City comparison
Cost of living in Austin vs Málaga
One person needs about €2,411 a month in Austin and €1,380 in Málaga, rent included — Málaga is 43% 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 Málaga the way you live in Austin on €3,000, you need
€1,717/ month net
43% less than today (-€1,283)
- Austin today
- Basket €2,411 · left over €589 (20%)
- Málaga at the matched salary
- Basket €1,380 · left over €337 (20%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 152% over in Málaga (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
🇪🇸 Málaga
The current favourite of remote workers: 300 sunny days, fast fibre, and Barcelona living for 40% less.
Monthly budget: €1,380
Sources: INE Spain + Eurostat, HICP & provincial rent index (2025) · 286 community reports
Should you move to Austin or Málaga?
On salary, Austin pays more for tech roles (€6,500 versus €2,100 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 €850 in Málaga. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Austin at 73 and Málaga at 88 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.