City comparison
Cost of living in Copenhagen vs Lisbon
One person needs about €2,563 a month in Copenhagen and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Lisbon is 27% 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 Lisbon the way you live in Copenhagen on €3,000, you need
€2,194/ month net
27% less than today (-€806)
- Copenhagen today
- Basket €2,563 · left over €437 (15%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €320 (15%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) 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
🇵🇹 Lisbon
Visa-friendly and well connected, but local salaries lag far behind expat-driven rents.
Monthly budget: €1,874
Sources: Statistics Portugal (INE) + Eurostat, HICP & house-rent statistics (2025) · 331 community reports
Should you move to Copenhagen or Lisbon?
On salary, Copenhagen pays more for tech roles (€5,300 versus €2,400 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 €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Copenhagen at 70 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.