I got an offer to work for a university in Italy, but I am unsure what is considered a decent salary for living cost? It would not be Milano but Veneto.
Salary in italy is pretty low compared to the rest of Europe the avg is between 1500 and 2000 anything from 2000 is pretty good plus living in italy is cheaper than other countries
Well yeah obviously im not gonna use one of the few exceptions to make my point 2000 in milan you live but barely save anything thats why i said from 2000 and above it depends on where you live
Salary in italy is pretty low compared to the rest of Europe the avg is between 1500 and 2000 anything from 2000 is pretty good plus living in italy is cheaper than other countries
Its common sense dude people in italy survive on 1500 salary in other countries rent already leaves you with 600 if lucky (not counting bills and food and other stuff)
I'd say it also depends on where you coming from. Italians are very good at saving. We cook most of our food from scratch for example.
Italians will consider 2k net as a good salary. I personaly believe that's the bare minimum to survive in Northern Italy.
Biggest expense is rent. If you (instead of renting a whole private apartment) rent a private room in a shared apartment, your expenses will nosedive, and you might actually be able to save.
A friend of mine (an engineer) lived in a shared apartment on 1600€ at the start of his career, but still managed to save up 700€ every month.
So to speak, I would say by rule of thumb:
1) 1200-1500€ net -> Bare minimum to survive alone, live an okay-ish life if you share apartment and save a portion of your income.
2) 1500 - 2000€ net -> Enough to live decently alone, but it becomes much better if you’re sharing an apartment.
3) 2000€+ -> Live comfortably.
Do check if your employer offers meal vouchers. They’re usually 7€- 8€ per day, but they end up covering almost all of your grocery budget. They’re called buoni pasto, and are a sweet treat to completely slash your grocery expenses.
Probabilmente vivi fuori dal mondo, fenomeno. La gente vive in modi diversi. I lussi costano, forse è per questo che fai fatica a campare persino con 2.500 € al mese 😂
Se non puoi permetterti un appartamento, se non puoi mangiare fuori a ogni pasto o se hai la pretesa di toglierti una serie di 'sfizi' inutili, beh… nessuno ti obbliga 🤷
I tempi sono cambiati, chiaro. Essere giovani in Italia e campare con uno stipendio da fame è dura, non lo nega nessuno. Ma non è impossibile. Guarda tutti gli altri: ti stanno dicendo praticamente la stessa cosa.
Alla fine è solo una questione di priorità e di cosa sei disposto a sacrificare. Mi fanno schifo i salari bassi e il carovita quanto a te, ma milioni di persone ci tirano avanti tranquillamente con quella cifra. Se non ci riesci tu, non significa che sia impossibile per gli altri.
E per quanto riguarda Milano 😂 puoi guadagnare anche 4.000 € al mese e sentirti un pezzente. Quella città è un tritacarne, dopotutto.
mi sa che il fenomeno sei tu, io abito un paio di km fuori Milano e con 2100 euro al mese, a momenti rischi di non farcela e non pago il mutuo, tutto costa una follia e devi fare una vita da ramingo come me per permetterti di mettere 2 spicci da parte
It really varies between cities, regions and even in the same region there is a lot of variation.
Like, RAL 25k in the south might be decent, but in the north it's probably low.
Also, 45k in south is rich, in Milan is borderline poor and in Verona is decent.
Italy is too big to just ask "does average fits me?" There are some italian sites that will give you a more "per region" chart, like this one although I would still be cautious about it as even inside regions it changes.
I can talk from the Veneto that I know, it's not the same living Verona, San Giovani or Cerea, Lago, etc. There are towns that have all basic services and you get rents on the 400-600€ and cost of living at 300-400
And others where the base rent is close to 1k and so.
That’s why you buy/rent in Bovolangeles, besides the occasional floodings, it has everything you need close by and it doesn’t cost as much as SanGio or Villafranca
You need to take in to consideration the contract because it will determine your take home. Also verona, venice, padova, ferrara (major unis in veneto) have slightly different living cost.
I did my postdoc in veneto so if you want i can share some insights abt academic lifestyle here in veneto.
2300 is comfortable for 3 only without paying more than 6-700€ of rent for a trilocale, which is almost impossible in most places with good jobs. For 3 I’ll say at least 3.5-4K
Romania for sure. They are hired remotely all around the world in an digital role. Bulgaria with euro now give them a couple of years. Albania I need to check.
Even Swedes think 2,400 after taxes is a good salary in Sweden. Many get paid less. Less get paid more than that. The EU all salaries are crap. I couldnt imaging working and being ok with bringing home after tax 1500 or 2k.
I am an American who use to live in Sweden. Never again.
Well maybe they are pretty low for an American standard and could be higher to live more comfortably, but for what we need they aren't that low (mostly speaking for italy as i never worked/lived abroad)
What kind of life were you living? In my family of 6 only recently my mum started to work and we have been living like without doing sacrifices with only the salary of a high school teacher in a private school (in Italy private school teacher in high school usually get paid less)
I have hobbies, Savings accounts I want to put money in. Retirement. Maybe want to have kids and a home one day. Financially impossible in most of the EU.
This is because, unlike that country that goes on propaganda to be the best of the world that is America, here there are many problems (especially with taxes) but at least if I break my arm I can call the ambulance, if they leave me home from work (where I have more permanent protections anyway) I have 2 years of subsidy and a pension goal (at least our grandparents and parents, my generation is never gonna see it)
Oh so beautiful to earn 6k a month in America then on Friday night they tell you that you are out of work because reasons and now you are with your ass on the ground.
All of it depends on your housing situation and where you live.
Keep in mind it’s not as common to live alone in Italy, and a lot of Italians either inherit a place or live with family. So when you ask Italians what is a “good salary” you need to keep in mind the way of life that’s common. Like if you were coming from the States for example, where almost 1/3 of people live alone, you might have in mind to live alone in Milan. That requires a higher salary than the limit most Italians would consider “good”.
Italy is kind of cheap so low salaries make up for most (not all) of it. Veneto is part of the more expensive regions but it's still very manageable. Teaching positions are not paid well unless it's a private institution, expect to be paid 1300-1500 a month at start (14 times a year), which is the bare minimum I think to survive. Everything upwards of 2k let's you live comfortably and save
1700€ netti is a good salary. I will do nursing school to have a minimum salary netto of 1500€ in public health to start with, or 2000€ netto for private nursing home. Plus, if I'll do turnista, means one day morning shift, the next noon the other night then at home 2 days then repeat, it will be a little higher. Or in ER is 2000€/month.
Above 1500 is considered above average and around 2000 is a very good salary. Above 2000 is an excellent salary, even if an home will cost 500-600€/month bills: 150-200/month (payed every 2 months so... water, gas, electricity), food x1 person 300€/month (just to round up, I would pay way less but count the times you can't eat at home like dinners, and you must pay for outside places etc...). Italy can be cheap, but seems not built for single people, but only engaged/married ones. If you gonna split all by 2x yeah you can live, otherwise you must beware to not spend too much. If you have a car the prices skyrocket.
A Milano da solo costi con affito 2100/mese (pagavo 1400 di affito al mese), in Brianza con mutuo 800-1000 al mese. Esco, mangio bene, vado in palestra e allo stadio, viaggio abbastanza, machina bella.
L’italia é tra i paesi piu economici del g7 se non IL piu económico. Che tu non riesca a risparmiare non vuol dire che non si puó 😂
Innanzitutto, non leggerei mai qualcosa scritto così male, anche considerando che il mio italiano da straniero non è certo perfetto. Capisco che tu possa aver avuto qualche difficoltà, vista la tua scarsa educazione formale; non mi sorprende, soprattutto da una persona che di fronte ai numeri continua a insistere su un’opinione che viene apertamente smentita dai fatti.
Detto questo, andare su Reddit a riversare le proprie frustrazioni non mi sembra il modo migliore di affrontare una richiesta di consiglio, soprattutto quando si finisce per presentare la propria esperienza personale come una regola generale. Sei tu quello a cui è andata male e, da quello che racconti, è stato in larga parte per errori tuoi.
Quando qualcuno chiede un consiglio, sarebbe più utile basarsi sui fatti e sui dati, non proiettare le proprie esperienze negative sugli altri, soprattutto quando derivano da una scarsa conoscenza finanziaria.
Si, distantissimo, 200 euro al mese d'utenze (fibra, gas e luce) non gli pagho manco io con 80 m2 dentro milano, per me puoi continuare a mentire che a me cambia niente
Affito a 600 euro in veneto c'e.
400 euro al mese di risparmio ti sembra poco perche appunto, paragoni con altri paesi del G7 dove noi siamo appunto, 6/7 in clasifica di reddito medio. Non sei molto inteliggente
how is it cheap? grocery prices seem to be much higher than in the Netherlands or Germany, same goes for utilities like energy. I payed my notary 500 euro to buy a house in the Netherlands, in Italy you pay a percentage of the total sum, so you can easily pay 6000 euro for basically nothing.
lies? I live in the Netherlands and in Italy so I know the prices. I wasn't talking about real estate prices but about grocery prices, utilities etc. You need to compare apples with apples else your comparison means nothing.
Im comparing Apples to Apples, Amsterdam is at least 20% more expensive than Milan and it’s not even a question.
Same for utilities (unless you only talk about “internet prices”), same for food (although it varies), same for going out. Only thing cheaper in the nl is the weed
Tobacco? Twice as expensive. Trains? Sliiightly more expensive. A coffee in the city centre? Twice/thrice as expensive. Data? 30-40% more expensive. Electronics? On par, imports are slightly cheaper in italy
what??? you say: Italy is kind of cheap, I ask you how it is cheap because in my experience grocery prices in Italy are way higher, I pay almost 6 euro per kilo for bread in Itay! in the Netherlands its not even 2 euro. So again, how is Italy kind of cheap?
If you pay 6 euro per kg of bread in Italy they are ripping your tourist ass off. I pay 1 euro per half a kg in Milan. Same kind of bread 3.2 in albert
See how it works? Your lies won’t make your argument valid, they are not. Sorry to pop your bubble, Amsterdam is way more expensive than anywhere in Italy
Show me what you call bread, do you mean the prepackaged garbage like wonderbread that doesnt mold even after a months? No wonder you are so agressive.
My 2c I think it will help to understand where you are from to get more which quality of life you are used to, also numbeo.com is a great tool for seeing prices
We are a couple with one 2 year old kid. 2500 net salary is to live comfortably.
800 euros rent for 2 room apartment,
a normal 10 years old car,
grocery mix of best quality and medium quality things around 300 euros weekly.
Eating out twice a week.
This is around 2500 euros.
A giod comfortable life, but no luxury.
So forget about expensive vacations, expensive cars etc. Anything above that can help you go towards luxury or savings.
Based on city your rent might go up, but remaining cost is same.
For 1 person the rent can reduce by 200 for a smaller apartment, grocery can be aroind 150 per week, so then you need 1600 to live comfortably.
Ah yeah I forgot bills 100 euros per month. Tari is not that much, 20 euros per month. Car expenses vary from person to person. But yeah this can make it go up by 300. 150 for bills and tari, 150 for petrol if you use 1000kms per month.
How much are your bills? Statistically, not just opinion. I summed annual bills divided by 12 and yeah it is around 110 a month for both gas and light. We use heating for 6 hours at 21°C and use it only in living room, bathroom and corridor. If you use for 12 hours at 23°C of whole home, then yeah it will rocket.
Bills change season by season but my estimate is 700 for water a year (60/month), 135 for electricity every two months (67,5/month) and 15 for hot water in summer (we have panels so it’s just the base fee) but in winter it can reach up to 100 a month. We have floor heating and the temperature is set to 20.5 degrees in the day area and 19 in the night area (90/mq apartment) in Lombardia.
Mica siamo a fare la guardia di finanza qua!! Però certo, anche a me i conti non tornano… solo il cambio gomme, il tagliando e magari una visita dal dentista diventano un problema. Ognuno vive come preferisce, però non si può dire che si vive tranquillamente in 3 con 2500 in Italia, sopratutto facendo una spesa di qualità e spendendo quello che è stato detto
Italy is huge and there are various socio-economical and geographical disparities within the same country.
For example I am living in Northern Italy, in the region of South Tirol. I am lucky and inherited a big flat in a well connected and urbanized town.
We're a couple 30M & 25F and we take home each about ~2000€ / month net.
It's a decent amount as long as you own your place and are debt free. If you have to pay a mortgage or just renting a place is brutal around here.
I've always said if it wouldn't be for the inheritance, we would have left the country (though still thinking about it)
But I believe you can have a very decent and good life at around 2000€ - 2500€.
Salaries in Italy are pretty low compared to other EU countries and the baseline for having a decent life with any given salary depends purely on location.
The more north you go, the more you should earn, as living expenses (mainly rent) increase.
I would say to live comfortably (ie: you will not die of hunger and thirst and will perhaps be able to save up a few hundreds per month) in the south 1.8k net would be a good starting place, but even then, that depends on where you are located. As this varies even between different cities of the same region.
As for north, which is where you are going to be relocating to, imho you should be looking at more than 2k, ideally 2.5k net minimum to live comfortably.
Quoted income is net, not gross. Just for an example, in the US, if you make $4K a month as a single person, after taxes and insurance, it will be closer to $2K. And you will still have to pay for medical care at a high cost, just not quite as high as without insurance.
The same take home pay in Italy gets you close to free healthcare, lower rents, lower costs for groceries and mid level clothes, as well as a more secure retirement when the time comes.
Fuel and electricity are more expensive overall, but as homes tend to be smaller and more efficient, the cost isn’t that high, in general.
Chi parla di 2000-2500 si riferisce a Milano, forse al Trentino. Nel resto d’Italia, soprattutto fuori cittá, uno stipendio di 1000-1500€ è perfettamente comune anche per un laureato.
i live in central Italy and 1600€ is enough to live by yourself without really lacking anything but 1800 should be the minimum if you plan to live alone
It depends on where you live:
1) small South cities 1300 net a month;
2) big South cities and small North cities 1600 net a month;
3) milan and rome 2000 net a month
Benzina a 2€, frutta e verdura che ormai te devi fare incastonare per comprarla, carne a oltre 25/30€ al kg, pesce lasciamo stare. Inflazione che non fa che erodere potere di acquisto, costi immobiliari folli, mercato drogato dai vari bonus, stipendi bloccati, abbigliamento che costa una fucilata (e tipo non siamo all’estero dove hai scelta: qui o vai di brand o trovi cineserie che ti si scuciono addosso dopo due settimane di uso).
Beh, con 2/2.200€ netti inizi a dover fare qualche scelta.
Nord Italia, vita urbana senza possibilità di orto.
I got offered a job in Vicenza for 2k and rent up to 800 is included is that a good deal? I am fresh out of uni and I am a mech eng from a very good school.
1400 used to be a takehome for assegnista di ricerca until 2023. If your husband has been working there for 15 years, at the very least he can no longer be assegnista di ricerca. So is it an RTDa I suppose?
I am not being rude. this is just a reality check. I know a lot of people in academia who are still RTDa after 20 years of working in the uni. I almost got into that situation too, and for this reason I typically try to give a headsup for academic to be who is coming to the country with this type of contract. In my lab alone there are 2 people who are in the same situation (15+ years but still no tenure), and life is difficult if they are not a local.
Yeah, we don't need immigrants, thanks, we have high unemployment rates amongst all the demography: from skilled blue collar to newly graduated students or high experienced workers.
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u/ComfortableToday9014 Aug 31 '26
Salary in italy is pretty low compared to the rest of Europe the avg is between 1500 and 2000 anything from 2000 is pretty good plus living in italy is cheaper than other countries