Suwałki Ranked Cheapest Polish City in GUS Data

The report shows that low daily expenses do not always line up with the cheapest property market. Grudziądz offers the lowest average apartment price in the group at 5,535 zł per square meter on the data provided, while Suwałki’s average is 7,270 zł and Chełm’s 6,022 zł. Across Poland, apartment prices rose 1.5% in the second quarter from the first quarter and were 6.3% higher than a year earlier, keeping pressure on first-time buyers and renters.

Affordability is driven by both prices and wages. Grudziądz has the lowest median gross pay among the top 10 cheapest cities at 6,760 zł, but still ranks second on living costs, while Łódź stands out with a higher purchasing-power score of 115.9 and an A+ rating in the report’s methodology. That makes Łódź more attractive for households with stronger earnings, even if it is not the cheapest place to live day to day.

Regional food prices also favor the east of the country. Podlaskie, home to Suwałki and Białystok, shows food prices 7.3% below the average for the 66 cities, while Lubelskie is 5.7% below average and Łódzkie is 5.3% lower. For consumers, that means the cheapest city to live in is not necessarily the cheapest place to buy housing, and the best value depends on whether the main cost is rent, a mortgage, groceries or commuting.

For investors and developers, the ranking reinforces a split market: smaller eastern and north-central cities still offer lower household costs and, in some cases, cheaper resale housing, but national apartment price inflation continues to support the broader residential market. The next focus will be whether higher borrowing costs and slower wage growth keep pushing households toward lower-cost cities, or whether rising property prices erase that advantage.