City comparison
Cost of living in Stockholm vs Lisbon
One person needs about €2,233 a month in Stockholm and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Lisbon is 16% 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 Lisbon the way you live in Stockholm on €3,000, you need
€2,518/ month net
16% less than today (-€482)
- Stockholm today
- Basket €2,233 · left over €767 (26%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €644 (26%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) 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
🇵🇹 Lisbon
Visa-friendly and well connected, but local salaries lag far behind expat-driven rents.
Monthly budget: €1,874
Sources: Statistics Portugal (INE) + Eurostat, HICP & house-rent statistics (2025) · 331 community reports
Should you move to Stockholm or Lisbon?
On salary, Stockholm pays more for tech roles (€4,700 versus €2,400 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 €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Stockholm at 72 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.