City comparison
Cost of living in Barcelona vs Stockholm
One person needs about €2,105 a month in Barcelona and €2,233 in Stockholm, rent included — Barcelona 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 Stockholm the way you live in Barcelona on €3,000, you need
€3,182/ month net
6% more than today (+€182)
- Barcelona today
- Basket €2,105 · left over €895 (30%)
- Stockholm at the matched salary
- Basket €2,233 · left over €949 (30%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 210% over in Stockholm (strong) vs 133% in Barcelona. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇪🇸 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
🇸🇪 Stockholm
Queue-based rental market pushes newcomers into pricey sublets.
Monthly budget: €2,233
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Barcelona or Stockholm?
On salary, Stockholm pays more for tech roles (€4,700 versus €2,800 a month), so the money left over after costs is €2,467 in Stockholm at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,450 in Barcelona against €1,500 in Stockholm. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Barcelona at 81 and Stockholm at 72 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.