Ask HN: What EU country has the highest developer salary?

28 pointstsingy2y ago46 comments

Where in EU should I move if I'm looking for the highest salary for a developer? What sector? Switzerland is famous for finance but I'm self-taught, I know some country are ok with it, and some not at all. No idea for Switzerland.

46 comments

ltadeut2y ago

If you're just focusing in the European Union, it's definitely Ireland.

Stripe, Square, Microsoft, Google, etc will all pay more in Ireland than they pay in any other EU country.

The problem with Ireland is that you will get no real benefit from the taxes you pay.

If you have family, you'll probably be better off moving to Germany or the Netherlands. There are some serious tax benefits for couples and parents. You will not get that in Ireland.

Specifically, someone close to me left Meta Dublin and moved to Google Berlin and had more money (post taxes) in Germany despite a significant TC cut.

If you don't care about EU, Switzerland. High cost of living but Meta, Google, and Nvidia will offer a salary comparable to the US and lower taxes than the rest of Europe.

tejinderss2y ago

> it’s definitely Ireland

Crazy expensive housing, and lot of people cannot even find a place after 6 months moving into the country. Please if someone wants to move to ireland, research about housing first.

znpy2y ago

In fairness, op asked for high compensation, not cheap housing.

1 more reply

doxeddaily2y ago

What do you mean by tax benefits? Paying less tax? Or services they get? It's unclear here.

_trackno52y ago

I mean services. Decent public transport, good healthcare, day care for children, etc

Eavolution2y ago

Ireland has very low corporation tax, but quite high personal tax. That's why so many major companies are here.

nvarsj2y ago

Pretty sure London pays more than Dublin but it is close.

_trackno52y ago

London is not in the EU anymore :)

1 more reply

iwangulenko2y ago

If you have EU passport (blue card not enough, really have to have a EU PASSPORT, like a Polish or German one) then Switzerland is easy to move to because it takes part in the "free movement of people" - if you want, send CV to the email in my handle and i hook you up with fitting firms.

resonanormal2y ago

Switzerland, Zurich has lots of tech jobs and great salaries. It's not officially Europe but easy enough to work here if you have an EU passport / have 3yrs of industry experience. I'm on 200k here

Aaronmacaron2y ago

Nitpick: It is officially Europe but not EU

fatfingerd2y ago

Switzerland is in the question though and the topic is free movement as a worker, so obviously anywhere in the Schengen Area is on topic.

fatfingerd2y ago

Which sectors do you see at 200k+? Seems like a general problem that the large banks pay 250k+ but don't have very interesting work.

tsingyOP2y ago

Define not interesting work?

iExploder2y ago

is that a faang job? I don't think "ordinary" coder jobs pay that much even in Zurich but I have interviewed only briefly there..

bartislartfast2y ago

If it's strictly EU, I'd say probably Denmark

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_countries_by_...

But you mention Switzerland which is not in the EU, so maybe you just meant Europe?

Ireland is a little lower on the list but has a large number of European HQs of big companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Paypal, AirBnb etc. But the price of housing here is extortionate right now.

Consider the cost of living, not just the highest salary. Norway, Denmark and Switzerland are among the most expensive places to live in the world. You'll pay a lot of your wages in rent, food, tax, utilities etc.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings_by_country.js...

bluelu2y ago

Your wikipedia reference doea not mention Luxembourg. The median salary is more than 20 percent higher than danmark https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/a/2007306.html and taxes are much lower here too.

Housing is expensive, but that seems to be a global trend.

lormayna2y ago

Denmark is crazy expensive and they have an huge real estate bubble that is going to explode, especially in CPH

Loic2y ago

This is why you have many people working in Luxembourg and living in France, Germany or Belgium.

zn442y ago

It used to be UK, London specifically. No longer in EU but still reasonably easy to get in.

After that I'd guess Berlin or Stockholm? Note this is from anecdotes and not hard data.

Nextgrid2y ago

UK's cost of living went through the roof and quality of life has decreased dramatically. It became a third-world country with first-world prices. I wouldn't recommend it at the moment.

fandorin2y ago

are you living in UK now? can you share your perspective and why you think it became a third-world country with first-world prices?

5 more replies

notteleen2y ago

I don't think that Stockholm, because the income tax in Sweden is really huge.

dukeyukey2y ago

It's also huge in other developed EU economies - the best paying cities for tech in Europe are outside the EU (mostly London and Zurich). Dublin would probably rank, but it's mostly made up of American tech giants with less domestic activity (and Dublin's housing crisis makes London's look trivial!).

rockbruno2y ago

In addition to that, you need to live at least 20 minutes away from the center if you don't want to burn your entire salary on housing and food. It was always expensive to live in the center, but after the recent inflation spike it became even more insane.

compulsivenomad2y ago

I've lived in nearly every EU country mentioned here. Almost everyone is wrong. The only European country worth considering is Switzerland, all the rest come with serious shortcomings:

- UK: Dystopian, collapsing infrastructure, London is super-expensive.

- Germany: Salaries are not generally high, taxation/bureaucracy/housing in the desirable parts.

- Ireland: High taxes, extreme dysfunction, crazy housing costs.

- Netherlands: High taxes and insane wealth tax on your savings and investments based on fictitious assumed rate of return. With current inflation, if you want to build wealth, NL should be last on the list.

- Sweden/Norway: Average (not high) salaries, high cost of living, high taxes.

- Spain/Portugal/Italy/Greece: Low salaries, high taxes, extreme dysfunction.

- Belgium/Luxemburg: Salaries can be higher than average, but I found living there depressing. Cost of living is high.

TL;DR Go to Switzerland. Better yet, move to US. There's no country in Europe that comes close.

Lariscus2y ago

I will not deny that the countries you listed have several shortcomings, but accusing countries of extreme dysfunction and then, just a few sentences later, recommending the US made me laugh. If someone only cares about making as much money as possible, then sure the US is probably one of the best countries for that. Personally, I would consider factors like health care, police that is not homicidal, social safety net and other public services much higher.

tejinderss2y ago

> Ireland: High taxes, extreme dysfunction, crazy housing costs.

Totally agree with you on this. The country is on a verge of collapse, I have been trying to switch rental apartment and its been 6 months that i am sending my references and no one has even responded to me. If i get evicted from my place, i will have to move out of the country. Its mental, nothing works. My wife is waiting for her driving test date, she has applied online 3 months ago and she hasn’t even gotten a date yet. Same goes for most government services.

MrCalico2y ago

Really enjoyed reading your thoughts there. Seems accurate for the couple I am familiar with. When you say collapsing infrastructure for the UK, I'd be curious to know what you mean?

Also for moving to the US, I don't know if you have any insight on the easiest pathway, would I be right in saying that getting a job in FAANG+ type company and L1B internal transfer after a year is the easiest way to do it?

nanoxide2y ago

Self taught makes it difficult in Germany unless you have demonstrable and very good experience to show or have excellent references. Might be easier for startups, but for corporates you'll be likely filtered immediately without a bachelor's/master's.

Also good luck finding a reasonably priced flat in metropolitan areas.

Salaries are a lot lower than in the US, 100k+ are uncommon even among C-levels.

lormayna2y ago

Comparing US and EU salaries is comparing apples to oranges. US salaries are higher, but in UE you have barely free healtcare, schooling until the university and also a generous welfare.

speedgoose2y ago

Having enough money to live well is important, but you should probably consider a few more criteria before immigrating.

sandipagr2y ago

Based on my research, either Switzerland or London?

Even better, work remotely for a US company? Developer's salary in SF/NYC are unlike anywhere else in the world.

Symbiote2y ago

Neither of those is in the EU.

tsingyOP2y ago

> work remotely for a US company?

I'm looking into it, do you have any tips on how to?

dchftcs2y ago

If we limit to EU, perhaps Netherlands or Ireland?

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