City comparison
Cost of living in Rome vs Milan
One person needs about €1,777 a month in Rome and €2,149 in Milan, rent included — Rome is 21% 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 Milan the way you live in Rome on €3,000, you need
€3,628/ month net
21% more than today (+€628)
- Rome today
- Basket €1,777 · left over €1,223 (41%)
- Milan at the matched salary
- Basket €2,149 · left over €1,479 (41%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 149% over in Milan (adequate) vs 129% in Rome. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇮🇹 Rome
Cheap transport and cheap coffee; bureaucracy and low local wages are the trade-off.
Monthly budget: €1,777
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇮🇹 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
Should you move to Rome or Milan?
On salary, Milan pays more for tech roles (€3,200 versus €2,300 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,051 in Milan at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,150 in Rome against €1,450 in Milan. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Rome at 72 and Milan at 71 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.