How is this different from a lowest-rent page?

A lowest-rent page mostly looks for cheap housing. This page compares rent against local median take-home pay and your own post-deduction salary, which creates a much more realistic housing picture.

Can I compare urban rent and national average rent on the same page?

Yes. The rent toggle shows whether a country only looks affordable on a broad average or still works once city-level rent pressure is applied.

What does housing burden mean on this page?

Housing burden shows how large the rent share is relative to net income. Read together with the remaining income after rent, it helps separate cheap-looking markets from genuinely workable ones.

Tools

Rent vs income by country: median net salary, rent and tax burden

A dedicated housing page for the question of how manageable rent really is relative to local income.

2026 decision snapshot

Calculated 2026 snapshot

Rent vs income: local median net pay and housing burden

Each country uses its own local median gross salary. Its disclosed rent profile is measured against the resulting take-home pay.

Country	Local median gross	Net/month	Rent benchmark/month	Housing burden	After rent/month
Germany	€54,066	€2,859	€1,188	41.6%	€1,671
Austria	€55,678	€3,248	€1,610	49.5%	€1,639
Switzerland	€89,582	€5,918	€1,226	20.7%	€4,691
USA	€55,079	€3,606	€1,408	39.0%	€2,198
United Kingdom	€45,402	€2,938	€1,744	59.4%	€1,194
Ireland	€38,006	€2,678	€2,000	74.7%	€678
Canada	€42,774	€2,720	€872	32.1%	€1,848
Australia	€55,963	€3,646	€1,824	50.0%	€1,822

National and urban rent are compared with net income calculated from each country's local median gross salary. Tax and deduction results come from TaxCompare; income and rent figures are disclosed benchmarks.

Sources and result scope

Net pay: Obolus TaxCompare API · 2026
DE · Median gross: German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) (2025) · Rent: Kiel Institute / VALUE (2026-Q1)
AT · Median gross: Statistics Austria (2024) · Rent: DER STANDARD / immopreise.at (2026-08)
CH · Median gross: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) (2024) · Rent: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) (2022) · Health insurance: BAG / Priminfo (2026) · Currency conversion: ECB 2026-09-24
US · Median gross: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2025) · Rent: editorial assumption; not a verified statistic · Currency conversion: ECB 2026-09-24
UK · Median gross: UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) (April 2025) · Rent: editorial assumption; not a verified statistic · Currency conversion: ECB 2026-09-24
IE · Median gross: Central Statistics Office Ireland (CSO) (2024) · Rent: editorial assumption; not a verified statistic
CA · Median gross: Statistics Canada (2025) · Rent: editorial assumption; not a verified statistic · Currency conversion: ECB 2026-09-24
AU · Median gross: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (August 2025) · Rent: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), citing Cotality (December 2025) · Health insurance: Services Australia (2026 rules) · Currency conversion: ECB 2026-09-24