niš | Serbia | 400 – 600 € | 1 |
| Kyrenia (Girne) | North Cyprus | 490 – 550 € | 3 |
| Jelgava | Latvia | 450 – 600 € | 2 |
| Skopje | North Macedonia | 400 – 650 € | 1 |
| Stip | North Macedonia | 400 – 650 € | 1 |
| Bydgoszcz | Poland | 400 – 650 € | 1 |
| Moscow | Russia | 400 – 650 € | 4 |
| Kaunas | Lithuania | 500 – 580 € | 2 |
| Burgas | Bulgaria | 400 – 700 € | 1 |
| Pilsen | Czech Republic | 550 € | 1 |
| Ulaanbaatar | Mongolia | 400 – 700 € | 1 |
| Lefka (Lefke) | North Cyprus | 550 € | 1 |
| Nicosia (Lefkoşa) | North Cyprus | 550 € | 5 |
| Łódź | Poland | 450 – 650 € | 1 |
| Timișoara | Romania | 450 – 650 € | 2 |
| Tirana | Albania | 450 – 700 € | 2 |
| Baku | Azerbaijan | 450 – 700 € | 3 |
| Novi Sad | Serbia | 530 – 630 € | 2 |
| Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 600 € | 2 |
| Stara Zagora | Bulgaria | 600 € | 1 |
| Rijeka | Croatia | 500 – 700 € | 1 |
| Nicosia / Zurich | Cyprus | 600 € | 1 |
| Thessaloniki | Greece | 600 € | 1 |
| Katowice | Poland | 500 – 700 € | 3 |
| Constanța | Romania | 500 – 700 € | 1 |
| Martin | Slovakia | 500 – 700 € | 1 |
| Istanbul | Turkey | 500 – 700 € | 3 |
| Tartu | Estonia | 500 – 750 € | 1 |
| Tbilisi | Georgia | 500 – 750 € | 18 |
| Gdańsk | Poland | 500 – 750 € | 1 |
| Košice | Slovakia | 500 – 750 € | 2 |
| Plovdiv | Bulgaria | 500 – 800 € | 1 |
| Sofia | Bulgaria | 500 – 800 € | 3 |
| Varna | Bulgaria | 500 – 800 € | 1 |
| Osijek | Croatia | 500 – 800 € | 1 |
| Szczecin | Poland | 500 – 800 € | 1 |
| Bucharest | Romania | 550 – 800 € | 2 |
| Olomouc | Czech Republic | 600 – 800 € | 1 |
| Ostrava | Czech Republic | 600 – 800 € | 1 |
| Pécs | Hungary | 600 – 800 € | 1 |
| Riga | Latvia | 580 – 820 € | 2 |
| Białystok | Poland | 600 – 800 € | 1 |
| Kraków | Poland | 580 – 850 € | 2 |
| Halberstadt | Germany | 650 – 800 € | 1 |
| Split | Croatia | 650 – 850 € | 1 |
| Nicosia | Cyprus | 600 – 900 € | 2 |
| Athens | Greece | 750 € | 1 |
| Heraklion | Greece | 750 € | 1 |
| Vilnius | Lithuania | 650 – 850 € | 1 |
| Warsaw | Poland | 600 – 900 € | 2 |
| Budapest | Hungary | 650 – 920 € | 2 |
| Szeged | Hungary | 600 – 1,000 € | 1 |
| Porto | Portugal | 700 – 900 € | 1 |
| Cartagena | Spain | 700 – 900 € | 1 |
| Murcia | Spain | 700 – 900 € | 1 |
| Debrecen | Hungary | 700 – 950 € | 1 |
| Valletta | Malta | 800 – 900 € | 1 |
| Bratislava | Slovakia | 700 – 1,100 € | 1 |
| Krems an der Donau | Austria | 750 – 1,100 € | 2 |
| Valencia | Spain | 800 – 1,100 € | 2 |
| Msida | Malta | 800 – 1,200 € | 1 |
| Pembroke | Malta | 900 – 1,100 € | 1 |
| Prague | Czech Republic | 900 – 1,200 € | 3 |
| Frankfurt am Main | Germany | 950 – 1,150 € | 1 |
| Leiden | Netherlands | 850 – 1,250 € | 1 |
| Poznań | Poland | 700 – 1,400 € | 1 |
| Cologne | Germany | 1,000 – 1,200 € | 1 |
| Madrid | Spain | 1,000 – 1,500 € | 1 |
What the monthly budget includes
- Rent: usually the largest item, from a room in a student residence to a one-bedroom flat.
- Food: groceries and occasional meals in the university canteen.
- Transport: student public transport pass.
- Everyday expenses: phone, health insurance where required, books and leisure.
Lowest and highest living costs
The lowest budgets are found in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan. The highest budgets are in Austria, Malta, Germany, the Netherlands. Within a country, capitals are usually 20 to 40 percent more expensive than smaller university cities.
Total cost per year
Multiply the monthly budget by twelve and add the tuition fee from the tuition index. A student in a city with 500 € per month and a tuition fee of 6,000 € spends about 12,000 € per year.
The author's view
When I studied, I underestimated how much the city decides your budget. Two universities with the same fee can differ by 5,000 € a year once you add rent. Look at this index together with the tuition index and calculate the full six years before you sign anything.
Marcel Kloos, founder of Medschool Experts
Summary
- 214 university cities in 37 countries.
- Monthly living costs from about 150 € to 1,500 €.
- Rent is the largest item; smaller cities are cheaper than capitals.
Conclusion
Living costs can matter as much as tuition. A low fee in an expensive city can cost more than a higher fee in an affordable one. Compare both before you decide.
If you want a personal cost plan for your shortlist, book a free consultation.
Frequently asked questions about living costs for medical students abroad
How much does a medical student need per month abroad?
Between about 300 € and 1,500 € per month depending on the city. Most Eastern European university cities are between 400 € and 800 €.
Is rent included in the figures?
Yes. The budgets include rent for a room in a shared flat or student residence, plus food, transport and everyday expenses.
Which country is cheapest to live in as a medical student?
In this index, Central Asia and parts of the Balkans have the lowest living costs. Within the EU, Romania and Bulgaria are among the most affordable.
Can I work part-time while studying medicine abroad?
It depends on the country and your residence status. EU citizens can usually work in other EU countries; for others, the visa sets the rules.
How can Medschool Experts help me plan my budget?
We calculate tuition and living costs for your shortlist and help you find accommodation. Book a free consultation.
What students say about Medschool Experts
Over 500 placements at 25+ partner universities across 10+ countries. See how our students experienced their path into medical school abroad in our student stories.
About the author
Marcel Kloos
Founder and owner of Medschool Experts, federally recognised dentist
Marcel Kloos is the founder and owner of Medschool Experts, a placement agency for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy degrees abroad. Since 2021 the team has secured more than 500 study places at 25+ partner universities in Europe and worldwide.
Study medicine abroad: Marcel's own path
Born in Stuttgart, Marcel started his degree late: at 24 he enrolled at the Medical University of Sofia, Faculty of Dental Medicine, and graduated in 2021 from the English-language programme. He went through the same steps his clients face today — nostrification of school certificates, entrance interviews, finding a flat in Sofia and later the recognition of a foreign degree. He is a federally recognised dentist.
What Marcel does at Medschool Experts
Today Marcel lives in Bern and runs Medschool Experts full-time. He visits every partner university in person, negotiates placement agreements directly with faculties and deans, and leads the free consultations in which applicants learn at which university they can start next semester. His YouTube channel on studying medicine abroad has helped thousands of applicants compare universities, costs and recognition.
Topics Marcel writes about
- Study medicine abroad independent of your high school diploma grades: universities, costs and admission
- Study dentistry, veterinary medicine or pharmacy in Europe in English
- Tuition fees and living costs at medical schools in Europe and worldwide
- Recognition of foreign medical degrees in the EU, Switzerland, the UK and the US
- Transferring between medical schools and returning home into a higher semester
All articles by Marcel Kloos are based on first-hand visits to the universities and conversations with current students. Book a free consultation to discuss your own path.
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