City comparison
Cost of living in Copenhagen vs Berlin
One person needs about €2,563 a month in Copenhagen and €2,258 in Berlin, rent included — Berlin is 12% 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 Berlin the way you live in Copenhagen on €3,000, you need
€2,643/ month net
12% less than today (-€357)
- Copenhagen today
- Basket €2,563 · left over €437 (15%)
- Berlin at the matched salary
- Basket €2,258 · left over €385 (15%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 204% over in Berlin (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
🇩🇪 Berlin
Highest tech salaries on this list, offset by heating bills and a brutal rental market.
Monthly budget: €2,258
Sources: Destatis + Eurostat, HICP & Mietspiegel (2025) · 377 community reports
Should you move to Copenhagen or Berlin?
On salary, Copenhagen pays more for tech roles (€5,300 versus €4,600 a month), so the money left over after costs is €2,737 in Copenhagen at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,700 in Copenhagen against €1,500 in Berlin. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Copenhagen at 70 and Berlin at 76 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.