2.6/5
123 reviews
Photo by Anton Atanasov via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Plovdiv

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paphos

cities

cheap

part

reason

life

country

restaurants

expectations

drink

tap

water

nomadlist

safe

hills

good

Plovdiv offers some positives, including friendly and helpful locals and very tasty food. The city carries a rich, fascinating history that visitors can enjoy. However, the downsides are noted frequently by reviewers and may outweigh the benefits for some travelers or expats.

Air pollution, especially from vehicles, is a consistent issue. Smokers can smoke freely inside restaurants, which many find unpleasant. The quality of life was repeatedly described as lower than in other European cities, and Bulgaria remains the poorest EU member. In terms of community and things to do, Plovdiv underwhelms—its expat scene is very small and lacks regular social activities, even during high season.

For many, Bulgaria fell below expectations when compared with cities like Prague, Krakow, Budapest, or Paphos. While Plovdiv may be among the nicer cities within Bulgaria, it does not stand out as a top choice in broader Europe. Most would not recommend it over other popular cities for tourism or relocation.

AI-generated summary of reviews
4 months ago

Plovdiv is as far as we can tell the nicest part of Bulgaria, but we can't see any reason why a person should choose to be in Plovdiv or Bulgaria when there are better options available for all aspects of life that we care about. Bulgaria is the poorest country in Europe, with very high rates of smoking - people can smoke inside restaurants with impunity here. Quality of life seems generally low. However, the food is delicious! :)

The expat community, even for a relatively large city such as Plovdiv, is a fraction the size of a relatively small city like e.g. Paphos, Cyprus. In Paphos there's all kinds of activities organised for any day of the week. In Plovdiv, even in peak season, it seems quiet, with little to do.

We didn't have high expectations for Bulgaria, but we were curious and wanted to explore. Bulgaria was below our expectations, and sadly we plan never to return. We can't think of any reason to recommend Bulgaria above one of the many better choices out there such as Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Paphos, most other European cities.

2 years ago

The pollution from cars is the worst thing about Plovdiv. Well, also the showers that take up the entire bathroom. The fascinating, long history is the best thing here. People are polite, decent, and helpful.

4 years ago

I've been here for the last 5 months. People are extremely friendly, the weather has been amazing (on the too hot side, during the summer). You can drink tap water, Nomadlist, check that. It is very cheap, walkable, plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants. It is very safe. The gym scene is not great but you can survive. Not many hipsters, but overloaded with instagrammers (like everywhere else, I guess). All in all, it's a beautiful city, safe, affordable, welcoming (if you are white). Racist graffiti is all over, but I haven't heard of any violence. That part is sad.
Sometimes I think I'll stay here forever, sometimes other cities want me to know them.

6 years ago

According to all the sources I've read, the tap water in Plovdiv is completely fine to drink. Not sure why Nomadlist is saying it's contaminated.

Nice and green city, lot of parks and hills. Very cheap!

6 years ago

By far, one of the best cities in Bulgaria, located in the center of the country, with good views upon the Balkans + Rila Rodopi mountains. Has good scenery from 2-3 hills + cheap food/drinks and so on! Fully recommend for those who wanna see it!

7 years ago

✅ Friendly people

✅ Delicious food

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Perfect humidity now

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ People can speak basic English

✅ Safe for women

✅ Family friendly

❌ High pollution

❌ Low quality of life

❌ Very small expat community

❌ People smoke inside restaurants

❌ Not much to do

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Nomads.com members didn't like going here

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

6°C / 43°F cold

9°C / 48°F cold

7°C / 45°F cold

14°C / 57°F cool

21°C / 70°F mild

24°C / 75°F warm

34°C / 93°F hot

31°C / 88°F hot

23°C / 73°F mild

14°C / 57°F cool

12°C / 54°F cool

8°C / 46°F cold

Real (median)

7°C / 44°F
cold

9°C / 48°F
cold

7°C / 45°F
cold

14°C / 57°F
cool

21°C / 70°F
mild

24°C / 75°F
warm

31°C / 88°F
hot

30°C / 86°F
very warm

23°C / 73°F
mild

14°C / 57°F
cool

12°C / 53°F
cool

8°C / 46°F
cold

Humidity

nice
69%

nice
66%

nice
61%

nice
69%

nice
66%

nice
71%

nice
53%

nice
48%

nice
57%

nice
69%

damp
73%

damp
71%

Most common

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
43mm

dry
27mm

rainy
62mm

dry
50mm

rainy
59mm

dry
49mm

dry
14mm

dry
26mm

dry
13mm

dry
44mm

dry
24mm

rainy
52mm

Cloud

pockets
38%

pockets
29%

pockets
40%

pockets
37%

pockets
40%

pockets
39%

pockets
20%

pockets
21%

pockets
31%

pockets
43%

pockets
44%

Air quality

clean
44 US AQI

clean
40 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
35 US AQI

clean
29 US AQI

clean
30 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

clean
30 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
44 US AQI

okay
50 US AQI

okay
56 US AQI

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

Remote workers

250 people

400 people

457 people

286 people

714 people

543 people

486 people

489 people

400 people

333 people

350 people

356 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Plovdiv's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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87pts

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65pts

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117pts

60pts

33pts

28pts

22pts

9pts

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7pts

4pts

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2pts

1pts

Bansko

Bulgaria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 10° 50° 10° 50°

🚕4h

$2,717 / mo

22 Mbps

Sofia

Bulgaria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 15° 59° 15° 60° AQI 16

✈️11min

$2,536 / mo

22 Mbps

Thessaloniki

Greece

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 21° 70° 21° 69°

✈️18min

$3,542 / mo

13 Mbps

Burgas

Bulgaria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 16° 61° 16° 62° AQI 17

✈️18min

$2,705 / mo

22 Mbps

Craiova

Romania

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61° AQI 21

✈️20min

$2,707 / mo

31 Mbps

Nis

Serbia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 18° 64° 17° 62° AQI 126 😷

✈️21min

$1,799 / mo

52 Mbps

Skopje

North Macedonia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 17° 63° 17° 63° AQI 60 😷

✈️22min

$1,337 / mo

12 Mbps

Bucharest

Romania

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 17° 63° 16° 60° AQI 61 😷

✈️22min

$2,196 / mo

51 Mbps

Varna

Bulgaria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 18° 64° 17° 62° AQI 19

✈️23min

$2,319 / mo

22 Mbps

Pristina

Kosovo

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 15° 59° 15° 58° AQI 34

✈️24min

$3,313 / mo

12 Mbps

Ploiesti

Romania

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked great

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 16° 61° 15° 59° AQI 24

✈️26min

$1,955 / mo

32 Mbps

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 17° 63° 17° 63° AQI 79 😷

✈️30min

$1,652 / mo

10 Mbps

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 40

✈️2h

$4,579 / mo

30 Mbps

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50° AQI 59 😷

✈️3h

$5,727 / mo

23 Mbps

Playa del Carmen

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 33° 91° 29° 85°

✈️14h

$2,656 / mo

12 Mbps

Sofia

Bulgaria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 15° 59° 15° 60° AQI 16

✈️11min

$2,536 / mo

22 Mbps

Madrid

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 19° 66° 19° 67° AQI 14

✈️3h

$4,312 / mo

30 Mbps

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70° AQI 30

✈️4h

$3,827 / mo

28 Mbps

Modena

Italy

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 16° 61° 16° 61°

✈️2h

$4,392 / mo

16 Mbps

Tulum

Mexico

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 36° 97° 30° 86° 🥵

✈️14h

$2,336 / mo

13 Mbps

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 35° 95° 30° 86° 🥵 AQI 48

✈️10h

$1,558 / mo

24 Mbps

Tbilisi

Georgia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 20° 68° 19° 66° AQI 54 😷

✈️2h

$2,155 / mo

15 Mbps

Warsaw

Poland

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50° AQI 33

✈️2h

$3,142 / mo

21 Mbps

Sofia

Bulgaria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 15° 59° 15° 60° AQI 16

✈️11min

$2,536 / mo

🌇 Also went here89 people

Bucharest

Romania

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 17° 63° 16° 60° AQI 61 😷

✈️22min

$2,196 / mo

🌇 Also went here46 people

Istanbul

Turkey

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 17° 63° 17° 63° AQI 79 😷

✈️30min

$1,652 / mo

🌇 Also went here57 people

Athens

Greece

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 57 😷

✈️38min

$3,242 / mo

🌇 Also went here43 people

Budapest

Hungary

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🙂 Okay

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 13° 55° 13° 56° AQI 34

✈️60min

$2,605 / mo

🌇 Also went here56 people

Vienna

Austria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 11° 52° 12° 54° AQI 17

✈️1h

$3,690 / mo

🌇 Also went here45 people

Prague

Czechia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 8° 46° 10° 50° AQI 32

✈️2h

$3,520 / mo

🌇 Also went here56 people

Berlin

Germany

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 10° 50° 11° 52° AQI 25

✈️2h

$4,082 / mo

🌇 Also went here45 people

Barcelona

Spain

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked very bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 22° 72° 22° 71° AQI 40

✈️2h

$4,579 / mo

🌇 Also went here53 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 9° 48° 11° 51° AQI 24

✈️2h

$5,447 / mo

🌇 Also went here43 people

Paris

France

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 12° 54° 13° 55° AQI 23

✈️3h

$5,437 / mo

🌇 Also went here49 people

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 9° 48° 10° 50° AQI 59 😷

✈️3h

$5,727 / mo

🌇 Also went here53 people

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 21° 70° 21° 70° AQI 30

✈️4h

$3,827 / mo

🌇 Also went here52 people

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 32° 90° 28° 83° 🥵 AQI 44

✈️10h

$1,263 / mo

🌇 Also went here43 people

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌦 Feels 35° 95° 30° 86° 🥵 AQI 48

✈️10h

$1,558 / mo

🌇 Also went here56 people

200 remote workers in Plovdiv now, of which 1+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.6/5 (Rank #359) 123 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍3 liked it 👎2 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $2,044 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 22 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🌞 Nice: 18°C64°F (feels 19°C66°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	😊 Comfy: 63%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Low: 22%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 23 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 29 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Okay
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Bad
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🤝 Lack of racism*	Bad
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Very low: $622 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Okay
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Great
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Bulgaria
🗓️ Average trip length	11 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	22 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 18°C 64°F + 😊 Comfy (63%) = feels 19°C 66°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 23 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 29 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	TaxiMe
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10 BGN in USD	USD 5.95
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	BGN 1,000 = USD 595
💸 Tipping	Yes, 10%
💻 Best coworking space	Biz Labs Plovdiv
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	6% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	340,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$7,465 / year
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 45% 👱‍♀️ 55%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 54% 👱‍♀️ 46%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 86% 👱‍♀️ 14%
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Emag
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Ryan Air
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air France

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,044 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,150 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,523 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$435 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$1,105 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,941 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$249 / month
🏠 Median home price	$113,001
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$52 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$64 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$175 / month
🍛 Dinner	$9
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$1
👩‍🏫 International school	$3,970 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$18 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$2 / trip