Cost of living · Bilbao
How much does it cost to live in Bilbao?
Bilbao is the northern, Atlantic alternative to Spain's southern cities, and it sits a step above them on price — mostly in rent and transport, barely at all in everyday basics. A central one-bed asks about €1,125, with greener outer districts like Deusto and Txurdinaga lower. What you get for the premium is a compact, walkable, rainy-green city where the metro reaches the coast, so a car is genuinely optional. Here is what Bilbao really costs.
Updated August 2026 · our reading of official public data · Domior Discover
Monthly budgets
What you'll spend each month
A step above the southern cities, mostly in rent and transport.
A single professional
renting alone
≈ €1,705
Per month
- Rent — one-bed outside the centre
- €931
- Food and groceries
- €290
- Transport — monthly pass
- €45
- Power, water, internet and mobile
- €140
- Going out and everything else
- €300
A couple
two incomes
≈ €2,135
Per month
- Rent — one-bed in the centre
- €1,125
- Food and groceries for two
- €470
- Transport — two passes
- €90
- Power, water, internet and mobile
- €170
- Going out and everything else
- €280
A family
two adults and children
≈ €3,085
Per month
- Rent — three-bed outside the centre
- €1,527
- Food and groceries for a family
- €680
- Transport
- €110
- Power, water, internet and mobile
- €210
- Kids, going out and the rest
- €560
Rents
What different rents get you
€931
A one-bed in the outer districts
Districts like Deusto, Txurdinaga or Begoña, greener and a short metro ride from the centre.
Outside the centre
€1,125
A one-bed in the centre
Abando or Indautxu, handsome and walkable, close to everything.
Central
€1,527
A three-bed in the outer districts
Family space in Deusto, Txurdinaga or Santutxu, real room for the money.
Outside the centre
€2,170
A three-bed in the centre
A family-sized flat in Abando or Indautxu. About the most you would expect to pay.
Central
In a Bilbao budget the swing is rent. A central flat in Abando or Indautxu sits at the top; the greener districts up the river — Deusto, Txurdinaga, Santutxu — give families real room for less, and the metro still puts the centre a few minutes away. Everything else on the page barely moves with the postcode.
Per square metre
What rent costs, low to high
The affordable end
≈ €9.93 / m²
The typical middle
≈ €11.48 / m²
The top end
≈ €13.28 / m²
Official figuregi / INE — rent per m².
Day to day
What things cost day to day
€1.95
Cappuccino
€2.90
A beer out
€14
Menú at an inexpensive restaurant
€11
A fast-food combo
€55
Dinner for two, three courses
€8
A cinema ticket
€30.50
Home internet, per month
€15
Mobile plan
€42
Gym membership
Everyday staples (bread, milk, eggs, chicken) sit close to the national average.
Transport
Do you need a car? No.
€45
A monthly transport pass — metro, trams, buses and the Cercanías trains, across the city and down the river.
€1.60
A single ride
Bilbao is one of Spain's easiest cities to live in without a car; the metro reaches the coast and the riverside towns.
Before you move in
What you pay before you move in
Based on a one-bed in the centre at €1,125 a month:
First month's rent, up front
€1,125
Deposit (fianza) — one month
€1,125
Official, Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos.
Additional guarantee — up to two months
up to €2,250
The agency fee
€0
Since the 2023 housing law the landlord pays it.
Worst case, before you have keys
€4,500
Personal help
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Sources & provenance
- Zyla — Spain Cost of Living APITier 3 · ES-PV · Retrieved Aug 8, 2026
- Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos and the 2023 housing lawTier 1 · ES-PV · Retrieved Aug 8, 2026