Cost of Living Guide

City comparison

Cost of living in Stockholm vs Austin

One person needs about €2,233 a month in Stockholm and €2,411 in Austin, rent included — Stockholm is 8% cheaper overall.

🇸🇪
Stockholm
Sweden · 1.6M pop
vs
🇺🇸
Austin
United States · 980K pop
Monthly rent (1BR)
€1,500€1,600
7% pricier
Groceries / mo
€350€400
14% pricier
Eating out (meal)
€16€17
6% pricier
Internet (100mbps)
€35€55
57% pricier
Avg salary (tech)
€4,700€6,500
38% higher
Coworking / mo
€280€280
0% pricier
StockholmAustin
Rent€1,500€1,600
Groceries€350€400
Transport€90€40
Utilities€130€180

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

€3,239/ month net

8% more than today (+€239)

Stockholm today
Basket €2,233 · left over €767 (26%)
Austin at the matched salary
Basket €2,411 · left over €828 (26%)

Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 270% over in Austin (very strong) 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

🇺🇸 Austin

No state income tax and a real tech market, with car costs baked in.

Monthly budget: €2,411

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

Should you move to Stockholm or Austin?

On salary, Austin pays more for tech roles (€6,500 versus €4,700 a month), so the money left over after costs is €4,089 in Austin at the top end.

Rent drives most of the gap: €1,500 in Stockholm against €1,600 in Austin. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.

For remote workers, the nomad index scores Stockholm at 72 and Austin at 73 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.

More Stockholm comparisons

More Austin comparisons