Singapore is expensive in exactly two places — rent and anything involving a car — and cheap or reasonable almost everywhere else. Most “cost of living” articles bury that by averaging a S$12,000 condo with a S$4 chicken rice. This guide keeps the lines separate so you can see which ones are your choice and which ones are not.
If you are working backwards from a salary rather than a household, the companion guide — cost of living by salary — runs the same costs across four income bands instead.
Before you read. These are personal estimates from living here, not official statistics. Rents are from URA’s Q2 2026 figures and current listings; everything else is what ordinary households were paying on the “last checked” date above. Your numbers will differ. Use this to size the decision, then build your own.
Four households, four budgets
All figures are Singapore dollars per month. Each budget assumes public transport (no car), eating a mix of hawker food and cooking, and a modest social life. The studio column is the one many singles and young couples actually pick: your own front door and a pool, without a second bedroom you would never use.
| Single, room in a shared flat | Single or couple, condo studio | Couple, whole 3-room HDB | Family of four, 3-bed condo (outside centre) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 1,100 | 2,250 | 2,900 | 4,900 |
| Utilities (electricity, water, gas) | 60 (share) | 110 | 160 | 300 |
| Fibre broadband | 15 (share) | 40 | 40 | 50 |
| Mobile (two lines for couple/family) | 20 | 30 | 40 | 60 |
| Food — hawker and canteen meals | 400 | 500 | 700 | 900 |
| Groceries | 200 | 300 | 450 | 800 |
| Public transport | 100 | 120 | 200 | 250 |
| Health insurance top-up (beyond employer’s) | 60 | 80 | 120 | 250 |
| School — government school, non-ASEAN international student | — | — | — | 3,225 (one primary, one secondary) |
| Personal, gym, subscriptions, haircuts | 150 | 200 | 300 | 400 |
| Eating out properly, drinks, weekends | 300 | 400 | 500 | 500 |
| Total | ≈ 2,400 | ≈ 4,000 | ≈ 5,400 | ≈ 11,600 |
The studio column is costed for one person; a couple sharing it adds perhaps S$500–700 for the second person’s food, transport and phone, which still lands well under the HDB couple’s total — the trade is space for location and a pool.
The family figure is the one that shocks people, and almost all of it is two lines: rent and school. Swap the government school for an international school and the school line becomes S$4,000–7,500 a month; swap the condo for a 4-room HDB flat at about S$3,200 and the total drops by S$1,700.
Rent: the line that decides everything
Whole-unit rents in mid-2026, from URA’s data and current asking prices: a 3-room HDB flat around S$2,800–2,950, a 4-room S$3,050–3,300, a 5-room S$3,350–3,600. Condos run from about S$3,500–4,000 for a two-bedroom outside the central region to S$5,300–5,900 for the same in the core, and three-bedrooms from S$4,600 outside the centre to well over S$6,000 nearer it. A room in a shared HDB flat is roughly S$900–1,500 depending on area and whether it has its own bathroom. A condo studio — one room with a kitchenette, usually 35–50 square metres — is about S$2,100–2,400 outside the centre in our experience, and it comfortably houses one person or a couple who get on well; it is the cheapest way to have your own front door, a pool and a gym, and it is what many singles and young couples end up choosing.
Three levers move this more than anything else. Distance from the centre: the same flat is 20–30% cheaper in the north or west than near town, and the MRT makes the commute bearable. HDB versus condo: the pool and gym cost roughly S$1,000–1,500 a month in rent, forever. Lease length: two-year leases get better rents and the diplomatic clause; see how renting works.
Utilities and connectivity
One bill from SP Group covers electricity, water and gas. Electricity is about 30–35 cents a kilowatt-hour on the regulated tariff and air-conditioning is what runs it up: a couple in a 3-room flat using aircon at night pays roughly S$160–250 all-in; a family in a condo with several units running, S$250–400. Switching to a retailer on the Open Electricity Market can cut 10–20%. Fibre broadband is S$30–50 a month and genuinely fast; SIM-only mobile plans with plenty of data are S$10–30. None of this needs a landline, a TV licence or a contract longer than a month if you don’t want one.
Food: the part Singapore gets right
A hawker or food-court meal is S$4–6 outside the business district, S$6–9 inside it, and it is real food, not a compromise. Someone who eats every meal out at hawker centres spends S$400–500 a month. Groceries are where imported preferences bite — cheese, wine, breakfast cereal and berries cost two to three times what they would in Europe or Australia — while rice, vegetables, eggs, chicken and anything from the wet market are cheap. A restaurant dinner for two is S$80–150 with a drink; alcohol is taxed heavily, and a beer in a bar is S$12–18.
Getting around
Adult MRT and bus fares run from S$1.28 to S$2.57 per trip by distance, so a daily commute costs S$70–110 a month; an adult monthly pass at S$122 rarely pays off unless you travel a lot. Taxis and Grab are reasonable for occasional use — S$12–25 across town — and become a S$400–600 line if you use them daily. A car is the one thing to leave out of the budget unless you have a specific reason: with the certificate of entitlement, a modest car costs well over S$1,500 a month all-in, and the city is built so that you do not need one.
Health and insurance
Employers usually provide basic medical coverage for pass holders; check what it includes, because outpatient GP visits (S$30–60) are often covered but hospitalisation limits can be low. A private hospitalisation plan for a healthy adult in their thirties is roughly S$60–120 a month; family coverage S$250–400. Foreigners do not have MediShield Life or CPF MediSave, so this line is not optional.
Schools, if you have children
International students at government schools pay monthly fees set by MOE: in 2026, S$1,035 for primary and S$2,190 for secondary for non-ASEAN nationals (S$595 and S$1,090 for ASEAN), and places for foreigners are limited and allocated after citizens and PRs. International schools charge S$25,000–50,000 a year per child plus enrolment fees, which is the reason many families with two children choose between one parent’s salary and the school. Permanent residents pay far less at government schools — S$330 primary, S$680 secondary — but that is worth knowing as context rather than as a plan, since PR is neither predictable nor something you can apply your way into on a timetable.
The things people forget
- Move-in costs. Two months’ deposit plus the first month’s rent plus stamp duty plus a utilities deposit plus furniture: budget three to four months’ rent in cash before you earn a cent here.
- Annual costs disguised as monthly. Aircon servicing (S$100–150 a quarter), insurance renewals, flights home.
- Income tax. Not a monthly deduction — you get a bill the following year. Set aside 5–10% of salary in the first year — see the income tax guide.
- No CPF, no employer pension for pass holders. The 20% a Singaporean puts into CPF is money you need to save yourself.
A rule of thumb
If rent is under a third of take-home pay, life here is comfortable. Between a third and 40% it is fine but you will feel the school and insurance lines. Above 40%, look further from the centre or at an HDB flat before you sign; the difference in daily life is smaller than the brochures suggest, and the difference in savings is not.