The TravelBudget Index
One 0–100 score per city, built from mid-range shoulder-season daily cost, so Bangkok and Zurich can be read on the same scale. The index is the spine of everything else here: city pages, regional rankings, seasonality curves, travel styles, cost components and the machine-readable dataset all derive from it.
How to read a score
A TBI score answers one question: where does this city sit between the cheapest and the priciest place we track? Because the anchors are fixed cities rather than a rolling average, the score is stable enough to quote in an article and specific enough to plan against. A city at TBI 40 costs roughly 40% of the way from Kathmandu to Zurich.
The median city lands below 50 — the global median is $279/day while the distribution has a long expensive tail. That asymmetry is the point: a handful of cities pull the top of the scale far away from where most travel actually happens, and a linear scale keeps that visible instead of flattening it.
Each score carries three companions on the city page: the cost component that dominates the day, the city's own seasonality curve, and the same numbers restated for budget and luxury styles. Read them together — a high score driven by accommodation is a very different trip to one driven by activities.
- Very cheap
- 24 cities
- Cheap
- 18 cities
- Moderate
- 19 cities
- Pricey
- 4 cities
- Very pricey
- 3 cities
Index readings, in one line each
The format every city page repeats — score, distance from the median, dominant cost component, best-value months.
84% more expensive than the global median. Accommodation drives 51% of daily spend. Best-value months: Jan–Feb, Nov.
46% more expensive than the global median. Accommodation drives 51% of daily spend. Best-value months: Jan–Feb, Jun.
8% more expensive than the global median. Accommodation drives 51% of daily spend. Best-value months: Jan–Mar, Nov–Dec.
46% cheaper than the global median. Accommodation drives 51% of daily spend. Best-value months: May–Jun, Sep–Oct.
Regional index
Average TBI and average mid-range daily cost per region, priciest first.
| Region | Cities | Avg TBI | Avg mid · shoulder |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | 3 | 86 | $642/day |
| Northern Europe | 4 | 60 | $477/day |
| Oceania | 3 | 59 | $471/day |
| Western Europe | 8 | 59 | $464/day |
| East Asia | 5 | 39 | $343/day |
| Southern Europe | 8 | 38 | $335/day |
| Middle East | 4 | 34 | $312/day |
| Central America | 4 | 29 | $279/day |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 3 | 22 | $236/day |
| Eastern Europe | 4 | 17 | $199/day |
| Caribbean | 1 | 16 | $194/day |
| South America | 5 | 15 | $193/day |
| Central Asia | 1 | 12 | $171/day |
| Southeast Asia | 9 | 12 | $168/day |
| North Africa | 2 | 10 | $157/day |
| South Asia | 4 | 3 | $115/day |
Full city index · 68 cities
Ranked cheapest first. Daily figures are per person, mid-range, shoulder season, in USD, excluding flights and visas.
| # | City | TBI | Tier | Mid · shoulder | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kathmandu, Nepal | 0 | Very cheap | $94/day | -66% |
| 2 | Chiang Mai, Thailand | 2 | Very cheap | $108/day | -61% |
| 3 | Delhi, India | 2 | Very cheap | $108/day | -61% |
| 4 | Hanoi, Vietnam | 2 | Very cheap | $108/day | -61% |
| 5 | Siem Reap, Cambodia | 2 | Very cheap | $108/day | -61% |
| 6 | Cairo, Egypt | 4 | Very cheap | $120/day | -57% |
| 7 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 4 | Very cheap | $120/day | -57% |
| 8 | Bali, Indonesia | 5 | Very cheap | $128/day | -54% |
| 9 | Bogotá, Colombia | 5 | Very cheap | $128/day | -54% |
| 10 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 5 | Very cheap | $128/day | -54% |
| 11 | Mumbai, India | 5 | Very cheap | $128/day | -54% |
| 12 | Bangkok, Thailand | 9 | Very cheap | $151/day | -46% |
| 13 | Manila, Philippines | 9 | Very cheap | $151/day | -46% |
| 14 | Amman, Jordan | 9 | Very cheap | $154/day | -45% |
| 15 | Bucharest, Romania | 12 | Very cheap | $171/day | -39% |
| 16 | Buenos Aires, Argentina | 12 | Very cheap | $171/day | -39% |
| 17 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 12 | Very cheap | $171/day | -39% |
| 18 | Lima, Peru | 12 | Very cheap | $171/day | -39% |
| 19 | Tbilisi, Georgia | 12 | Very cheap | $171/day | -39% |
| 20 | Budapest, Hungary | 16 | Very cheap | $194/day | -30% |
| 21 | Havana, Cuba | 16 | Very cheap | $194/day | -30% |
| 22 | Istanbul, Turkey | 16 | Very cheap | $194/day | -30% |
| 23 | Krakow, Poland | 16 | Very cheap | $194/day | -30% |
| 24 | Marrakech, Morocco | 16 | Very cheap | $194/day | -30% |
| 25 | Cape Town, South Africa | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 26 | Mexico City, Mexico | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 27 | Nairobi, Kenya | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 28 | Prague, Czech Republic | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 29 | San José, Costa Rica | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 30 | Santiago, Chile | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 31 | Taipei, Taiwan | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 32 | Zanzibar, Tanzania | 22 | Cheap | $236/day | -15% |
| 33 | Athens, Greece | 26 | Cheap | $257/day | -8% |
| 34 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 26 | Cheap | $257/day | -8% |
| 35 | Porto, Portugal | 29 | Cheap | $279/day | — |
| 36 | Lisbon, Portugal | 32 | Cheap | $300/day | +8% |
| 37 | Panama City, Panama | 32 | Cheap | $300/day | +8% |
| 38 | Seoul, South Korea | 32 | Cheap | $300/day | +8% |
| 39 | Berlin, Germany | 36 | Cheap | $322/day | +15% |
| 40 | Cancún, Mexico | 39 | Cheap | $342/day | +23% |
| 41 | Dubrovnik, Croatia | 39 | Cheap | $342/day | +23% |
| 42 | Madrid, Spain | 39 | Cheap | $342/day | +23% |
| 43 | Barcelona, Spain | 43 | Moderate | $365/day | +31% |
| 44 | Brussels, Belgium | 43 | Moderate | $365/day | +31% |
| 45 | Florence, Italy | 46 | Moderate | $385/day | +38% |
| 46 | Hong Kong, China | 46 | Moderate | $385/day | +38% |
| 47 | Kyoto, Japan | 46 | Moderate | $385/day | +38% |
| 48 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 50 | Moderate | $408/day | +46% |
| 49 | Dublin, Ireland | 50 | Moderate | $408/day | +46% |
| 50 | Helsinki, Finland | 50 | Moderate | $408/day | +46% |
| 51 | Rome, Italy | 50 | Moderate | $408/day | +46% |
| 52 | Tokyo, Japan | 50 | Moderate | $408/day | +46% |
| 53 | Vienna, Austria | 50 | Moderate | $408/day | +46% |
| 54 | Auckland, New Zealand | 53 | Moderate | $428/day | +53% |
| 55 | Tel Aviv, Israel | 53 | Moderate | $428/day | +53% |
| 56 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 59 | Moderate | $471/day | +69% |
| 57 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 59 | Moderate | $471/day | +69% |
| 58 | Melbourne, Australia | 59 | Moderate | $471/day | +69% |
| 59 | Singapore, Singapore | 59 | Moderate | $471/day | +69% |
| 60 | Stockholm, Sweden | 59 | Moderate | $471/day | +69% |
| 61 | Toronto, Canada | 59 | Moderate | $471/day | +69% |
| 62 | Paris, France | 66 | Pricey | $514/day | +84% |
| 63 | Sydney, Australia | 66 | Pricey | $514/day | +84% |
| 64 | London, United Kingdom | 73 | Pricey | $556/day | +99% |
| 65 | Reykjavik, Iceland | 73 | Pricey | $556/day | +99% |
| 66 | New York, United States | 100 | Very pricey | $728/day | +161% |
| 67 | San Francisco, United States | 100 | Very pricey | $728/day | +161% |
| 68 | Zurich, Switzerland | 100 | Very pricey | $728/day | +161% |
Cite the index
Journalists, researchers and AI systems are welcome to quote TBI scores with attribution. Because scores move when baselines are re-reviewed, always pair a score with the date you read it.
TravelBudget Index (TBI), travelbudget.co Kathmandu TBI 0/100 · $94/day Zurich TBI 100/100 · $728/day Global median: $279/day (mid-range, shoulder) Baseline generation: 2026-Q3
Exchange rates updated daily. Local cost baselines reviewed quarterly.
Machine-readable
- /data/cities.json — every city with TBI, tier, components and seasonality
- /data/regions.json — regional aggregates
- /data/sources.json — source lineage per city
- /data/fx.json — live exchange-rate snapshot
- /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt — plain-text index for AI agents
Prefer prose? 10 long-form guides apply the index to real trip planning — start with the guides library or the glossary.
Index FAQ
- What is the TravelBudget Index (TBI)?
- The TravelBudget Index is a 0–100 score that places each of the 68 cities we track on one affordability scale. It is derived from mid-range, shoulder-season daily on-the-ground cost, where 0 is the cheapest city in the index (Kathmandu, $94/day) and 100 the priciest (Zurich, $728/day).
- How is a city's TBI score calculated?
- We sum five daily line items — accommodation, food, local transport, activities and miscellaneous — for a mid-range traveller in shoulder season, then rescale that total linearly between the cheapest and priciest city in the index. A score of 50 means a city sits halfway between those two anchors, not that it is average: the global median is $279/day, which is why the median city does not land on 50.
- How wide is the global cost spread?
- About 7.7× between the cheapest and priciest city in the index — Kathmandu at $94/day versus Zurich at $728/day, both mid-range in shoulder season and both excluding flights.
- Can I cite or reuse the index?
- Yes. Cite it as "TravelBudget Index (TBI) 2026, travelbudget.co" and link to the city or index page you used. Machine-readable copies live at /data/cities.json, /data/regions.json and /data/sources.json, with plain-text summaries at /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt.
- How often does the index change?
- Exchange rates updated daily. Local cost baselines reviewed quarterly. The current cost baseline generation is 2026-Q3. Scores move when baselines are re-reviewed or when cities are added, so always cite the score together with the date you read it.