Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Milan vs Vienna

One person needs about €2,149 a month in Milan and €1,856 in Vienna, rent included — Vienna is 14% cheaper overall.

🇮🇹
Milan
Italy · 1.4M pop
vs
🇦🇹
Vienna
Austria · 2.0M pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€1,450€1,150
21% cheaper
Groceries / mo
€330€330
0% pricier
Eating out (meal)
€16€15
6% cheaper
Internet (100mbps)
€32€35
9% pricier
Avg salary (tech)
€3,200€4,000
25% higher
Coworking / mo
€240€230
4% cheaper
MilanVienna
Rent€1,450€1,150
Groceries€330€330
Transport€39€51
Utilities€170€170

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 Vienna the way you live in Milan on €3,000, you need

€2,591/ month net

14% less than today (-€409)

Milan today
Basket €2,149 · left over €851 (28%)
Vienna at the matched salary
Basket €1,856 · left over €735 (28%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 216% over in Vienna (strong) vs 149% in Milan. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this

🇮🇹 Milan

Italy's business capital: better salaries than Rome, and rents to match.

Monthly budget: €2,149

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

🇦🇹 Vienna

Huge subsidised housing stock keeps rents unusually sane for a rich capital.

Monthly budget: €1,856

Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports

Should you move to Milan or Vienna?

On salary, Vienna pays more for tech roles (€4,000 versus €3,200 a month), so the money left over after costs is €2,144 in Vienna at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €1,450 in Milan against €1,150 in Vienna. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

For remote workers, the nomad index scores Milan at 71 and Vienna at 75 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.

More Milan comparisons

More Vienna comparisons