Cost of Living in Split for Digital Nomads (2026)

What a month in Split costs a remote worker

Split is the largest city on the Croatian coast, home to about 178,000 people, and it has become one of the more practical bases on the Adriatic for people who work from a laptop. Our research puts a month there at about $2,251 for a digital nomad lifestyle and about $1,415 for a more settled expat lifestyle. That gap of roughly $836 is the main thing to understand before you book anything: the city can be done cheaply, but the way a nomad typically lives, with a flat in the centre, regular meals out and some travel, sits at the upper end.

This guide breaks the figure into the parts you can actually control: rent, utilities, internet, food, transport and leisure. Every price below comes from our own research on the city, and every price is in US dollars per month unless stated otherwise. Where we do not have a reliable price for something, we leave it out rather than guess.

We also track two other tiers for the country, but the figures stored for Croatian cities look too low next to the rest of Europe, so we do not quote them here. The nomad and expat figures are consistent with the itemised prices, and those are the ones to plan around.

Rent: the biggest line in the budget

Housing is the largest single cost, and Split splits it in a way that matters. A one-bedroom apartment in the centre averages $495.27 per month, while the same size outside the centre averages $361.40. That $134 difference is real money over a year, and in Split the trade is usually not as painful as it sounds, because the city is compact.

Two people sharing a three-bedroom apartment outside the centre pay far less per head than a solo renter in the centre, which is worth considering if you travel with a partner or a friend who also works remotely. Keep in mind that these are averages across the year. A coastal city with a strong summer tourist season tends to price short stays differently in July and August than in winter, so a flat you can book for three months in October will often cost less than one you book for three weeks in peak season.

For those thinking about buying rather than renting, the price per square metre is $3,817.73 in the centre and $2,892.51 outside. That is not relevant to most nomads, but it explains why landlords price rent where they do.

Utilities, internet and phone

Monthly utilities for an 85 square metre apartment, covering electricity, heating, cooling, water and rubbish, average $115.32. That figure is for a larger flat than most single people rent, so a one-bedroom will usually come in lower. Winter heating and summer air conditioning both push the bill up, and you should ask a landlord whether utilities are included before comparing two listings.

A home internet plan at about 60 Mbps costs $25.60 per month. Prepaid mobile calls are cheap at $0.16 per minute, though most people rely on data and messaging apps rather than voice. Taken together, a connected apartment costs you roughly $141 a month in utilities and internet before you spend anything on food.

Food and drink

Eating out in Split is affordable by Western European standards and expensive by Balkan ones. An inexpensive restaurant meal averages $9.07, which gets you a solid lunch of grilled fish, pasta or a daily special. A meal at a mid-range restaurant averages $41.88, which is where dinners with wine start to add up. A cappuccino costs $1.89, and a domestic beer in a restaurant costs $2.79, or $1.28 from a shop.

Cooking at home is the easiest way to pull the monthly total down. Staples are inexpensive, and a market shop for a week for one person is modest.

A wine bottle at $5.58 is one of the clearest signs of where you are: Croatia produces plenty of its own, and the shelf prices reflect that. Meat and cheese cost more per kilo than vegetables and staples, so a diet built around fish, vegetables and grains from the market is where the savings are.

Getting around and staying active

Split is a walkable city, and many people who rent in or near the centre never need a car. A monthly public transport pass costs $40.48, and a single one-way ticket costs $1.54. Taxis start at $2.79 and then charge $1.12 per kilometre, which makes a short ride across town cheap enough for a late evening. If you want to rent a car for trips along the coast, plan that as a separate expense, since the other cities along the coast are best reached with a vehicle or a ferry.

A monthly gym membership costs $37.23, and an hour on a tennis court costs $10.17. A cinema ticket costs $6.00. These small items matter less than rent, but they show that day-to-day leisure is not a major budget pressure here.

Two sample monthly budgets

To see how the itemised prices turn into a monthly number, here are two sketches built only from the prices above. They are illustrations, not forecasts, and they leave out flights, visas, insurance, coworking and travel beyond the city.

Neither sketch reaches our nomad figure of $2,251, and that is expected. The nomad tier assumes a fuller month than either sketch, with more eating out, groceries, entertainment, short trips and the small purchases that do not appear on a price list. If you want to land close to the lean sketch, you will need to cook often and live outside the centre. If you want to match the nomad figure, you have room for a central flat, regular restaurant dinners and weekend trips along the coast.

Internet and working from Split

Our research puts the typical internet speed in Split at 93 Mbps, the same as the national figure for Croatia. That is comfortable for video calls, cloud work and large file uploads. It is not the fastest in the region: Zagreb measures 160 Mbps and Budapest 241 Mbps. If your work depends on very large transfers or you run several simultaneous streams, check the speed on a specific connection before signing a long lease.

Our quality indices describe a city that is easy to live in. Safety scores 69.2 on our index, air pollution scores 27.6 (lower is better), and the climate index is 96.3. Purchasing power scores 69.9. The average monthly net salary in the city is $957.56, which is useful context for understanding why some prices, particularly in restaurants, are set where they are.

Summer versus winter: how the city changes

Split is a seasonal city, and our monthly score shows it. The score runs from 366 in March to 468 in June, with an annual average of about 430. Higher is better. The highest values come in June, with 468, followed by September at 455, and July, August and October at 448. The winter months of December, January and February score 418, 418 and 415, so the difference between a typical winter month and the best summer month is about 50 points.

Temperatures explain most of it. January averages 6.6 C, with highs of 11.8 C. July and August average 28.2 and 28.3 C, with highs of 33.4 and 33.8 C. If you are sensitive to heat, those two months are demanding, and a flat without air conditioning is a real problem. May, with 18.8 C on average, and September, with 20.8 C, are the most balanced months for working outdoors, and October, at 18.4 C, is similar.

The dip in March is worth noting. Our score for March is the lowest of the year at 366, even though the temperature is rising, at an average of 12.1 C. Treat March as a transition month: the winter is ending, but the summer routine has not started.

For a remote worker, the practical point is that the shoulder months, May and September to October, give you good weather without peak-season crowds. The cost itself does not swing as sharply as the score, because our figures are annual averages, but your actual rent will depend on the season you book.

How Split compares with similar cities

Split sits in the middle of the pack for the region. It is more expensive than the two other Croatian cities we track, Zagreb and Dubrovnik, on our nomad figure, and cheaper than Sofia and Budapest. Only Tirana is close behind it on cost. The table shows the main figures side by side, and the final column is the annual average of our monthly score.

Budapest has the fastest internet and the highest average score of this group, but it costs $209 more per month for a nomad than Split. Zagreb is $504 cheaper than Split for a nomad and has faster internet, but it is an inland capital and does not offer the coast. Dubrovnik matches Split on internet at 93 Mbps, is $429 cheaper on our nomad figure, and carries a higher expat cost of $1,430. Tirana has the cheapest meals and the lowest rents in the comparison, and Sofia is a bit more expensive on the nomad figure at $2,346 with a lower rent than Split.

The takeaway is that Split is not the cheapest city in the region and does not claim to be. You are paying for the coast, the old town and a good summer. If budget is your only concern, Zagreb or Tirana will stretch your money further.

Verdict: who Split suits

Split suits a remote worker who wants a Mediterranean base with good-enough internet at about 93 Mbps, a compact walkable centre and the ability to keep costs under control by choosing where to rent and how often to eat out. The nomad figure of $2,251 a month is realistic for a comfortable stay in the centre, and the lean sketch of about $890 shows how low the floor can go if you rent outside the centre and cook.

It suits you less if you need the fastest possible connection, if you dislike heat, or if you plan to stay mostly in July and August, when the city is at its busiest. For most people, the sensible plan is to book a longer stay in May or September, rent a one-bedroom flat and treat the summer peak as a short visit rather than a base.