City comparison
Cost of living in Athens vs Lisbon
One person needs about €1,236 a month in Athens and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Athens is 52% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Lisbon the way you live in Athens on €3,000, you need
€4,549/ month net
52% more than today (+€1,549)
- Athens today
- Basket €1,236 · left over €1,764 (59%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €2,675 (59%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) vs 138% in Athens. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇬🇷 Athens
Cheapest euro-zone big city here, with the widest gap between local pay and expat pay.
Monthly budget: €1,236
Sources: ELSTAT + Eurostat, HICP & household budget survey (2025) · 164 community reports
🇵🇹 Lisbon
Visa-friendly and well connected, but local salaries lag far behind expat-driven rents.
Monthly budget: €1,874
Sources: Statistics Portugal (INE) + Eurostat, HICP & house-rent statistics (2025) · 331 community reports
Should you move to Athens or Lisbon?
On salary, Lisbon pays more for tech roles (€2,400 versus €1,700 a month), so the money left over after costs is €526 in Lisbon at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €700 in Athens against €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Athens at 71 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.