According to a survey by Codacons, in 2026 Milan is still the most expensive city, followed by Bolzano, Aosta and Bologna. The cheapest, however, is Naples. In general, the gap in the cost of living is very clear between the North and the South.
Milan it is also confirmed in 2026 most expensive Italian city for a selection of everyday goods and services, while Naples it’s there cheaper. According to the Codacons survey, based on data fromMimit Price and Tariff Observatorythe difference between the two cities reaches 42%. Bolzano, Aosta and Bologna appear to be the other most expensive cities, while Palermo and Catanzaro are among those where spending has the least impact on the family budget. But the gap isn’t just about food expenditure: it is above all the people who make the difference services, from the cinema to the car wash, up to the pizzeria, with a difference that can exceed 200 euros for the same purchases. There are strong differences between the cities of northern and southern Italy also for dental expenses and those related to pet care.
Go shopping it can have very different costs depending on the Italian city you are in. The cost of services also varies: going to the cinema, washing the car and even taking the dog to the vet can weigh differently on the family budget. Codacons took care of quantifying these differences and, in the 2026 survey of retail price lists, compared the prices recorded byPrice and Tariff Observatory of the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy in the month of June in the main Italian cities. In particular, the comparison was carried out on a basket of 33 entriescomposed of:
- 20 food items (including bread, cold cuts, fish, fruit and vegetables)
- 13 services (including bars, hairdressers, pizzerias, vets, dentists and cinemas)
From the results of the survey it emerges that to purchase all the products and services included in this basket you almost need €693 in Milan and a little less (€652) in Bolzano, in second position among the most expensive cities. But even in Aosta and Bologna the total expenditure exceeds 640 euros.
The city where you spend the least is instead Napleswhere the same basket can be purchased for approximately €402. Among the cheapest cities, Palermo (€464) and Catanzaro (€474) also stand out.
The gap between the most expensive city and the cheapest is significant: around 291 euros. The data therefore tells us that, for the same purchases, in Naples people spend around 42% less than in Milan.
The gap among cities it mainly concerns i servicethe. In Milan, the 13 services included in the basket cost a total of around €491. The figure drops to around €452 in Aosta and Bolzano, to 292 euros in Palermo and up to €262 in Naples.
The Codacons survey also allows us to compare some individual expenditure items. For example, the South Tyrolean city of Bolzano is on average the most expensive to eat in pizza in the pizzeria (15 €) and for the car wash (€21). The lowest average cost for a pizza in a pizzeria was found in Catanzaro (€10.35) while for washing the car the most convenient city is Ancona (€8.50).
Even an evening at cinema can have a different impact on your wallet: in Bologna the ticket costs on average €11.50while in Bari it stops at around €7.30.
Among the items considered by the survey, strong divergences also emerge between some health expenses and those related to care pets: these are services which, considered individually, may seem like occasional expenses. However, if they are repeated during the year, they can significantly impact the family budget.
For example, for afilling dental, come on €71 averages of Palermo to the €176 from Aosta. The difference therefore exceeds 100 euros for a single service.
Vaccination of pets also has significant variations. In Milan the average cost is 63 euros, while in Naples it costs around 29.50 euros: less than half.
For the grooming of a dog, however, you spend around 24 euros in Bari and Catanzaro, compared to almost 50 euros in Aosta.
However, the picture that emerges shows clear territorial differences: in the analyzed basket, several cities in the North have a higher overall expenditure than cities in the South such as Naples, Palermo and Catanzaro. And if the gap appears particularly marked for services, significant variations are also recorded for some food products, such as the cost of a kilo of bread.
All these price differences can depend on several factors, including cost of commercial spacesthe costs incurred by the activities, the competition, local demand and availability of services. The Codacons survey, however, only presents the prices recorded and therefore does not allow us to establish how much each of these elements affects the final gap.
The conclusion, therefore, is that the cost of living in Italy it is not uniform and territorial differences can also be relevant for the most common expenses. To establish where it is really most convenient to live, however, we need to consider the total cost of living in the different cities, also including all those items not included in the basket analyzed by Codacons but which affect the family budget, such as rent, mortgages, bills, transport and disposable income.
