Cost of living in Italy in 2024

We own our home in Firenze Centro, it was 1.4 million euros but the taxes are non-existent and the condo fees are under 2 thousand a year so all in all very reasonable.  We spent the same for the home here that we sold our home for in Chicago. We spend about 500 euros a month on groceries and market purchases, we find fresh fruit and vegetables about half the price of Chicago and five times the flavor! We do not eat out often but when we do there are lots of really good restaurants that are well under 60 euros for two with wine. We do not have kids so we don't know the price of schools. We were pleasantly surprised that our gas and electric are about the same price as Chicago, averaging about 300 euros a month for the two combined. We have central air but rarely use it in the summer, only at night. Health care is free but we do use other doctor services and pay about 1,900 euros a year for a comprehensive health policy that covers all the private doctors as well as elective surgery. We used it for a minor procedure last year and it paid immediately. Internet is 27 euros a month for fiber and cell phones are 40 euros for the two of us!  Bus and trams are 1.50 euros and train tickets on sale all the time are very reasonable. Tolls on the highway can be expensive at about 40 euros from here to Venice for example, but if you have all the time in the world you can drive on local roads and avoid the tolls. Parking is crazy expensive in Cenro at about 500 euros a month for a small carr but we have our own garage which came with the house. All in all, this is a great country to retire in.

@James Dion

Thank you for this informative post !

It will surely benefit members.

All the best

Bhavna

We rent outside of Frosinone as we’re house hunting. Our 3600sq ft 5bdrm 4bth home including electricity & water is €1500/mth. We pay our own gas & internet which are €150/mth & €27 respectively. Three unlimited 5G cell phones are €60/mth.

We own cars, which seemed quite expensive compared to used cars in Canada & the annual bollo on them are high but they are full size wagons raising the cost of that.

Groceries for a family of 4, 2 of which are ravenous pre-teens, a dog & cat are  €500/mth of groceries not including dinner out once a week. The avg dinner out costs a little over €100.

Health insurance. Being the only non citizen in the family I have to have private insurance. I pay $100CAD/mth & have a network of doctors I can use. My husband and kids have a GP that is free & my kids had ECG’s (mandatory for sports) for €23 each.

Kids sports by the way, baseball is €400/yr including 4 practices a week. Hockey training is €70/mth for 3hrs a week & inline hockey is €35/mth for 2 practice plus games.

I don’t have my kids in private school however I know 3 families who do. They pay $20-50K USD for that.

Gas & cars are the only things I have found that are more expensive than in Canada.

That was very helpful. Thank you!

@aagianni9 Hello, hope you are doing fine. I wanted to ask if you don't mind, which health insurance do you have? You mentioned that you had to hire one for yourself. I moved to Italy a year and a half ago and I have been dealing with their health system ever since. I am an European citizen and currently, I do not have a work contract, which makes it difficult to access the Italian health system. I hope you don't mind me asking this. Thanks a lot in advance for your reply.

@James Dion thnk you for sharing your lifestyle and its cost.  My husband and I are plannig to relocate to Italy this year.  As far as condo fees goes, the fee is very low and we are wondering how the maintenance of the common areas are done if there is a major repair? In Canada we have a reserve fund that the condomemuim board pulls from for major repairs, how does it work in Italy? 

How much does it cost to rent/buy a flat or house in Italy ? Rent 15euro per day

What is the average cost of transport (bus, metro, train, tram, taxi)? bus for 1euro

What is the average price of your monthly food basket? 15euro per 6 hours

@sistemacu082 I found Cigna to be the best for my needs.

@aagianni9 thanks a lot, I’ll look into that.