Cost of living crisis: How much net income do you need to live comfortably in Europe?

How much do you need to earn to live comfortably across Europe? This is a very challenging question. Firstly, "comfortable" is very subjective.

Secondly, price levels vary widely both across and within countries. Thirdly, household size also varies. Income also does not take wealth or homeownership into account.

Still, some income indicators can give an idea of how much people may need to live comfortably. The equivalised disposable income is one of them. All monetary income received by household members is added together.

This includes income from work, investments and social benefits, as well as other household income. Taxes and social contributions are then deducted from the total. It is then divided by the number of household members converted into equalised adults, meaning this is not directly individual income.

Middle class income bandsThe OECD defines the middle class as households with equivalised disposable income between 75% and 200% of the national median. It divides this into three groups: 75% to 100% of median income is "lower-middle", 100% to 150% is "mid-income" and 150% to 200% is "upper-middle". There is no established benchmark for how much of the national median income a household should have.

“If information on incomes is all we have, one could probably assume that most households above 150% should have a sufficient income to live relatively comfortably. ” Sebastian Königs, senior economist at the OECD, told Euronews Business. However, other scholars note that an income above 150% of the median does not necessarily guarantee financial security.

Euronews Business calculated 150% of the median income for three household types to show how much net income a household needs to reach the start of the upper-middle-income group. In 2025, the EU’s median equivalised disposable income is €22,939 a year, or €1,912 a month. A single adult living alone needs €2,867 a month to reach 150% of the median.

Across 34 European countries, this figure ranges from €603 a month in North Macedonia to €6,491 in Switzerland. Within the EU, it ranges from €1,023 in Romania to €6,256 in Luxembourg. This figure is also above €4,000 a month in Norway (€5,240), Austria (€4,568), Denmark (€4,524), Ireland (€4,392) and the Netherlands (€4,308).

Among the EU’s four largest economies, Germany has the highest benchmark at €3,611. France follows at €3,307, about 15% above the EU figure, while Italy is just below at €2,758. Spain has the lowest of the four at €2,546.

The gap is wide: a single adult in Germany needs €1,065 a month more than one in Spain. The benchmark is also below €1,000 a month in Albania (€723), Turkey (€755), Montenegro (€825) and Serbia (€975). With North Macedonia, all five are EU candidate countries.