I’m curious how Europe’s tech hubs (specifically London, Paris, and Berlin) compare to U.S. cities.
I suspect Berlin would compare quite favorably, despite the relatively high German tax rate. I moved there 18 months ago and currently pay €500 ($565) for a one-bedroom apartment in a nice part of town (Prenzlauer Berg). In San Francisco, I paid 5X that for a studio apartment in Hayes Valley.
I would say Berlin would look good, cost of living there is decent mainly due to the reasonable rental costs and good transport, and the demand and job mobility that has improved a lot there. Dublin also wouldn't rate too badly. London would probably look more like New York.
I think the problem with Berlin is that salaries are low, while prices are growing pretty quickly.
From my experience, this is what makes Berlin less attractive than people think (at the financial level):
- low engineer / developer salaries compared to other German cities.
- rent prices are growing a LOT faster than salaries, my last appartment outside of the city center (the "Ring") cost almost 900€ a month, plus electricity.
- public transportation is not that good (especially in winter) and quite expensive relative to the avg. salary (about 80€ if you live in the AB zones, 100€ for ABC).
- high taxes, though this is a common problem in Germany.
- food is cheap, but not cheaper than in other German cities with better avg. salaries.
- if you own a car, prepare for extremely high insurance and taxes
Obviously, Berlin has its own perks, besides the known ones like night-life and openness of the people, it has a really huge demand for engineers and a vibrant startup scene.
Glassdoor suggests "software developers" or "software engineers" in London earn around $60k, which would put it far below the salaries listed here.
In the absence of the COL index for the UK we can use the "London living wage" - supposedly a baseline for a minimum acceptable standard of living[1] which translates to £18k (a little under $30k).
The tax paid on the amount earned in excess of this living wage is around £7k (<$11k)
That would leave around $19k of savings or "discretionary spending", actually slightly better than NYC and Portland despite the low salary, but based on what is almost certainly a much less generous view of essential costs of living.
[1]Since it assumes dependents it's quite a generous minimum standard; indeed excluding tax payments from the equation I've never spent more than it whilst living in London on substantially higher income. But it's also almost certainly less generous than the COL assumptions for the US cities.
Interesting, average rent in London is around £1000/month, plus £44 council tax (e.g. Wandsworth), plus monthly travelcard £120, gas and electricity £45, broadband/phone £16, mobile phone £15. Leaves about £60/week for food, clothes, etc. If you do manage to find a studio flat for £700/month then that brings it up to £130/week, so you could actually go to a pub sometimes.
I'd pay 65 quid for a mothly bus pass (I didn't have to use subway on a typical day), and the rent was £65 a week plus electricity (3rd zone just outside of the 2nd, Streatham Hill) - for a bedsit, kind of a shithole, but I've seen worse. It was around 2010.
London is phenomenally expensive. Rent, tax, national insurance and transport consume most people's disposable income - even in well-paid professional jobs.
I suspect Berlin would compare quite favorably, despite the relatively high German tax rate. I moved there 18 months ago and currently pay €500 ($565) for a one-bedroom apartment in a nice part of town (Prenzlauer Berg). In San Francisco, I paid 5X that for a studio apartment in Hayes Valley.