Siem Reap Cost of Living: Live Well for Less

The honest way to budget for Siem Reap is not to chase a single "average" number. It is to build the month from parts you can actually control — rent, air-conditioning, food, transport, connectivity, insurance, and a visa line — and then add a contingency. What follows are four worked scenarios in US dollars, dated October 2026. Everything below is a planning estimate, not a quote: figures are rounded, rents and food are bands, and prices in a fast-changing town move. Where a figure is anchored to a published source, we say so.

Read this before the table

Three warnings. First, electricity is the swing item: air-conditioning in the hot season can double the utilities line for the same apartment. Second, rent is the least standardised cost — the same money buys quite different housing depending on how far from the centre you go, so treat the rent rows as directional. Third, our visa line is deliberately thin: we can confirm the official USD 30 single-entry e-Visa, but long-stay visas and extensions could not be confirmed from an official source, so we amortise a modest monthly amount rather than invent a number. Confirm your own visa cost with an official channel or licensed agent.

Four monthly scenarios (USD, October 2026)

All rows are per month unless noted. "Basis" shows where the figure comes from: a named source, or "VL estimate".

Item	Modest solo	Comfortable solo	Modest couple	Comfortable couple	Basis (source)
Rent (furnished)	235	400	300	650	Numbeo rent bands / VL estimate
Electricity (AC)	55	90	80	140	VL estimate (EDC tariffs)
Water + refuse	8	10	10	12	VL estimate
Internet	15	22	18	22	Smart 5G @Home
Mobile data	5	10	10	20	Cellcard 5G plans
Food and groceries	190	320	380	600	VL estimate (Numbeo items)
Transport	55	120	90	180	VL estimate (Numbeo)
Visa / admin (monthly equiv.)	30	30	60	60	e-Visa USD 30 benchmark
Health insurance	40	60	100	140	VL estimate
Wellness / gym	0	35	0	70	VL estimate
Social and entertainment	40	120	80	220	VL estimate
Subtotal	673	1,217	1,128	2,114
Contingency (10%)	67	122	113	211	VL estimate
Monthly total	~740	~1,350	~1,240	~2,325

The arithmetic: each column is the sum of the rows above it; contingency is 10% of the subtotal, rounded. The provisional subtotals shown here are 235+55+8+15+5+190+55+30+40+0+40 = 673 (modest solo); 400+90+10+22+10+320+120+30+60+35+120 = 1,217 (comfortable solo); 300+80+10+18+10+380+90+60+100+0+80 = 1,128 (modest couple); and 650+140+12+22+20+600+180+60+140+70+220 = 2,114 (comfortable couple). Add 10% and round to the nearest ten.

What the numbers mean

The modest solo total lands near USD 740 a month, and the same person living comfortably lands near USD 1,350 — a spread of roughly USD 600 that is mostly housing, air-conditioning, food and socialising, in that order. A couple is not double a single person, because rent and utilities are shared; the modest and comfortable couple figures sit near USD 1,240 and USD 2,325. These are our estimates, not promises, and a frugal Buddhist-monk-simple month is cheaper while a villa-plus-private-school month is far dearer.

Where the money actually goes

• Housing and power are the two biggest levers. Moving one ring out from the centre can cut rent, but air-conditioning is what turns a cheap flat expensive.
• Food is elastic. Local meals are inexpensive (Numbeo lists an inexpensive restaurant meal at about USD 2.50), while imported groceries and Western dining climb quickly.
• Transport depends on your mode. A cheap month means an owned motorbike and short local rides; a comfortable month means app-hailing and more driving.
• Connectivity is not the expensive part. A home line runs USD 15–22 and mobile data a few dollars — the cost of poor connectivity is your time, not your money.

A note on the numbers themselves

Rent bands, utilities, food and transport here are VillageLife planning estimates compiled on 4 October 2026, informed by Numbeo's crowd-sourced Siem Reap page (last updated 26 September 2026) and the operators' and government's published prices. Numbeo's figures are self-reported estimates, not contracts, and Siem Reap rents swing with season and building. Treat every number as a starting point to test against real quotes once you arrive — and check the current exchange rate, remembering that the riel is the official currency and US dollars are also accepted.

Where VillageLife fits

VillageLife is a project in development in Siem Reap. Memberships and crowdfunding are not open, we have no address and no prices to publish, and nothing here is a VillageLife price or a quote for anything we plan to offer. What we are designing is a settled base with documented connectivity and dependable power — the very line items this article keeps telling you to budget for. Plan your own numbers; a base that removes some of the recurring guesswork is what we are working towards.