Study Abroad Cost of Living by City (in ₹)
How much it costs to live in 23 student cities in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, in rupees, from bare minimum to luxurious, with what each standard of living looks like and the catches.
How do you want to live in London?
Not priced by living standard yet: Amsterdam, Delft. See them under each university's own estimate.
London · Comfortable
₹28.7 lakh
for 12 months · £1,873 (₹2,39,061) a month
You have your own room in a three-bedroom flat with two flatmates, close to campus or a good transit line. You cook most days, eat out about once a week, and can afford a movie, a dinner with friends or a weekend day trip now and then without stress.
What makes it comfortable
- Your own room in a 3-person flat near campus or transit
- Mostly home cooking, eating out about 4 times a month
- A monthly transit pass
- A mid-range phone plan and a normal personal budget
- Utilities (your share of 3)whole-flat bill ÷ 3
- £66
- Internet (your share of 3)plan ÷ 3
- £9
- 4 meals out4 × the campus dining-hall price; restaurants cost more
- £20
- Transit pass
- £141
- Personal & going outuniversity's personal budget
- £331
The catches
- You're splitting bills and chores with flatmates, so pick them carefully; a good flatmate matters more than a nice flat.
- Leases often run 12 months even if your course has a summer break, so you may pay rent while you're away.
- Flats near campus fill up months before term; start looking as soon as you have an admit.
- Rents near South Kensington are among the UK's highest (1-bed £2,674 vs £1,764 London-wide); living in zones 2–3 and buying a student Travelcard is usually far cheaper. Source
- Imperial has few postgraduate halls, so most master's students rent privately. Source
- A household of only full-time students pays no council tax; live with one non-student and you get a bill. Source
- Broadband contracts usually run 24 months with price rises every 31 March, so on a one-year course let a flatmate or the landlord hold the contract. Source
- You need a TV licence (£180 a year) only for live TV or BBC iPlayer; Netflix and similar alone don't need one. Source
Money you need on arrival
- Immigration Health Surcharge: £776 for each year of your visa, paid upfront with the application (about £1,164 for a typical one-year master's visa). It gives you NHS access, so there's no monthly health insurance. Source
- Since 1 May 2026, landlords in England can't take rent before you sign and can ask for at most one month's rent in advance (purpose-built student halls are exempt). Source
- Deposits are capped at 5 weeks' rent and holding deposits at 1 week's rent; letting-agent fees are banned. Your deposit must go into a government scheme within 30 days. Source
- Private landlords usually ask for a UK-based guarantor. Without one, international students typically pay a guarantor service or choose university or private halls.
Living standards are built from priced parts (rent for that kind of home, groceries, transport, phone, insurance) taken from official statistics and primary sources, checked 2026-11-07. What each standard includes is our assumption, listed in the panel. Converted at FBIL reference rates of 2026-10-30: $1 = ₹95.25, €1 = ₹106.55, £1 = ₹127.60, C$1 = ₹68.23.
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How this tool works
- The tool covers 23 student cities in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. For each, the university's own published living-cost estimate is converted to a monthly figure by dividing the total by the months it covers.
- Each living standard (bare minimum, comfortable, very comfortable, luxurious) is a monthly budget built from priced parts: rent, utilities, internet, groceries, meals out, transit, phone, gym, health insurance and personal spending. Shared costs are divided by the number of people in the flat.
- Prices come from official sources such as HUD, Statistics Canada, ONS and the Scottish Government for rent, USDA food plans, and each university's own insurance and personal budget. What each standard includes is our editorial assumption.
- German universities publish only a minimum monthly budget, so those figures are shown as minimums. Rupee amounts use FBIL reference rates dated 30 October 2026, and monthly cost is multiplied by the months you enter.
- The figures are living costs and exclude tuition. A few university estimates also fold in one-off items; Trinity College Dublin's, for example, includes a flight home and the residence permit fee. A bank or forex card will charge a margin on top of the reference rate.
Sources: University cost-of-attendance and living-cost pages (each city's source is linked in the tool); USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home, monthly reports; FBIL reference rates (CAD crossed via Bank of Canada USD/CAD); HUD, Statistics Canada, ONS and Scottish Government rent statistics
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