Cost of living, salaries, taxes, and purchasing power across 66 countries. Pick two to see a detailed side-by-side breakdown.
Data updated: March โ October 2026
The most searched country-to-country comparisons on our platform.
Sorted by number of cities with data. Indices relative to New York City (NYC = 100).
| Country | Cities | Cost of LivingCoL | Rent | Purchasing PowerPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ๐บ๐ธ United States | 82 | 57.7 | 41.3 | 144.2 |
| ๐ฉ๐ช Germany | 34 | 45.1 | 22.1 | 139.2 |
| ๐จ๐ฆ Canada | 30 | 47.1 | 29.1 | 125.6 |
| ๐ฎ๐ณ India | 28 | 12 | 5.4 | 75.7 |
| ๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom | 23 | 54.1 | 33.3 | 129.2 |
| ๐ฎ๐น Italy | 23 | 41.6 | 21.5 | 87.8 |
| ๐ช๐ธ Spain | 15 | 39.4 | 24.3 | 97.4 |
| ๐จ๐ณ China | 14 | 22.6 | 11.9 | 110.8 |
| ๐ท๐บ Russia | 13 | 23.7 | 13.7 | 66.6 |
| ๐ง๐ท Brazil | 13 | 23 | 11.4 | 49.7 |
| ๐ท๐ด Romania | 12 | 24.3 | 11.4 | 79.3 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฝ Mexico | 11 | 32.7 | 18.4 | 50 |
| ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands | 10 | 58.4 | 38.1 | 135.1 |
| ๐ซ๐ท France | 10 | 45.3 | 22.9 | 118.5 |
| ๐ต๐ฑ Poland | 10 | 34 | 17.7 | 106.5 |
| ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland | 9 | 82.1 | 53.6 | 160.9 |
| ๐ฆ๐บ Australia | 8 | 58.4 | 40.2 | 133.9 |
| ๐น๐ท Turkey | 8 | 22.2 | 12.7 | 72.5 |
| ๐ต๐น Portugal | 7 | 37.9 | 25.9 | 72.3 |
| ๐ธ๐ช Sweden | 5 | 46.6 | 24.5 | 133.6 |
| ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland | 5 | 45.7 | 22.9 | 117.9 |
| ๐ฆ๐น Austria | 5 | 48.3 | 23.9 | 125.5 |
| ๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates | 5 | 46 | 37.5 | 101.8 |
| ๐ฌ๐ท Greece | 5 | 35.2 | 14.7 | 65.4 |
| ๐จ๐ฟ Czechia | 5 | 35.7 | 19 | 100.8 |
| ๐ง๐ฌ Bulgaria | 5 | 25.7 | 12.7 | 83.8 |
| ๐น๐ญ Thailand | 5 | 25.4 | 15.4 | 38 |
| ๐ฒ๐ฆ Morocco | 5 | 22 | 10.3 | 50.2 |
| ๐บ๐ฆ Ukraine | 5 | 16.7 | 9.2 | 56.4 |
| ๐ณ๐ด Norway | 4 | 61.8 | 34.1 | 135.8 |
| ๐ฉ๐ฐ Denmark | 4 | 55 | 28 | 149.6 |
| ๐ง๐ช Belgium | 4 | 46.7 | 26.6 | 135.2 |
| ๐จ๐พ Cyprus | 4 | 41.8 | 26.5 | 92.9 |
| ๐น๐ผ Taiwan | 4 | 31.8 | 14.1 | 88.8 |
| ๐ญ๐บ Hungary | 4 | 29.3 | 14.4 | 76.8 |
| ๐ธ๐ฆ Saudi Arabia | 4 | 32.2 | 17 | 103.3 |
| ๐ฟ๐ฆ South Africa | 4 | 28.5 | 14.8 | 102 |
| ๐ต๐ญ Philippines | 4 | 23.3 | 14.1 | 36 |
| ๐ฎ๐ฉ Indonesia | 4 | 19.2 | 12.6 | 31.7 |
| ๐ต๐ฐ Pakistan | 4 | 12.4 | 4.3 | 31 |
| ๐ฎ๐ฑ Israel | 3 | 57.3 | 36.1 | 121.7 |
| ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland | 3 | 62.4 | 51.4 | 107.3 |
| ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand | 3 | 46.8 | 27.4 | 117.4 |
| ๐ญ๐ท Croatia | 3 | 36.6 | 19 | 87 |
| ๐ฑ๐น Lithuania | 3 | 31.8 | 14.1 | 103.2 |
| ๐ท๐ธ Serbia | 3 | 27.6 | 12.5 | 76.1 |
| ๐ฐ๐ฟ Kazakhstan | 3 | 20.5 | 12.3 | 58.9 |
| ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia | 3 | 21.9 | 9.5 | 80.2 |
| ๐ช๐จ Ecuador | 3 | 22.2 | 10.6 | 49.4 |
| ๐ป๐ณ Vietnam | 3 | 18.9 | 11.7 | 42.7 |
| ๐ช๐ฌ Egypt | 3 | 12 | 4 | 24 |
| ๐ช๐ช Estonia | 2 | 33.3 | 15.8 | 103 |
| ๐ธ๐ฎ Slovenia | 2 | 37.8 | 19.3 | 98.5 |
| ๐ธ๐ฐ Slovakia | 2 | 36.8 | 21.8 | 80.1 |
| ๐ฏ๐ต Japan | 2 | 37 | 22.2 | 142 |
| ๐ฆ๐ท Argentina | 2 | 28.7 | 15.2 | 45.3 |
| ๐ฒ๐ช Montenegro | 2 | 30.3 | 17.4 | 66.6 |
| ๐ฆ๐ฑ Albania | 2 | 30.2 | 14 | 55.9 |
| ๐จ๐ด Colombia | 2 | 28.4 | 17.7 | 43.7 |
| ๐ง๐ฆ Bosnia And Herzegovina | 2 | 27.3 | 10 | 68.8 |
| ๐ฌ๐ช Georgia | 2 | 26 | 13.4 | 46.6 |
| ๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia | 2 | 21.6 | 10.7 | 22.8 |
| ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq | 2 | 22.9 | 10.5 | 48 |
| ๐น๐ณ Tunisia | 2 | 18.3 | 6.8 | 34.6 |
| ๐ง๐ฉ Bangladesh | 2 | 15.2 | 3.6 | 35.1 |
| ๐ง๐ด Bolivia | 2 | 15.2 | 8.1 | 38.7 |
Lower cost of living / rent = cheaper. Higher purchasing power = your salary goes further.
Compare take-home pay, taxes, and living costs between any two cities.
City-level comparisons show you what life costs in a specific place, but they miss the bigger picture. Comparing countries reveals national trends in taxation, purchasing power, and everyday expenses that affect every city within those borders. If you are considering a move abroad, a country-level view helps you shortlist destinations before diving into individual cities.
This tool averages cost of living, rent, groceries, restaurant prices, and purchasing power across all cities in each country. Once you narrow your options, use the salary comparison calculator or the cost of living calculator for a city-specific breakdown.
Each country is scored on five indices: the overall cost of living index covers everyday expenses such as transport, utilities, clothing, and leisure. The rent index tracks apartment prices in city centres and suburbs. Groceries and restaurant indices measure food costs at supermarkets and dining out respectively.
The purchasing power index shows how far a local salary stretches after accounting for both income and prices. All five indices use New York City as a baseline of 100. A score below 100 means cheaper than NYC, while above 100 means more expensive.
Country scores are the arithmetic mean of every city we track within that country. Data comes from Numbeo, the largest crowd-sourced price database in the world, combined with official government tax brackets coded into our salary calculator. Countries with fewer than two cities are excluded to avoid skewed averages.
All figures are updated for 2026 and expressed relative to NYC = 100. Because each country contains cities at different price levels, always check the city-level comparison for the specific places you are considering.
Start by scanning the country table below for destinations with a favourable balance of cost of living and purchasing power. Then click through to a detailed country-versus-country page, for example Germany vs Spain or United States vs United Kingdom, to see tax comparisons, city-pair breakdowns, and sample salary calculations.
Once you have two or three candidate countries, enter your actual salary in our calculator to see your net take-home pay after local taxes. That final figure, not the headline cost index, tells you whether a move makes financial sense.
Based on averaged city data for 2026, the EU countries with the lowest cost of living index are Romania (24.3), Bulgaria (25.7) and Hungary (29.3), where New York City = 100. Several countries in Europe outside the EU score lower still: sort the table above by cost of living to see every country.
We calculate net take-home pay using official income tax brackets for each country, then compare it against local prices. This means you see not just whether a country is cheaper, but whether your salary actually goes further after taxes. Try the salary comparison calculator for your exact numbers.
The purchasing power index measures how much you can buy with a typical local salary. It combines average net income with local prices. A score of 100 matches New York City; above 100 means your salary stretches further than in NYC, below 100 means it stretches less.
Cost of living indices are sourced from Numbeo and refreshed regularly throughout the year. Tax calculations use official government brackets updated for 2026. We recalculate country averages whenever the underlying city data changes, so figures stay current.