How Much Do You Need to Earn to Live Comfortably in Europe?

The income needed for a comfortable life varies widely across Europe. Find out how much net income you need in 34 countries and why the figures alone don't tell the whole story

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The same salary can buy peace of mind in Lisbon and force you to count every expense in Zurich. That is why no single number answers the question of how much you need to earn for a comfortable life in Europe to become the norm rather than a dream. There are, however, useful benchmarks.

Euronews Business has published calculations made by the author of the original piece, Servet Yanatma, for 34 European countries. The team worked out how much money a household needs each month after taxes to land at the start of the upper-middle-income group. For a single adult in the European Union, that figure is €2,867, and the gap between countries is roughly tenfold. Below, we look at where these numbers come from and what lies behind them.

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What is 150% of the median, and why was it chosen as the benchmark?

First, the method, because without it the numbers explain nothing. Analysts use a measure called equivalised disposable income. They add up all cash received by household members: wages, investment income, social benefits. Taxes and contributions are deducted from that total, and the remainder is divided by the number of “equivalent adults”. So it is not one person’s salary but an income brought to a common denominator for households of different make-up.

The OECD counts as middle class those whose equivalised income falls between 75% and 200% of the national median. Within that range it distinguishes three steps: lower-middle (75–100%), mid-income (100–150%) and upper-middle (150–200%). Euronews Business took the lower boundary of the last group as its starting point.

There are no clear criteria for how much a household must earn to live without financial stress. Sebastian Königs, a senior economist at the OECD, explains the logic: if income is all we know about a household, most of those above 150% of the median are probably living fairly comfortably. Other researchers warn that even this threshold guarantees nothing.

Across the EU, the median in 2025 was €22,939 a year, or €1,912 a month. To reach one and a half times that amount, a single person needs €2,867 per month.

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From Romania to Luxembourg: how much does a single person need in Europe?

Photo: Euronews Business

The spread across the continent is striking. In the 34 countries covered by the study, the threshold ranges from €603 a month in North Macedonia to €6,491 in Switzerland. Among EU members, the lowest figure is in Romania (€1,023) and the highest in Luxembourg (€6,256).

More than €4,000 a month is needed in five countries:

- Norway, €5,240;

- Austria, €4,568;

- Denmark, €4,524;

- Ireland, €4,392;

- the Netherlands, €4,308.

Among the four largest EU economies, Germany has the highest result at €3,611. France, at €3,307, is about 15% above the EU average, Italy comes in at €2,758, and Spain closes the group with €2,546. The difference between the German and Spanish thresholds for one adult is €1,065 a month, a whole separate rent budget in many cities.

At the other end, figures fall below €1,000: Albania (€723), Türkiye (€755), Montenegro (€825) and Serbia (€975). Together with North Macedonia, these are five EU candidate countries. In eleven EU states the figure lies between €1,000 and €1,900, including Portugal (€1,808), Poland (€1,799), Greece (€1,463), Bulgaria (€1,108) and Hungary (€1,099).

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Net income in Europe for a couple and a family with two children

Photo: Euronews Business

A couple without children does not need double the money. Housing and utility costs are shared, so Eurostat applies a factor of 1.5 for a couple. For a family with two children under 14 it is 2.1: the first adult counts as 1, the second as 0.5, and each child as 0.3.

Photo: Euronews Business

On average across the EU, that means €4,301 a month for a couple and €6,021 for a family with two young children. Country rankings do not change: each country’s figure is multiplied by the same factor, so the most and least expensive stay where they are, only the sums grow.

The purchasing power gap: what 150% of the median buys in PPS

Photo: Euronews Business

Comparing countries in euros is not entirely fair, because the same money buys different things in Zurich and Bucharest. To remove that difference, statisticians use an artificial currency, the purchasing power standard (PPS), in which prices are equalised across countries.

In PPS, the threshold for a single person in the EU is 2,830 a month. The spread narrows but stays noticeable: from 1,031 PPS in Albania to 4,709 in Luxembourg, which is about 4.6 times instead of 10.8 times in euros. Within the EU, Hungary has the lowest figure at 1,495 PPS, and Luxembourg’s level is just over three times higher, not six times as in euros.

Professor Koen Caminada of Leiden University reminds us that the same position in the income ladder of different countries does not mean the same standard of living. There is a second trap. The national median hides regional differences, above all in housing costs: the capital and the provinces of one country can live in different price worlds.

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2026: where incomes are growing and where they are losing value

The benchmark calculated for 2025 does not stand still, because both wages and prices change. According to OECD data analysed by Euronews in May 2026, real household income per capita rose last year in 14 of 16 European countries. Poland led with growth of 4.1%, and it also posted the best result in 2024. Belgium added 1.4%, Hungary and Sweden 1.2% each. Among the large economies Spain did best, while Italy came in at 0.8%, matching the OECD average.

Only Finland (minus 0.7%) and Austria (minus 1.8%) went backwards. For Austria, this is a sharp reversal after 3.6% growth a year earlier. Across the OECD as a whole, growth slowed to 0.8% from 2.1% in 2024. The cost of living in Europe continues to weigh on budgets, and even where the benchmark is high, real household prosperity does not always grow.

Income is not the whole picture: housing, savings and region

Königs points out that many people manage very well thanks to owning their home, especially if they live where prices are moderate. Wealth inequality, above all in access to home ownership, remains one of the most pressing problems in many OECD countries. The scale of the gap is shown by a Euronews study from June 2026: median net wealth of households aged 65–74 is €1.22 million in Luxembourg and just €36,300 in Latvia.

Caminada adds that a modest income with a reserve that is easy to tap can be more reliable than a high salary weighed down by debt. In his definition, a decent life means a household can afford:

- proper housing and food;

- heating, electricity and transport;

- social life and leisure;

- regular savings;

- an unexpected bill or a temporary loss of work without immediate financial trouble.

Dr Markus Grabka of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) puts it more bluntly: income above 150% of the median provides security only in combination with some private wealth. So none of the figures listed above is an official threshold of prosperity. They describe a relative position in the income distribution, not a guarantee of peace of mind.

How to use these numbers if you are planning to move

The most valuable thing in this research is not the specific sums but the way of thinking. When weighing a country, compare not gross job offers but what is left after taxes, calculated for your household type. Add real rents in the city you have in mind, not national averages, and estimate how much you could actually save.

A low threshold in Portugal or Poland does not mean it is easy to build capital there, and a high one in Denmark does not guarantee you will feel secure. It also helps to know visa and work permit requirements before you start calculating your future budget.

You have worked out how much you need to live in your chosen country, and the next question is how to work there legally. The Visit World “Work Guide” answers it step by step, from filling in the visa application to registering with local authorities. The document separately describes applying for a short-term or long-term work visa and a work permit, with a full list of documents for each stage. It also gives the visa fee, the approximate processing time and the rules for completing the application, so you avoid small mistakes. A separate section of practical tips will help you feel more confident once you arrive.

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