City comparison
Cost of living in Austin vs Athens
One person needs about €2,411 a month in Austin and €1,236 in Athens, rent included — Athens is 49% 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 Athens the way you live in Austin on €3,000, you need
€1,538/ month net
49% less than today (-€1,462)
- Austin today
- Basket €2,411 · left over €589 (20%)
- Athens at the matched salary
- Basket €1,236 · left over €302 (20%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 138% over in Athens (adequate) vs 270% in Austin. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇺🇸 Austin
No state income tax and a real tech market, with car costs baked in.
Monthly budget: €2,411
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇬🇷 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
Should you move to Austin or Athens?
On salary, Austin pays more for tech roles (€6,500 versus €1,700 a month), so the money left over after costs is €4,089 in Austin at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,600 in Austin against €700 in Athens. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Austin at 73 and Athens at 71 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.