Cost of Living in Makati 2026: Budget Guide

How much does it cost to live in Makati? (2026)

Makati is where the money lives. If you run a business, sit in a regional office, or fly in and out for work, this is the address that tends to win. It is also, alongside BGC, the single most expensive place to live in the Philippines. People pay for it because almost everything they need sits inside a few walkable blocks: the office, the gym, the grocery, the dinner, the bar. That convenience is the whole product, and it is priced accordingly.

So this guide is honest about the tier. Makati is not where you come to stretch a budget. It is where you come to buy back your time and your commute. If that trade makes sense for you, the numbers below will feel reasonable. If it does not, a neighbouring city will do most of the same job for a lot less.

For the bigger picture across the country, the national cost-of-living guide is the place to start. This piece zooms in on the Makati CBD and the streets around it.

The five things you actually pay for

Rent. This is the line that moves everything else. Makati posts the highest condo rents in the country, with the median sitting somewhere around ₱900 to ₱950 per square metre per month based on a solid sample of active listings. A compact one-bedroom of 35 sqm near the core lands you in the mid ₱30,000s a month at that rate. Stretch to a proper two-bedroom and you are well into six figures. Older buildings off the main avenues run cheaper, and the further you drift from Ayala and Paseo the more the rate softens. Buying tells the same story: median sale prices sit near ₱200,000 per square metre, the top of the national table. You can sanity-check any unit against the market with the price-per-sqm tool before you sign anything. Browse what is currently live on the Makati condo listings page or the broader rentals section.

Food. Here is where Makati quietly drains a wallet. Cook at home and shop at the wet market or a regular grocery and your food bill barely differs from anywhere else in Metro Manila. But almost nobody who lives in Makati does only that. The pull of Salcedo and Legazpi Village, of Greenbelt and the weekend Salcedo market, is the dining premium. A casual sit-down lunch that costs ₱200 elsewhere quietly becomes ₱500 here, and a nice dinner for two with drinks can clear several thousand without trying. The carinderias and food courts still exist and still feed you well for under ₱150 a plate. The gap between the two worlds is enormous, and how often you cross it decides your monthly total more than rent ever will.

Utilities, and yes that means aircon. Electricity is the swing factor. Run the air conditioning hard in a glass-walled condo through the hot months and a single unit's Meralco bill can jump a few thousand pesos over a mild month. Water and a fibre internet line are steadier and modest by comparison. Newer towers fold some services into the association dues, which we will come back to, so read what the rent actually covers before you assume.

Transport. This one is the pleasant surprise. If you live and work inside the CBD, transport can cost you almost nothing. People genuinely walk to the office, walk to lunch, walk home. The free Makati shuttle loops the business district, and Grab fills the gaps when it rains. This is the one budget line where Makati can beat cheaper cities outright, because they make you commute and Makati does not. The savings only hold if you actually live near where you work. Live in Makati and work in Ortigas or BGC and you hand the advantage straight back.

Healthcare. The big private hospitals and clinics are close and excellent, which is part of the appeal for older expats and families. Routine consultations and meds are reasonable; serious care without insurance is not. Most people in this tier carry private cover, and budgeting a monthly premium is the sensible move.

> Reality check: every peso figure below comes from active listings and current market rates. They are ranges, not quotes. Verify before you commit.

Monthly budget by lifestyle

These three profiles assume you live in Makati. Rent dominates, so the spread is wide.

The lean column is a real condo near the edge of the district, cooking most nights, eating out as a treat. The comfortable column is the typical relocated expat: a decent two-bedroom, regular Greenbelt dinners, a private insurance plan. The executive column has no real ceiling, because at that point you are buying the best of everything Makati sells.

Who thrives here, and who won't

Makati rewards a specific person. If your job is in or near the CBD, if you value walking over commuting, and if the dining and nightlife scene is a feature rather than a temptation you cannot control, you will love it and you will probably feel it is worth the money. High earners, regional executives, and expats on a housing allowance fit the city like a glove.

It punishes everyone else. If you are trying to save aggressively, if you work outside the district, or if you would happily trade a five-minute walk to dinner for a thousand square feet more space, Makati will feel like paying premium rent for a lifestyle you are not using. Plenty of people are better served one city over. Pasig gives you space and value, and the city of Manila gives you history and lower rents, both at a real discount to this.

Two Makati cost quirks worth flagging

Association dues. In the premium towers this is not a rounding error. Dues are charged per square metre and the nicer the building, the higher the rate, so a large unit in a flagship tower can add a meaningful sum on top of rent every month for the pool, the gym, the lobby, and the security. Always ask whether the quoted rent includes dues or sits on top of them. The answer changes your real cost more than most people expect.

The dining premium is a choice, until it isn't. Living surrounded by Salcedo and Legazpi's restaurants means the easy option is always the expensive one. There is no judgement in it, but be clear-eyed: a person who eats out four nights a week in Makati spends on food what a person in a cheaper city spends on rent. Budget for the habit you will actually have, not the disciplined one you imagine.

The honest bottom line

Makati is expensive on purpose, and for the right person the price buys something real: time, walkability, and a lifestyle clustered into a few blocks you never have to leave. For the wrong person it is just a high bill. Know which one you are before you sign a year-long lease.

Ready to see what your money buys here? Start with the Makati city guide, browse current condo listings, and run any unit through the price-per-sqm tool so you walk in knowing the number.