Cost of Living in Singapore 2025: A Family Guide for Couples and Parents
The first question anyone asks before moving to a new country is a simple one. How much will it cost to live there? And when you are moving as a family, not alone, that question gets heavier. It is no longer just your own rent and your own food. It is a second person, and often small people who grow out of everything and need childcare on top.
I have lived in Singapore with my family for years now, and I will admit something. For a long time I could not have told you what an average family here actually spends in a month. I knew my own bills. I did not know if we were spending more or less than everyone around us.
So instead of guessing, I asked. I ran a survey through a Google Form and collected real numbers from nearly 150 people living in Singapore. This article breaks those numbers down for couples without kids and for families with kids, so you can see what a month here really looks like in 2025.
I have already covered singles and those living alone in a separate article. This one is for families.
Who answered the survey
The survey received 142 responses. Of those, 93 are EP holders (or the DP of an EP holder), 30 are S Pass holders, and 15 are Singapore PR holders. I used these 138 responses for the analysis.
EP holders are foreign professionals, managers, and executives, usually on higher salaries and specialised skills. S Pass holders are mid-level skilled workers in industries like construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and services.
I shared the survey link in a community WhatsApp group where the members are Sri Lankans working in Singapore. Some of my Indian and Indonesian friends here also filled it in. As a percentage, close to 95% of the respondents are Sri Lankans.
All amounts are in Singapore dollars. On the day I pulled these numbers (25 January 2025), the Google rate was 1 USD = 1.35 SGD.
One thing to keep in mind before you read the tables. Most respondents are Sri Lankan, and cooking at home is part of our culture. So the grocery numbers run higher and the dining-out numbers run lower than they might for someone who eats out most nights. If your household eats differently, adjust these lines up or down.
Cost of living for a couple without kids
Here is the average monthly spend for couples without kids, based on the survey responses.
| Category | Monthly (S$) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rental | 2,967 | |
| Groceries | 783 | Vegetables, fruits, meat, toiletries |
| Dining Out | 351 | Restaurants and hawker centres |
| Shopping | 177 | Clothing and footwear |
| Utilities | 147 | Electricity, water, internet |
| Taxi / Cabs | 132 | Grab and other ride-hailing |
| Public Transport | 130 | Buses and MRT |
| Entertainment | 75 | Movies, sports, social outings |
| Personal Care | 58 | Haircuts and spa |
| Mobile Bill | 57 | |
| Subscriptions | 42 | Netflix, Spotify, YouTube Premium |
| Total (without gym & insurance) | 4,919 |
Two lines sit outside that total because most couples skip them. Gym adds about S$149 a month, but 63% of respondents do not pay for one. Insurance adds about S$210, and 46% do not pay for it. With both included, the total comes to around S$5,278.
So a couple living in Singapore without kids typically needs between S$4,800 and S$5,500 a month to cover the basics and a normal lifestyle. Where you land in that range comes down to your own choices.
Cost of living for a family with kids
Here is the average monthly spend for families with kids. One caveat: the survey did not ask how many children each family had, so this number covers everyone from one child to three, and your costs will shift with family size.
| Category | Monthly (S$) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rental | 3,092 | |
| Children Expenses | 1,338 | Childcare, school, activities |
| Groceries | 1,006 | Vegetables, fruits, meat, toiletries |
| Dining Out | 298 | Restaurants and hawker centres |
| Utilities | 207 | Electricity, water, internet |
| Shopping | 173 | Clothing and footwear |
| Taxi / Cabs | 135 | Grab and other ride-hailing |
| Public Transport | 135 | Buses and MRT |
| Entertainment | 80 | Movies, sports, social outings |
| Personal Care | 76 | Haircuts and spa |
| Mobile Bill | 71 | |
| Subscriptions | 35 | Netflix, Spotify, YouTube Premium |
| Total (without gym & insurance) | 6,646 |
The two optional lines again. Gym is about S$115 a month, and 75% of families do not pay for one. Insurance is about S$242, and here only 25% skip it, which makes sense once you have children to cover. With both included, the total comes to around S$7,003.
So a family living in Singapore with kids typically needs between S$6,500 and S$7,500 a month. The single biggest jump from the couples table is not rent. It is the children expenses line at S$1,338, which barely exists before you have kids and quietly becomes one of your largest costs after.
A note on rent
Rent is the largest line in both tables, and it moves the most. It depends on location, whether you take a condo or an HDB flat, how many rooms you need, and how new the place is.
A whole unit ranges from S$2,200 to S$4,500, with most families paying between S$2,800 and S$3,500. The numbers in the tables above are for families who rent a whole unit without sharing it with anyone.
A small group, fewer than 10% of respondents, rent the whole unit and then sublet one or two rooms, usually a common room. Doing that cuts the rent by roughly S$800 a month. It is a real option if you have a spare room and do not mind the arrangement.
If you want the full picture on rent, I have broken it down separately for expat families and for singles living alone.
Two costs worth planning for
Two lines in these tables deserve more thought than a single row gives them.
Insurance. For a family, this is not optional in the way it might be for a single person. If you are on an EP or S Pass, your employer cover ends the day your job ends, and it rarely covers your spouse and children well. I wrote about what health insurance actually costs foreigners here after buying it myself for five years.
Your own numbers. These averages tell you what other families spend. They cannot tell you whether your own household is on track. For that you have to sit down and look at your real income, your real expenses, and how long your savings would last if income stopped. I built a free financial plan sheet to answer exactly those questions. It takes about an hour the first time.
So what does it really cost?
Round it off and it is simple. A couple without kids needs roughly S$4,800 to S$5,500 a month. A family with kids needs roughly S$6,500 to S$7,500. Rent decides most of the gap, and children decide the rest.
But an average is just a starting point. The real cost of living in Singapore is your cost of living, not the survey’s. Read these numbers, then go and check your own. That is the part you actually control.
That’s it for today, guys. Thank You for Reading! I hope you found this article informative and useful.
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