City comparison
Cost of living in Austin vs Lisbon
One person needs about €2,411 a month in Austin and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Lisbon is 22% 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 Austin on €3,000, you need
€2,332/ month net
22% less than today (-€668)
- Austin today
- Basket €2,411 · left over €589 (20%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €458 (20%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) 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
🇵🇹 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 Austin or Lisbon?
On salary, Austin pays more for tech roles (€6,500 versus €2,400 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 €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Austin at 73 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.