Published on •Updated
After a downward trend in the first half of 2026, rents in Portugal began rising again in August, and anyone looking for a one-bedroom flat now has to pay more than €200 above the minimum wage.
According to a recent report by the property portal idealista, covering the second quarter of 2026, renting a one-bedroom flat (known as a T1 in Portugal) costs a median of €1,128 per month, a figure that is 123% higher than renting a room, which comes to €505 a month.
At district level, Lisbon is the most expensive area. An independent flat that includes one bedroom in the capital region has a median price of €1,354 per month. It is followed by the island of Madeira (€1,295/month), Faro (€1,171/month), Porto (€983/month), Setúbal (€981/month) and São Miguel island in the Azores (€979/month).
At the other end of the scale, the cheapest T1s are found in the districts of Guarda (€456/month), Castelo Branco (€527/month) and Bragança (€529/month).
Looking at the capitals of these districts, tenants have to make an even greater effort. A T1 in the city of Lisbon has a median price of €1,409/month, a pattern that is repeated in other cities: Funchal (€1,340/month), Porto (€1,003/month) and Faro (€1,001/month).
Guarda (€438/month), Beja (€790/month), Bragança (€520/month) and Castelo Branco (€538/month) are the district capitals where renting a T1 is cheapest.
As for rooms, Madeira (€565/month) is even more expensive than the Lisbon district (€551/month), with Porto (€457/month) rounding out the top 3. At the opposite extreme are Bragança (€205/month), Guarda (€205/month) and Castelo Branco (€246/month).
In the ranking of room prices by city, Lisbon and Funchal are neck and neck (€570 per month). The cheapest options are in Guarda (€200/month), Beja (€270/month) and Viseu (€271/month).
Studios far more expensive than rooms
The idealista survey also shows that studios have a median price of €908 per month, which is 80% more than a room, while being 20% cheaper than a T1.
Bragança is where the gap between renting a room and a studio is widest, both at district level (131%) and in the city itself (128%).
This report, which focuses on the long-term rental market, compares the median asking prices for rooms in shared flats, studios and T1 apartments advertised on the idealista portal between April and June 2026, analysing only markets with a sufficiently representative sample.