City comparison
Cost of living in Stockholm vs Barcelona
One person needs about €2,233 a month in Stockholm and €2,105 in Barcelona, rent included — Barcelona is 6% 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 Stockholm on €3,000, you need
€2,828/ month net
6% less than today (-€172)
- Stockholm today
- Basket €2,233 · left over €767 (26%)
- Barcelona at the matched salary
- Basket €2,105 · left over €723 (26%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 133% over in Barcelona (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
🇪🇸 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 Stockholm or Barcelona?
On salary, Stockholm pays more for tech roles (€4,700 versus €2,800 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 €1,450 in Barcelona. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Stockholm at 72 and Barcelona at 81 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.