How much does it cost to live in Cairo?
Typical Month (Mid Range)
$740 (EGP 38,506)
Housing, food, transport, mobile, coworking and gym.
Updated September 2026 · Sources cited: expat.com, propertyfinder.eg
- Typical Month (Lower End)
- $206 (EGP 10,702)
- Typical Month (Premium)
- $3,375 (EGP 175,712)
Good to know
Good to Know
- Many landlords in Zamalek and Maadi quote and expect rent in USD cash for foreign tenants, even though the legal local currency is the Egyptian pound — this is common practice but always confirm your lease currency in writing.
- The Egyptian pound has been volatile against the dollar in recent years, so EGP-denominated prices (like Zamalek's furnished-apartment average) can look very different in USD terms within just a few months — treat the USD figures here as a snapshot, not a fixed rate.
- Zamalek is more walkable and central with cafés and embassies on your doorstep; Maadi is greener and quieter with more international schools, but involves more taxi/Uber use to reach central Cairo.
- Rents are usually negotiable, especially for longer furnished stays — the ranges seen in listings are starting points, not fixed prices.
- Cairo Metro is extremely cheap by nomad standards — a single ride is typically just a few Egyptian pounds depending on distance — but there's no clearly documented flat monthly pass; most people just top up a rechargeable card or buy paper tickets per ride.
- Coworking prices vary a lot by neighborhood and provider — big international chains like Regus quote higher per-day rates than smaller independent spaces in areas like Nasr City or Heliopolis, so shop around rather than assuming one city-wide price.
- Because most foreigners can't easily buy standard local private health insurance without residency, many nomads in Cairo rely on international travel-medical plans instead of a local policy.
- Treat the visa and several everyday-cost figures here as ballpark estimates rather than confirmed current prices — verify current e-Visa fees on Egypt's official visa portal before booking, since fees and eligible nationalities can change.
Monthly Totals
- Mid-range month
- EGP 38,506
Includes 7 estimated components
- Lean month
- EGP 10,702
Includes 6 estimated components
- Comfortable month
- EGP 175,712
Includes 8 estimated components
Living Costs
- Where nomads live
- Zamalek (Nile-island district with embassies, cafés, and the highest concentration of long-term foreign residents) and Maadi (leafy, low-rise suburb popular with expat families and international-school staff) are Cairo's two documented expat/nomad clusters. Downtown Cairo and New Cairo are secondary hubs. Housing figures below are grounded in Zamalek and Maadi listings specifically.
Housing (per month)
- Mid-range 1-bed
- Not shown: failed a consistency check
- Budget studio / 1-bed
- EGP 23,429
Local listing
expat.com listing: 'Furnished Apartment for Rent in New Maadi... $450 per month / Negotiable', 2 bedrooms, 130 sqm.
Published in USD
- Premium apartment
- EGP 156,192
Local listing
expat.com listing: 'Sunny Spacious Fully Furnished Penthouse with Large Terrace... $3,000 per month / Negotiable', Sarayat El Maadi, private swimming pool.
Published in USD
- Private room in a shared home
- EGP 4,000
Estimated
No live room-share listing site for Cairo was found at the time of research; estimated as roughly a third of the low end of the budget furnished-apartment tier, which is how private rooms in shared expat flats are typically priced in Cairo classifieds/Facebook groups.
Groceries
- Groceries for one (month)
- EGP 3,250
Estimated
Midpoint of the range stated by a 2025 expat cost-of-living guide: 'Basic groceries for one person: EGP 2,500 – 4,000/month depending on preferences and imported goods.'
Sample prices
Milk, 1 Liter
- Milk, 1 Liter
- EGP 49
Survey / cost-of-living site
Numbeo Cairo price rankings page lists 'Milk (Regular, 1 Liter) E£48.79'.
Loaf of Supermarket Bread
- Loaf Of Supermarket Bread
- EGP 15
Estimated
No single sourced page for this item was retrieved; estimated from general knowledge of Cairo supermarket bread pricing (well above subsidized baladi bread, which is state-controlled and far cheaper).
Eggs, Dozen
- Eggs, Dozen
- EGP 85
Estimated
No single sourced page for this item was retrieved at the time of research; figure is an estimate based on typical Cairo supermarket egg pricing.
Eating out
- Cheap meal
- EGP 188
Estimated
Numbeo Cairo price rankings: 'Meal at an Inexpensive Restaurant E£250.00'. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 250 EGP reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
- High-end meal
- EGP 900
Estimated
No single sourced page for a high-end per-person Cairo meal was retrieved at the time of research; estimated by extrapolating upward from the mid-range figure to reflect Zamalek/Nile-view fine-dining pricing typical for foreigners.
- Mid-range meal
- EGP 563
Estimated
Numbeo states 'Meal for Two at a Mid-Range Restaurant (Three Courses, Without Drinks) E£1,500.00'; halved to approximate a single diner, per this survey's per-two convention. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 750 EGP reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
Work, Transport & Essentials
Coworking
- Day pass
- EGP 120
Operator's own price
Regus Cairo's own site: Coworking Access Plan listed at EGP 120 per person per day, including unlimited days of coworking access per month.
- Monthly hot desk
- EGP 3,500
Local listing
Hotdesk.com live listing for Room Squared Co-Working, Nasr City, Cairo: monthly hot-desk membership starting at 3,500 EGP/month.
Transport
- Single ride
- EGP 10
Estimated
Metro fares are zonal/distance-based (EGP 10 for up to 9 stations, rising to EGP 20 for 24+ stations per cairometro.org and corroborating reports); EGP 10 is used here as the representative base fare for a typical short-to-medium ride, so this is a picked/representative figure rather than one single stated price.
- Monthly pass
- Not available
Cairo Metro's official subscriptions page references a subscription system and cash-wallet card but did not state a specific monthly pass fee on the page retrieved; most riders (including foreigners) use pay-per-ride paper tickets or the rechargeable card instead.
Mobile & data
- Monthly plan
- EGP 250
Estimated
No carrier page was retrieved at the time of research; figure is a general estimate for a mid-tier prepaid data plan (~10-15GB) from a major Egyptian carrier (Vodafone/Orange/Etisalat/WE), based on known regional pricing patterns rather than a page confirmed at the time of research.
Short Stays (per night)
- Seasonal pricing
- Yes
- Why
- Pronounced climate-driven seasonality: winter (November–March) peak-season rates 75–390% higher than summer low season; driven by cooler, pleasant weather attracting international tourism vs. extreme heat deterring visitors June–August.
Low season
- Budget
- EGP 800
Budget hotels $20-40/night in June-August per multiple sources; Remal Pyramids Hotel $36-54 confirmed for July-August
- Luxury
- EGP 4,410
5-star hotels average $92/night in November low season; summer rates likely $80-100 based on seasonal trend
- Premium
- EGP 3,920
4-star hotels roughly $60-100/night in June-August, consistent with 40-50% summer reductions
- Standard
- EGP 1,470
3-star hotels estimated $25-35/night in summer low season based on seasonal discounts of 30-50%
High season
- Budget
- EGP 2,400
Hotel booking sites show budget 2-star hotels at $36-54/night range in high season
- Luxury
- EGP 20,580
5-star hotels peak at $298-453/night in January-March per Budget Your Trip and KAYAK data
- Premium
- EGP 9,800
4-star hotels estimated $150-200/night based on KAYAK and Booking.com winter pricing
- Standard
- EGP 4,900
3-star hotels averaging $80-114/night in winter peak season per Budget Your Trip analysis
Low-season months
- June
- July
- August
- September
High-season months
- November
- December
- January
- February
- March
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this cost of living research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Cairo
Data last updated September 2026 · Verify anything important.