City comparison
Cost of living in Porto vs Barcelona
One person needs about €1,526 a month in Porto and €2,105 in Barcelona, rent included — Porto is 38% 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 Barcelona the way you live in Porto on €3,000, you need
€4,138/ month net
38% more than today (+€1,138)
- Porto today
- Basket €1,526 · left over €1,474 (49%)
- Barcelona at the matched salary
- Basket €2,105 · left over €2,033 (49%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 133% over in Barcelona (adequate) vs 138% in Porto. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇵🇹 Porto
Lisbon's cheaper twin: same coast, same fibre, noticeably lower rent.
Monthly budget: €1,526
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇪🇸 Barcelona
Beach-and-metro city with the deepest startup scene in southern Europe — and rents that now reflect it.
Monthly budget: €2,105
Sources: INE Spain + Eurostat, HICP & Encuesta de arrendamientos (2025) · 412 community reports
Should you move to Porto or Barcelona?
On salary, Barcelona pays more for tech roles (€2,800 versus €2,100 a month), so the money left over after costs is €695 in Barcelona at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,000 in Porto against €1,450 in Barcelona. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Porto at 82 and Barcelona at 81 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.