The Runway Number
How the numbers are worked out
Every figure the calculator shows is a current price from Numbeo, in US dollars, multiplied by a quantity on this page. Nothing is estimated by hand. If a city looks wrong, either the price moved or the quantity below is wrong for you, and both are checkable.
Where the prices come from
Numbeo, via Apify actor automation-lab/numbeo-scraper, prices in USD. Last pulled 2026-09-07. Numbeo figures are crowd-reported medians; rent in particular varies a lot by neighbourhood and building, so treat the rent line as a city midpoint rather than a quote.
The three ways of living
Groceries use the same basket at every tier. The tiers differ on which rent band they use, how often you eat out, how you get around, and leisure.
lean
| Rent band | 1-bed outside the centre |
| Gym memberships | 0 |
| Meals at an inexpensive restaurant | 4 |
| Mid-range dinners for two (halved for one person) | 0 |
| Cappuccinos | 8 |
| Pints | 4 |
| Bottles of wine | 1 |
| Cinema tickets | 1 |
| Taxi trips | 2 |
| Miles per taxi trip | 3 |
normal
| Rent band | 1-bed in the centre |
| Gym memberships | 1 |
| Meals at an inexpensive restaurant | 10 |
| Mid-range dinners for two (halved for one person) | 3 |
| Cappuccinos | 20 |
| Pints | 8 |
| Bottles of wine | 3 |
| Cinema tickets | 2 |
| Taxi trips | 8 |
| Miles per taxi trip | 3 |
comfortable
| Rent band | 3-bed in the centre |
| Gym memberships | 1 |
| Meals at an inexpensive restaurant | 12 |
| Mid-range dinners for two (halved for one person) | 8 |
| Cappuccinos | 30 |
| Pints | 12 |
| Bottles of wine | 5 |
| Cinema tickets | 3 |
| Taxi trips | 20 |
| Miles per taxi trip | 3 |
The monthly grocery basket, one adult
| milk | 8 per month |
| bread | 4 per month |
| rice | 2 per month |
| eggs | 4 per month |
| cheese | 1.5 per month |
| chicken | 4 per month |
| beef | 2 per month |
| apples | 3 per month |
| bananas | 4 per month |
| tomatoes | 3 per month |
| potatoes | 3 per month |
| onions | 2 per month |
| lettuce | 4 per month |
| water | 6 per month |
Quantities are in the units Numbeo prices them in, mostly pounds and litres. The basket is deliberately plain. It's a floor for someone who cooks, not a diet.
What's also in every month
Basic utilities for an apartment, broadband, a mobile plan, and a monthly public transport pass, all at the city's listed price, at every tier.
What the runway calculation does
It takes your savings, subtracts the one-off costs you enter, holds back one further month of the city's cost as a bad-month buffer, and divides what's left by the gap between the monthly cost and any income that travels with you. If your income covers the cost, runway isn't your constraint and it says so.
The bands are a decision rule, not a forecast. Under three months is a runway problem. Three to six is enough to go and find out. Six or more means the money isn't what's stopping you.