The cost of living in Frankfurt, being one of the most expensive cities in Germany can vary a whole lot on your lifestyle. The focus of this article is to handle some of the key and most important components of the cost structure of your general month of living in Frankfurt.

While living here for a couple of years, here are a collection of my thoughts in terms of the real cost of living.


Rent, as in most of the key metropolitan cities in the world is the biggest cost driver of living in Frankfurt. The latter, being a key point for students and big financial institutions, bring a lot of people in the city temporarily, which in turn raises the prices. Adding to that the BREXIT inflow of London bankers, and the current housing crisis that the biggest german cities are facing (read this Deutsche Welle Article for more) it is not making it easier for anyone.

As a general rule, if you want to have your own apartment, nothing proper starts below 1000 eur/month cold rent. The general expectation of living in a good neighborhood for. 50+ sqm apartment is that your cold rent will be 1200-1300 eur. Different neighborhoods obviously differ. Check my list of where to live in Frankfurt for some local recommendations of where is the best place to live in Frankfurt.

Now, sharing the apartment with other people will always be cheaper and those prices vary from 400 – 600 eur/month cold rent. Obviously, when it comes to sharing, you practically are sharing the bathroom, kitchen, shower, and everything else.

Rent price: 1000-1300 eur/month + 150-250 eur/month utilities.


Groceries in Germany feature a whole range of selection. So you can be very fancy and go to the all-natural and bio selection of stores or shop at Aldi, Lidl, and Penny. I am a bit of a foodie and I tend to shop everywhere with Lidl and Rewe being my selection. Lidl, Aldi, and Penny are similar and if you shop in any of those, you should expect to be fine in terms of groceries per month. Per person, it could go from 300 to 400 euros per month for a healthy and diversified diet. Obviously, you can go cheaper if the situation requires, but i would not recommend

Groceries price: 300-400 eur/month

Work lunch

Work lunch is a big part of the German culture. Some take food from home, most order in and a whole lot go out and have lunch in nearby places. Generally speaking you will average 10-15 eur per lunch with a drink. I am sure that specific places can be cheaper and you should obviously aim for taking food with your but these are the prices. Additionally, another tip here – lunch happens 12-1:30 usually so expect a line of people

WorkLunch price: 10-15 per lunch


Even though Frankfurt is a fairly small city and I would highly recommend getting a bike, public transportation is amazing here. If you want more details, check out my public transportation guide of Frankfurt for more information. Having said that the monthly ticket price is 90 eur per month to use most of the railways in the Frankfurt area.

Transportation price: 90 eur/month


As Frankfurt is a fairly fancy city, fun can be expensive. Beware of your fun notes. Here are a couple of quick notes:

  1. Having a large beer almost anywhere will set you back 5-6 eur.
  2. A cocktail is always 10 eur plus.
  3. Going to the cinema is 12 eur per ticket plus a good 8 eur for snacks.
  4. Going out at any restaurant will be at least 20 eur per person, and in most of the places, you will always end up paying 50 plus for a dinner for two.
  5. Fancier restaurants will set you back 60-75 eur per person

Monthly expenses to cover cost of living in Frankfurt

1150 Rent + 300 groceries + 200 work lunch + 90 transportation + 200 fun = a min of 1940 eur per month for living quite comfortably.