🇮🇹 Italy · A realistic 2026 budget for newcomers — rent, food, transport, and what a month actually costs.
Wondering how far your salary goes in Genoa? Here’s what everyday life costs, in local prices — the numbers that matter when you’re deciding to move or negotiating a package.
What things cost
One-bed flat, central (Carignano, Foce, Castelletto, San Vincenzo)EUR 600–900 / month
One-bed flat, old town or the western districts (Maddalena, Prè, Sampierdarena, Sestri)EUR 400–650 / month
Utilities and internet, one personEUR 100–160 / month — mild winters, but old stone buildings are expensive to keep dry
Groceries, one personEUR 200–300 / month
AMT monthly urban passEUR 40–55 / month, covering bus, metro, public lifts and funiculars
Good to know
Population
≈560,000 in the comune, ≈810,000 in the metropolitan city — Italy's sixth-largest city, on a strip about 30km long and rarely more than a few kilometres deep
Languages
Italian; Ligurian (Genoese) survives but is far less spoken than Sicilian or Neapolitan. English is used routinely in shipping, marine insurance and at the IIT
Currency
Euro (EUR)
Time zone
CET (GMT+1), CEST (GMT+2) with daylight saving from late March to late October
Climate
Mild maritime Mediterranean — warm humid summers moderated by the sea, mild winters, and intense autumn rainfall on steep small catchments
Power plug
Type L, F and C at 230V/50Hz — Italian sockets take three round pins in two widths
Local tax note
One of the few Italian comuni with a bracketed municipal IRPEF surcharge above the ordinary 0.8% cap: nil below €14,000, then 1.0%, 1.1% and 1.2%
Local holiday
24 June, San Giovanni Battista — the city's patron, with a procession through the old town to the cathedral
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.
A note on budgeting
Rent is usually the swing factor — location and whether bills are included move the number most. Build your estimate from the rent band above, add a monthly living figure, and keep a buffer for one-off setup costs (deposits, a residence permit, a local SIM, first-month transport). Globe Quest turns this into a personalized Genoa checklist so nothing setup-related catches you off guard.
Plan your move to Genoa
A free, AI-personalized plan — the language, culture, and setup steps timed to your move date.