Cost of Living in Phnom Penh: an Expat Monthly Budget

Quick answer: A single person lives in Phnom Penh on roughly $780 to $1,250 a month. That number breaks the moment the household is not one person: a family with one child in international school needs $2,500 to $4,000, because tuition alone runs $6,250 to $20,000 a year.

Every cost-of-living page for Phnom Penh prices one person. That is a reasonable default for a digital nomad index and a poor one for this site’s reader, who is usually arriving with a spouse, sometimes with a child, and occasionally at 65 with a pension and a pre-existing condition.

So this page runs four households rather than one index. Each of them adds to a number, and the numbers diverge far more than the underlying prices do.

The single largest driver of that divergence is a line most indexes omit entirely. International school tuition in Phnom Penh runs roughly $6,250 to $20,000 a year, with non-refundable enrolment fees of $500 to $2,500 and capital levies of $200 to $800 a year on top. At the upper end that is more than $1,850 a month for one child, against expat rent of $400 to $1,000 for a modern apartment in BKK1 or Tonle Bassac. Our analysis has found this to be the reason relocation budgets fail in Cambodia rather than anywhere else in the household: rent, food and transport are all cheaper than newcomers expect, and education is very often more expensive.

What does one month in Phnom Penh actually cost?

A single person spends roughly $780 to $1,250 a month in Phnom Penh, covering rent, utilities, food, local transport and modest entertainment. A lean version runs $550 to $800 and a comfortable one $900 to $1,400. A family with one child in international schooling needs $2,500 to $4,000.

Household	Monthly range	Principal driver
Single, lean	$550 to $800	Simple studio, mostly local food
Single, standard	$780 to $1,250	Modern one-bedroom, mixed eating
Single, comfortable	$900 to $1,400	Better building, travel, entertainment
Couple, comfortable	$1,400 to $2,100	Two-bedroom, shared fixed costs
Family, one child in school	$2,500 to $4,000	Tuition dominates
Retired couple with cover	$2,000 to $2,600	Insurance at $160 to $400

The gap between the lean single at $550 and the family at $4,000 is roughly seven times, on prices that vary by perhaps two times across the same city. That spread comes almost entirely from three lines that behave differently from the rest: schooling, health cover and international travel. Our analysis treats those three as the real budget, and the ordinary cost of living in Phnom Penh as an inexpensive backdrop against which they are paid. A checklist for a relocation budget that gets those three right will be broadly correct even if every other line is estimated loosely, and one that gets them wrong will not be rescued by careful work on groceries.

• Three lines drive the spread: schooling, health cover, travel home.
• Ordinary living costs vary far less than household totals do.
• The retirement version sits in the retirement guide.
• Visa costs are covered in the visa options guide.
• The dollar economy is explained in the dollarisation guide.

What does housing cost, and where does the money go?

Expat rent in BKK1 and Tonle Bassac runs $400 to $1,000 a month for a modern one or two-bedroom, with BKK1 one-bedroom listings typically between $650 and $1,350. Older stock and outer districts sit well below that, and the price of a district is largely the price of walkability.

District or stock	Typical monthly rent	Character
BKK1 modern one-bedroom	$650 to $1,350	Central, walkable, most expat services
Tonle Bassac	$400 to $1,000	Riverside, newer towers
Toul Tom Poung	Below the central range	Local character, popular with long stayers
Toul Kork	Mid range	Quieter, family oriented
Serviced one-bedroom, central	$600 to $1,200	All inclusive, no setup cost
Unserviced city centre average	About $375	Bare shell to lightly furnished

Insider tip: compare a serviced apartment at $600 to $1,200 all-inclusive against an unserviced unit at $375 to $700 plus $110 of utilities, internet at $25 to $70, and a furnishing package that runs $3,500 to $12,000 for anyone taking an unfurnished unit. For a stay under two years the serviced option is frequently cheaper once the furnishing capital is amortised, and it carries no exit problem. Our methodology treats the first-year cash cost as the deciding number for anyone whose commitment to Cambodia is still provisional, which describes most arrivals.

• Serviced units often win on total cost for stays under two years.
• Furnishing an unserviced unit costs $3,500 to $12,000 up front.
• BKK1 in detail sits in the BKK1 area guide.
• The riverside district is covered in the Tonle Bassac area guide.
• Quieter options are in the Toul Tom Poung area guide.

What do utilities, internet and transport add?

Utilities are about $110 a month for electricity, water, cooling and refuse on an 85 square metre apartment, on a residential tariff of roughly 610 to 730 riel per kWh, or about $0.15 to $0.18. Fibre broadband costs $25 for 30 Mbps and $70 for 300 Mbps, and local transport is the smallest line in the market at well under $100.

Running cost	Monthly figure
Utilities, 85 sqm apartment	About $110
Electricity tariff	610 to 730 riel per kWh, about $0.15 to $0.18
Fibre broadband, 30 Mbps	About $25
Fibre broadband, 100 Mbps	About $40
Fibre broadband, 300 Mbps	About $70
Local transport, tuk-tuk and ride hailing	Commonly $40 to $90
Motorbike rental or purchase	From about $60 a month to rent
Building service charge if owned	About $1.50 per sqm per month

Air conditioning is the one variable in this section that a household actually controls, and the swing is large enough to matter. A tenant running two units through the hot season will see the electricity component of that $110 rise substantially, while the same apartment in a cooler month sits well below it. Our analysis suggests budgeting the upper end year-round rather than the average, because a newly arrived household almost always uses more cooling in its first year than a settled one does. A checklist item worth adding is whether the building charges the EDC tariff directly or applies a markup, which some landlords do at $0.25 per kWh against a metered cost of $0.15 to $0.18. On a heavy-cooling month that markup alone is worth more than the internet bill.

• Transport is the one line where Phnom Penh is unambiguously cheap.
• Budget the upper end of utilities for a first year in Cambodia.
• Ask whether the landlord passes through the EDC tariff or marks it up.
• Owner-side charges sit in the sinking fund and HOA guide.
• Furnishing costs are covered in the furnishing guide.
• Banking setup is in the bank account guide.

What does schooling do to a family budget?

International school tuition in Phnom Penh is roughly $6,250 to $20,000 a year across tiers, with non-refundable enrolment fees of $500 to $2,500 and capital levies of $200 to $800 a year on top of that. For most expatriate families arriving in the market, this single line exceeds rent by a considerable margin.

School cost	Range
Annual tuition across tiers	$6,250 to $20,000
Monthly equivalent at the top	More than $1,850
Enrolment fee, usually non-refundable	$500 to $2,500
Capital levy or building fund	$200 to $800 a year
Comparison: expat rent	$400 to $1,000 a month
Comparison: single person total	$780 to $1,250 a month

Schooling is where a Phnom Penh budget stops resembling a low-cost-country budget at all. A family paying $18,000 in tuition, $1,500 in enrolment and $600 in capital levy for one child is spending more on education than a comfortable single person spends on everything, and a second child roughly doubles it. Our underwriting treats school fees as a fixed obligation of the same character as a mortgage, because they arrive annually in advance, they escalate, and withdrawing mid-year rarely recovers the fee. A relocation package negotiated without an education allowance is the most common reason a Cambodian posting fails financially, and it fails in year two rather than year one, once the first enrolment fee has already gone.

• Our methodology treats tuition as a fixed obligation, like a mortgage.
• Treat school fees as a fixed annual obligation, paid in advance.
• Enrolment fees are usually non-refundable if plans change.
• School-by-school fees and curricula are compared in the international schools guide.
• Housing choice is covered in the Toul Kork area guide.
• Family districts are discussed in the best areas guide.
• Purchase pricing sits in the condo price guide.

What does health cover cost at each age?

International health insurance with evacuation cover is $80 to $200 a month per person, or roughly $800 to $2,500 a year, and premiums rise steeply with age. Evacuation cover matters in the Cambodian market specifically, because the country has one JCI-accredited hospital and complex cases travel to Bangkok.

Household	Monthly cover cost	Note
Single, working age	$80 to $120	Lower end of the band
Couple, working age	$160 to $260	Two policies
Family of three	$240 to $420	Child policies are cheaper
Retiree, single	$150 to $200 and rising	Escalates with age
Retired couple	$300 to $400 and rising	The fastest-growing line
Annual equivalent per person	$800 to $2,500	Before age loading

Health cover behaves unlike any other line in a Phnom Penh budget, and the difference is worth stating explicitly. Rent falls if you move to a cheaper district. Food falls if you eat locally. Transport is already negligible. The insurance premium does none of that: it rises every year, it rises fastest late in life, and it cannot be reduced by moving to Kampot, because what is being priced is the person rather than the postcode. Our analysis therefore models insurance separately from the rest of the budget and over the full expected stay, which usually raises the required income by several hundred dollars a month for older households. A retired couple quoted $300 today should plan for a figure well above that at 75, on a pension that has not moved.

• A red flag on any relocation budget is a flat insurance line.
• Insurance is the only budget line that cannot be reduced by moving.
• Model it over the full stay, not from the first year’s quote.
• The retiree view sits in the retirement guide.
• Provincial alternatives are covered in the Kampot area guide.
• Coastal options are in the Kep area guide.

Does buying beat renting at these numbers?

Buying beats renting on horizon rather than on monthly cost. Rent of $400 to $1,000 sits against a 4% transfer tax on entry, a 20% capital gains tax on the gain from 1 January 2027, and a resale market that is thin by regional standards. Stays under five years generally favour renting.

Factor	Renting	Buying
Monthly outlay	$400 to $1,000	Capital committed
Entry cost	Deposit and first month	4% transfer tax plus legal fees
Legal fees on purchase	None	$1,000 to $3,000
Exit cost	Notice period	Marketing period plus 20% CGT from 2027
Ongoing charges	Usually landlord’s	About $1.50 per sqm per month
Suits a stay of	Under five years	Beyond five years

This is the one page on the site where rent appears as an expense rather than as an owner’s income, and the two readings sit awkwardly beside each other on purpose. The same $700 a month is a tenant’s largest controllable cost and a landlord’s gross revenue, and a household deciding between the two roles is choosing which side of that figure to stand on. Our underwriting does not treat one answer as correct: a two-year posting should rent, a family committed for a decade with school fees anchoring them in one district should model buying seriously, and yields belong on the yield guide rather than here.

• The same monthly figure is a cost to one household and revenue to another.
• Short postings rent; decade-long commitments should model both.
• Yield workings sit in the Phnom Penh yield guide.
• Purchase costs are in the closing costs guide.
• Entry-level stock is listed in the sub-$50,000 guide.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Phnom Penh cost base

Phnom Penh is genuinely inexpensive on everything a household consumes and expensive on the two things a family cannot avoid.

Advantage	Disadvantage
Single person lives well on $780 to $1,250	Family with one child needs $2,500 to $4,000
Electricity at $0.15 to $0.18 per kWh	Landlord markups reach $0.25 per kWh
Fibre at $25 to $70 a month	Tuition reaches more than $1,850 a month per child
Rent from $400 for a modern unit	Health cover rises every year regardless
Dollar prices remove currency risk	Serious medical care means flying to Bangkok
Provincial towns cost materially less	Provincial schooling and medical access are thin

Currency deserves a line of its own here, because it is an advantage that residents of most low-cost countries do not have. Cambodia transacts in US dollars, with roughly 80% of broad money held in foreign currency, so a household paid in dollars faces no translation risk on rent, tuition or insurance. A comparable family in Manila watched the peso fall to a record 61.85 against the dollar in July 2026. That difference does not appear in any cost-of-living index, and over a five-year posting it is worth more than the gap between two districts. For families weighing a neighbouring posting instead, the national comparisons are in Cambodia vs Thailand cost of living and Cambodia vs Vietnam cost of living.

Buyer scenarios and red flags

Three household scenarios cover most of the enquiries that reach us before a move.

Scenario	What they assume	What the numbers show
Single, remote worker, $2,000 income	Cambodia is very cheap	Correct; large surplus at $780 to $1,250
Couple with one child, $4,500 package	Comfortable	Tight; tuition can take $1,850 a month
Retired couple, $2,800 pension	Comfortable indefinitely	Works now; insurance escalation is the risk

The failure pattern is a budget built from a single-person index. A family reads that Phnom Penh costs $780 to $1,250 a month, doubles it for a spouse, adds a little for a child, and arrives with $2,200 planned against a real requirement nearer $3,500. The error is not in any individual price, all of which are accurate and low. It is in a methodology that prices a household as a multiple of one person, when the two largest lines in a family budget, tuition and health cover, do not exist in the single-person figure at all. Our underwriting builds the household from its fixed obligations downward rather than from an index upward, and a red flag on any relocation plan is a budget with no separate education or insurance line.

• Never scale a single-person index to a family; build from fixed costs down.
• Ask for school fees in writing, including enrolment and capital levies.
• Confirm whether the landlord passes through the EDC tariff or marks it up.
• Price health cover for the full expected stay, not the first quote.
• Rent for a full year, including the wet season, before buying anything.

Renters who keep renewing eventually ask the ownership question, and buying vs renting in Phnom Penh answers it with this page’s own rent bands: price-to-rent near 11 to 12 times gross, a worked 5-year break-even, and the honest horizon rule.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to live in Phnom Penh? +

A single person spends roughly $780 to $1,250 a month. Lean runs $550 to $800, comfortable $900 to $1,400, and a family with one child in international school needs $2,500 to $4,000.

How much is expat rent? +

Modern one and two-bedroom apartments in BKK1 and Tonle Bassac run $400 to $1,000 a month, with BKK1 one-bedroom listings typically $650 to $1,350.

What do utilities cost? +

About $110 a month on an 85 square metre apartment. The residential tariff runs roughly 610 to 730 riel per kWh, about $0.15 to $0.18, and some landlords mark it up to $0.25.

How much are international schools? +

Tuition runs roughly $6,250 to $20,000 a year, plus non-refundable enrolment fees of $500 to $2,500 and capital levies of $200 to $800 a year.

Can I live here on $1,000 a month? +

Yes, comfortably as a single person. It does not cover international health insurance, international schooling or frequent flights home.

What does health cover cost? +

International cover with evacuation runs $80 to $200 a month per person, or $800 to $2,500 a year, rising steeply with age.

Does buying beat renting? +

It depends on horizon. A 4% transfer tax on entry and a 20% capital gains tax from 1 January 2027 mean stays under five years generally favour renting.