City comparison
Cost of living in Austin vs Paris
One person needs about €2,411 a month in Austin and €2,552 in Paris, rent included — Austin is 6% 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 Paris the way you live in Austin on €3,000, you need
€3,175/ month net
6% more than today (+€175)
- Austin today
- Basket €2,411 · left over €589 (20%)
- Paris at the matched salary
- Basket €2,552 · left over €623 (20%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 172% over in Paris (comfortable) 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
🇫🇷 Paris
Dense, walkable and expensive — small flats are the price of central living.
Monthly budget: €2,552
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Austin or Paris?
On salary, Austin pays more for tech roles (€6,500 versus €4,400 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 €1,750 in Paris. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Austin at 73 and Paris at 68 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.