Compare three calculated salaries after tax and rent. See why a gross raise can leave less money once housing costs change.
If rent rises by EUR 400 a month, you need EUR 400 more available income to keep the same remainder when everything else stays equal. A EUR 400 gross raise will often fall short because some of it goes to tax and employee contributions. The actual difference needs the relevant profile calculation.
Three offers for the same model employee
Our invented example keeps the other assumptions fixed: Germany, Bavaria, 2026, age 35, single, no children, no church tax and the existing employee model. Obolus calculated annual net pay on 26 October 2026. The table shows rounded monthly averages.
| Annual gross | Net/month | Rent/month | After rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR 60,000 | EUR 3,130.08 | EUR 1,100.00 | EUR 2,030.08 |
| EUR 65,000 | EUR 3,340.88 | EUR 1,500.00 | EUR 1,840.88 |
| EUR 70,000 | EUR 3,548.57 | EUR 1,500.00 | EUR 2,048.57 |
At EUR 65,000 annual gross, the remainder after the higher rent is below the starting offer. At EUR 70,000, it is about EUR 18.49 a month above it. This applies only to these inputs. The table does not identify the exact minimum gross salary needed to break even.
Compare the same remainder
Use annual net / 12 − monthly rent − other selected monthly costs. The extra rent is compared with a net-income difference. A fixed universal gross-to-net percentage is not a reliable way to find the required gross increase.
Rent is the only extra expense deducted in this table. Other costs are held equal and left out to isolate this difference; the final amount is not a complete savings rate. If the new home also changes utilities, commuting or insurance, include those differences. Avoid entering costs already included in rent a second time.
Test your own offers
Open the job-offer comparison, choose each offer's country, supported region and annual gross, and calculate net pay first. Then enable rent and the cost fields you need. Salary changes require a new calculation; changing costs alone updates the remainder from the existing net result.
Read the results in the same currency and period. Moving between countries can also introduce different tax rules, exchange rates and external premiums. This example uses EUR and the same German region throughout.
Continue with a detailed budget
Take the selected offer into the detailed salary calculation and then Budget. Check whether all actual expenses leave the buffer you need.
The rent-to-income comparison explains housing benchmarks. A personal rental offer and a statistical stock rent answer different questions. One-off moving costs and a deposit are also outside the three remainders above.
Net figures come from the unchanged Obolus tax model; no separate tax formula was created for this article. Individual deductions or another household can change the result. The simplified offer tool supports its disclosed single employee profile.