City comparison
Cost of living in Lisbon vs Madrid
One person needs about €1,874 a month in Lisbon and €1,909 in Madrid, rent included — Lisbon is 2% 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 Madrid the way you live in Lisbon on €3,000, you need
€3,056/ month net
2% more than today (+€56)
- Lisbon today
- Basket €1,874 · left over €1,126 (38%)
- Madrid at the matched salary
- Basket €1,909 · left over €1,147 (38%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 157% over in Madrid (adequate) vs 128% in Lisbon. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇵🇹 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
🇪🇸 Madrid
Spain's highest local salaries and endless nightlife, with rents climbing fast in the centre.
Monthly budget: €1,909
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
Should you move to Lisbon or Madrid?
On salary, Madrid pays more for tech roles (€3,000 versus €2,400 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,091 in Madrid at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,300 in Lisbon against €1,300 in Madrid. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Lisbon at 83 and Madrid at 80 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.