City comparison
Cost of living in Austin vs Barcelona
One person needs about €2,411 a month in Austin and €2,105 in Barcelona, rent included — Barcelona is 13% 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 Barcelona the way you live in Austin on €3,000, you need
€2,619/ month net
13% less than today (-€381)
- Austin today
- Basket €2,411 · left over €589 (20%)
- Barcelona at the matched salary
- Basket €2,105 · left over €514 (20%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 133% over in Barcelona (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
🇪🇸 Barcelona
Beach-and-metro city with the deepest startup scene in southern Europe — and rents that now reflect it.
Monthly budget: €2,105
Sources: INE Spain + Eurostat, HICP & Encuesta de arrendamientos (2025) · 412 community reports
Should you move to Austin or Barcelona?
On salary, Austin pays more for tech roles (€6,500 versus €2,800 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 €1,450 in Barcelona. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Austin at 73 and Barcelona at 81 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.