Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Stockholm vs Athens

One person needs about €2,233 a month in Stockholm and €1,236 in Athens, rent included — Athens is 45% cheaper overall.

🇸🇪
Stockholm
Sweden · 1.6M pop
vs
🇬🇷
Athens
Greece · 3.1M pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€1,500€700
53% cheaper
Groceries / mo
€350€250
29% cheaper
Eating out (meal)
€16€12
25% cheaper
Internet (100mbps)
€35€30
14% cheaper
Avg salary (tech)
€4,700€1,700
64% lower
Coworking / mo
€280€120
57% cheaper
StockholmAthens
Rent€1,500€700
Groceries€350€250
Transport€90€30
Utilities€130€130

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 Athens the way you live in Stockholm on €3,000, you need

€1,661/ month net

45% less than today (-€1,339)

Stockholm today
Basket €2,233 · left over €767 (26%)
Athens at the matched salary
Basket €1,236 · left over €425 (26%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 138% over in Athens (adequate) vs 210% in Stockholm. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this

🇸🇪 Stockholm

Queue-based rental market pushes newcomers into pricey sublets.

Monthly budget: €2,233

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

🇬🇷 Athens

Cheapest euro-zone big city here, with the widest gap between local pay and expat pay.

Monthly budget: €1,236

Sources: ELSTAT + Eurostat, HICP & household budget survey (2025) · 164 community reports

Should you move to Stockholm or Athens?

On salary, Stockholm pays more for tech roles (€4,700 versus €1,700 a month), so the money left over after costs is €2,467 in Stockholm at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €1,500 in Stockholm against €700 in Athens. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

For remote workers, the nomad index scores Stockholm at 72 and Athens at 71 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.

More Stockholm comparisons

More Athens comparisons