For many families considering a move abroad, the question is not really whether another country is cheaper.
It is whether life there would give them more room.
The cost of living has risen sharply across Europe since the pandemic, from housing and food to energy, transport and schooling. And when energy or oil prices rise again, those pressures can quickly find their way back into household budgets.
For a family, the difference is not just a number on a spreadsheet.
More disposable income can mean more choice over where to live, more to spend on children, more freedom to travel or enjoy time off, and more flexibility when something unexpected happens.
It can mean after-school activities without having to think twice. More regular trips home to see family. A bigger savings buffer. More put aside for university. Or simply a little less pressure at the end of every month.
So we used Neoria to explore a simple question:
If a London-based family earning €180,000 moved to Paris, Milan, Madrid or Lisbon, how much would they actually have left?
Our hypothetical household is a couple with two primary-school-age children. One parent earns €180,000 in employment income and the other does not work. They rent in the city, hold UK passports and move together as a family.
Rather than assuming every relocating family looks the same, we changed two factors that can materially alter the result:
- whether the children need an international school;
- whether the earner qualifies for a special inbound tax regime.
The differences are much bigger than the headline salary might suggest.
The short answer: before international schooling, Madrid and Lisbon leave this household with more financial breathing room than London, while Milan and Paris leave less. Add two international-school places and qualifying inbound tax regimes, and the picture changes substantially.
London vs Paris, Milan, Madrid and Lisbon: what does a €180k salary leave?
A salary tells you surprisingly little on its own.
What matters to a household is what remains once tax and the actual cost of living are accounted for.
For this comparison, Neoria combines the household’s tax position with modelled city-level cost of living: housing, groceries, utilities, transport, healthcare and the other everyday costs that shape life in a city.
Before adding international school fees or special tax regimes, our family has approximately:
- London: €41.2k left
- Paris: €22.1k
- Milan: €33.8k
- Madrid: €63.3k
- Lisbon: €53.4k
Madrid and Lisbon leave noticeably more room than London.
That additional margin is not just an abstract €20,000.
For a family, it could be the difference between taking several trips during the year and cutting them back. It could pay for children’s activities, fund regular flights home to see grandparents, build savings more quickly or simply create a bigger buffer when something unexpected happens.
Milan starts somewhat behind London.
Paris leaves considerably less.
But this is only the first version of the answer.
A family does not experience a move as an average cost-of-living index.
It experiences its own life.
And for families with children, schooling is one of the clearest examples of how quickly the answer can change.
How much room does each city leave?
Madrid and Lisbon start with more room than London: more scope for holidays, children’s activities and savings.
Square area is proportional to money left each year; figures are approximate. London keeps its existing schooling throughout. International school is an optional family requirement. Step 3 keeps school fees and assumes the earner qualifies for each city’s inbound regime. Methodology
At this first stage, Madrid and Lisbon give the family the most financial breathing room.
London remains the benchmark.
Milan leaves somewhat less.
Paris leaves considerably less.
But the important point is not which city has the largest shape on the screen.
It is what that remaining space represents in real life.
It is the part of the family budget that is still available for choices rather than essentials.
How international school fees change the cost of moving abroad
Not every family moving abroad needs an international school.
A mixed-nationality family may be moving to one parent’s home country. The children may already speak the language. Some families actively prefer the local public system or a local private school.
Others may need continuity in an international curriculum, particularly when children are already established in one education system or another international move may follow.
That is precisely why international schooling should not simply be baked into a generic “expat cost”.
It is a household requirement.
And when that requirement exists, it can change the economics of a move dramatically.
For this comparison, we modelled representative early-primary annual recurring costs for two children:
- Paris: €62,800
- Milan: €30,740
- Madrid: €16,998
- Lisbon: €29,400
These figures exclude one-off application, admission or reservation charges and optional extras.
For London, we assume the children remain in their existing schooling arrangement, so the move does not create a new international-school cost.
Once two international-school places are included, the amount left becomes:
- London: €41.2k
- Paris: -€40.7k
- Milan: €3.1k
- Madrid: €46.3k
- Lisbon: €24.0k
The picture now looks very different.
Madrid still leaves the family around €5,100 more than London.
That is no longer the enormous advantage the first comparison suggested, but it is still extra room: perhaps a family holiday, activities for the children and additional savings rather than having to choose between them.
Lisbon moves from comfortably ahead of London to around €17,200 behind.
Milan goes from a relatively modest gap with London to having only around €3,100 left once the modelled school fees are paid.
And Paris moves into a shortfall of around €40,700.
That does not mean a family earning €180,000 “cannot afford Paris”.
It means this particular combination of tax, housing, everyday costs and two international-school places does not balance without changing something else.
The family might choose a different school.
They might spend less on housing.
They might save less, travel less or accept a smaller financial buffer.
The destination has not changed.
The family requirement has.
How special tax regimes change the London comparison
Cross-border comparisons often stop at the standard tax rate.
But some countries offer special regimes for qualifying people moving in.
These regimes are not automatic, and they should never be treated as if every new arrival receives them.
Eligibility can depend on prior residence, the nature of the work, how and where it is performed, the employment relationship and other conditions.
But when someone does qualify, the difference can materially change the amount of room the family has to live.
For the next comparison, we keep the same two international-school places in place and change only the modelled tax treatment.
Madrid and the Beckham Law
With standard taxation and two international-school places, our Madrid family has around €46,300 left.
Under the qualifying Beckham Law scenario, that rises to around €73,700.
That is approximately €32,500 more than the London benchmark.
The difference is large enough to change more than the household spreadsheet.
It could mean more freedom over where to live, several family trips during the year, after-school activities without squeezing another part of the budget, faster saving or simply a much larger cushion when life does not go to plan.
Same salary.
Same city.
Same children.
Same school requirement.
A very different amount of room.
Lisbon and IFICI
With standard taxation and international schooling, around €24,000 remains in Lisbon.
Under the modelled qualifying IFICI scenario, that rises to around €63,000.
That is approximately €21,800 more than London.
Again, the lifestyle requirement has not changed.
The tax treatment has.
For a family, a difference of more than €20,000 a year can be the difference between constantly managing the budget and having genuine room for savings, travel and choice.
Milan and the Impatriati regime
Milan shows particularly clearly why the profile itself matters.
Under standard taxation and with international schooling included, our family has only around €3,100 left.
But this household includes two primary-school-age children who relocate and reside with their parents in Italy.
For a worker who otherwise qualifies for Italy’s Impatriati regime, relocating with qualifying minor children can result in enhanced treatment.
Under that modelled qualifying scenario, the amount left rises to around €47,000.
That takes Milan from well behind London to around €5,800 ahead.
A detail that could easily disappear inside a generic country comparison materially changes the result.
And that is exactly the problem with looking at tax, cost of living or family requirements in isolation.
Paris and the impatriate regime
Paris improves under the modelled qualifying impatriate treatment too.
But even with that benefit, the combination of city costs and two international-school places still produces a shortfall of around €18,400.
That is approximately €59,600 below the London benchmark.
Again, that is not a universal verdict on whether a family can or should live in Paris.
It tells us something narrower and more useful:
for this household, with this income and this schooling requirement, the tax advantage is not enough to offset the other costs.
Why the same salary can produce a different relocation outcome
This is where simple country rankings start to break down.
A tax rate cannot tell you what your life will cost.
A cost-of-living index cannot tell you whether your children need an international school.
And a list of the “cheapest places to live” cannot tell you what your particular family will actually have available once the things that matter to you are paid for.
Two households can move from the same city to the same destination on exactly the same salary and get very different answers.
One family may use local schooling.
Another may need an international curriculum.
One earner may qualify for a special inbound tax regime.
Another may not.
One household may want a larger home in the city centre.
Another may choose less space because being able to travel regularly, pay for children’s activities or save more matters more to them.
The numbers are not separate from the life.
They describe it.
That is why Neoria looks at cross-border decisions through the individual profile rather than through a generic country ranking.
Tax, cost of living and personal requirements do not operate independently.
They interact.
And when the decision is something as significant as moving a family to another country, those interactions can be worth tens of thousands of euros a year.
See how the answer changes
- LondonBenchmark · existing schooling€41.2kStay in London
- Paris€22.1k−€19.1k vs London
- Milan€33.8k−€7.4k vs London
- Madrid€63.3k+€22.1k vs London
- Lisbon€53.4k+€12.2k vs London
Madrid and Lisbon leave more than London; Paris and Milan leave less.
Approximate annual amounts left after tax and everyday city costs, for one earner on €180k gross with a non-earning partner and two primary-school-age children, renting. London keeps its existing schooling in every scenario. Methodology
The purpose of this comparison is not to find the city with the highest number.
It is to show how quickly the answer changes when one element of the household profile changes.
For this article, the published comparison uses three validated scenarios:
No international school + standard tax
- London €41.2k
- Paris €22.1k
- Milan €33.8k
- Madrid €63.3k
- Lisbon €53.4k
International school + standard tax
- London €41.2k
- Paris -€40.7k
- Milan €3.1k
- Madrid €46.3k
- Lisbon €24.0k
International school + qualifying inbound regime
- London €41.2k
- Paris -€18.4k
- Milan €47.0k
- Madrid €73.7k
- Lisbon €63.0k
The qualifying-regime scenario assumes the earner meets the relevant conditions in each destination.
For this comparison, that scenario is shown with international school included.
Is it cheaper to move from London to Paris, Milan, Madrid or Lisbon?
Sometimes, considerably.
Sometimes, not at all.
More importantly, two families moving from the same city to the same destination on the same salary can get very different answers.
For our €180,000 London family, individual assumptions are worth tens of thousands of euros a year.
That is money that ultimately translates into choices: where the children go to school, whether they can do after-school activities, how often the family travels or visits home, how much they can save, whether they can build a university fund, what they can do with their free time and how much financial breathing room they have when life does not go to plan.
The point is not to find a city that wins a spreadsheet.
It is to understand the life that sits behind the numbers before you decide whether the grass really is greener on the other side.
Neoria is built to help individuals and their advisors do exactly that: compare destinations against the person’s actual circumstances, rather than looking at tax, living costs or relocation requirements in isolation.
How we calculated the comparison
This comparison is illustrative rather than personal advice.
- a London-based couple;
- two primary-school-age children;
- both children relocating and residing with their parents in the destination;
- one parent earning €180,000 gross annual employment income;
- a non-earning partner;
- UK passports;
- renting in the city.
The comparison looks at Paris, Milan, Madrid and Lisbon against London.
It models three published scenarios:
- standard tax treatment plus modelled city-level cost of living;
- standard tax treatment plus two representative international-school places;
- a qualifying inbound tax regime plus the same international-school requirement.
The London benchmark assumes the children remain in their existing schooling arrangement, so no additional international-school fee is added.
International-school figures are representative early-primary annual recurring costs for two children. They exclude one-off application, admission or reservation fees and optional extras.
Special tax-regime figures assume that the earner meets the relevant eligibility conditions.
In Milan, the modelled qualifying Impatriati result reflects the enhanced treatment applicable to this household because qualifying minor children relocate and reside in Italy with the worker, assuming all other regime requirements are met.
Amounts are approximate and rounded.
Residence and work rights are separate from the financial comparison. UK passport holders do not have an automatic right to live and work in these EU destinations following Brexit.
This article is general information only and does not constitute legal, tax, immigration, financial or investment advice.
Frequently asked questions about London vs European living costs
For this household, Madrid produces more financial breathing room than London in both of the school-included scenarios modelled.
Under standard tax treatment and with two international-school places, approximately €46,300 remains in Madrid compared with €41,200 in London.
If the earner qualifies for the Beckham Law, the modelled Madrid amount rises to approximately €73,700.
That does not mean every family will be financially better off in Madrid. Housing, schooling, tax eligibility and individual spending choices can materially change the result.
Before international school is included, Lisbon leaves more of this household’s €180,000 income than London.
Once two representative international-school places are added, the standard-tax scenario leaves around €24,000, compared with €41,200 in London.
Under the modelled qualifying IFICI scenario, Lisbon rises to around €63,000.
The answer therefore depends heavily on the family’s requirements and the earner’s tax position.
For the two primary-school-age children in this model, the representative recurring annual international-school costs are approximately:
- Paris €62,800
- Milan €30,740
- Madrid €16,998
- Lisbon €29,400
International school is not a universal requirement for relocating families.
That is precisely why it should be modelled according to the household rather than automatically included in every cost-of-living comparison.
In this model, Madrid leaves approximately €46,300 under standard taxation once two international-school places are included.
Under the qualifying Beckham Law scenario, that rises to approximately €73,700.
Eligibility is not automatic and depends on the individual circumstances of the move.
Italy’s Impatriati regime provides preferential treatment on qualifying employment or professional income for certain people who move their tax residence to Italy and meet the relevant conditions.
Treatment can be enhanced where qualifying minor children relocate and reside in Italy.
Our hypothetical Milan household includes two primary-school-age children who relocate with the family, so the qualifying model reflects that enhanced treatment.
The modelled amount left therefore rises from approximately €3,100 under standard taxation to €47,000 under the qualifying Impatriati scenario.
Having children alone does not make someone eligible for the regime; the worker must also satisfy the other requirements.
IFICI is Portugal’s preferential regime for certain qualifying new residents working in specified research, innovation or highly skilled activities.
It is narrower than the former NHR regime and does not apply automatically to everyone moving to Portugal.
The Lisbon figure in this article therefore represents a scenario in which the earner qualifies for IFICI.
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