Can I live in Lagos on $1,000 a month?

Yes, $1,000 a month is workable in Lagos, sitting just above CostLiving’s budget benchmark of $900 per person per month and comfortably under the $1,500 moderate tier. It funds a real local life rather than an expat one. On this budget you would take a room or a modest one-bedroom on the mainland (Yaba, Surulere, or further out) rather than an Island address, spend most of the rest on food from local markets cooked at home, and rely on shared minibuses and occasional ride-hailing instead of running a car. The line that decides whether $1,000 holds is power: budget for a share of generator fuel or an inverter, because grid electricity cannot be counted on and that spend is unavoidable. What $1,000 will not stretch to is a secure serviced apartment in Ikoyi or Victoria Island, imported groceries, or international schooling, all of which belong to the city’s dollar-priced tier. For a single person prepared to live the way most Lagosians do, though, a thousand dollars a month is enough to cover the essentials with a little room to spare. Full tier breakdown on our Lagos cost of living page.