City comparison
Cost of living in Copenhagen vs Austin
One person needs about €2,563 a month in Copenhagen and €2,411 in Austin, 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 Austin the way you live in Copenhagen on €3,000, you need
€2,822/ month net
6% less than today (-€178)
- Copenhagen today
- Basket €2,563 · left over €437 (15%)
- Austin at the matched salary
- Basket €2,411 · left over €411 (15%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 270% over in Austin (very strong) vs 207% in Copenhagen. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇩🇰 Copenhagen
Cycling city with high taxes that buy genuinely good public services.
Monthly budget: €2,563
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇺🇸 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
Should you move to Copenhagen or Austin?
On salary, Austin pays more for tech roles (€6,500 versus €5,300 a month), so the money left over after costs is €4,089 in Austin at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,700 in Copenhagen against €1,600 in Austin. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Copenhagen at 70 and Austin at 73 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.