30 March 2026·9 min read

Rent Affordability by City in Europe 2026: Full Rankings

Ranked by rent-to-income ratio across 12 European cities. Raw rent figures are misleading — this is what affordability actually looks like when you account for local salaries.

Comparing rent across European cities by monthly price alone tells you almost nothing useful. A €1,300 1-bed in Lisbon sounds cheaper than a €1,300 1-bed in Berlin — but Lisbon salaries are roughly half of Berlin's. The Lisbon renter paying the same nominal rent is in a considerably worse position.

The only metric that captures real affordability is rent-to-income ratio: what percentage of take-home pay does the median rent consume for a median earner. Below is that ranking across 12 major European cities in 2026.

The Rankings: Rent-to-Income Ratio by City

City	Median 1-Bed Rent	Median Net Salary	Rent-to-Income Ratio	Verdict
Warsaw	€700	€1,800	39%	Affordable
Prague	€900	€1,900	47%	Borderline
Vienna	€1,100	€2,400	46%	Borderline
Berlin	€1,300	€2,700	48%	Borderline
Copenhagen	€1,600	€3,400	47%	Borderline
Munich	€1,800	€3,200	56%	Stretched
Paris	€1,400	€2,400	58%	Stretched
Barcelona	€1,380	€1,700	81%	Unaffordable
Amsterdam	€1,700	€2,800	61%	Stretched
Lisbon	€1,350	€1,500	90%	Unaffordable
Dublin	€2,000	€2,800	71%	Unaffordable
London	£2,150 (€2,500)	£2,553 (€2,960)	84%	Unaffordable

All figures are approximate 2026 medians. Net salary figures reflect post-tax, post-social-security take-home for a single worker earning the median gross in each country. Currency conversions for comparison only — local-currency figures are more meaningful for residents.

Why Raw Rent Figures Are Misleading

The Lisbon vs Berlin example illustrates the core problem with comparing rent across cities without accounting for salaries.

Berlin's median 1-bed rent (€1,300) is almost identical to Lisbon's (€1,350). A quick scan of rent listings might suggest similar affordability. But the median net salary in Berlin is around €2,700 per month, while in Lisbon it is approximately €1,500. Berlin's rent-to-income ratio is roughly 48%. Lisbon's is around 90%.

A Berlin median earner keeps roughly half their income after paying rent. A Lisbon median earner is left with about €150 per month — which does not cover groceries, let alone utilities, transport, or any form of saving.

This is not an edge case or an outlier. The same pattern holds across multiple comparisons:

Barcelona vs Munich: Barcelona's median rent is slightly lower (€1,380 vs €1,800), but Munich's median salary is nearly double Barcelona's. Munich's ratio (56%) is substantially better than Barcelona's (81%).
Copenhagen vs Paris: Copenhagen's rent is higher (€1,600 vs €1,400), but Copenhagen salaries are significantly higher. Both cities are in the "stretched" band, but Paris has a worse ratio despite nominally lower rent.
Warsaw vs any Western city: Warsaw's median rent of €700 looks unremarkable against the headline figures of Western Europe. But set against Warsaw's median net salary of €1,800, the ratio is 39% — the most affordable in this sample and the only city that approaches the conventional 30% guideline.

City-by-City Analysis

London — Ratio: 84% — Unaffordable

London's combination of very high nominal rents and a salary base that, while above most of Europe, does not keep pace with housing costs, produces the worst affordability picture of any city in this comparison apart from Lisbon.

The median Londoner cannot afford to rent a 1-bed alone at any responsible rent-to-income ratio. Most median earners are in shared accommodation. A comfortable solo rental requires a salary roughly 2–3x the median.

Full London affordability data on SpendVerdict.

Dublin — Ratio: 71% — Unaffordable

Dublin is the second-most expensive city in this comparison by rent-to-income ratio. Ireland's housing crisis is severe and well-documented. Dublin 1-beds routinely list at €1,800–2,200, while median net salaries are around €2,800 after Ireland's layered tax system (income tax, USC, and PRSI).

Unlike London, Dublin lacks the salary premium that at least makes the equation viable at higher income levels — while London's tech and finance sector supports salaries well above the median, Dublin's median is significantly lower than its high-cost housing would require. See the full Dublin salary and rent breakdown.

Lisbon — Ratio: 90% — Unaffordable

Lisbon has the worst rent-to-income ratio in Europe. Median rents have tripled since 2015 on the back of tourism growth, digital nomad demand, and short-term let proliferation. Median salaries, by contrast, remain among the lowest in Western Europe.

A median-earning Lisbon resident spending €1,350 per month on rent is left with roughly €150 for everything else. This is not a rounding error in the data — it reflects a city whose rental market has been almost entirely decoupled from local earnings.

Barcelona — Ratio: 81% — Unaffordable

Barcelona mirrors Lisbon's dynamic. Strong international and tourist-driven demand has pushed rents far beyond what local salaries support. The median gross salary in Barcelona is around €25,000–27,000 per year, which produces a net take-home of approximately €1,650–1,750. A median 1-bed now costs €1,380 per month.

Like Lisbon, Barcelona's rental market effectively functions for international workers, higher-income professionals, and people with supplementary income — not for median local earners. See neighbourhood rent data for Barcelona.

Amsterdam — Ratio: 61% — Stretched

Amsterdam is Europe's most strained "borderline" market. The social housing sector that historically accommodated lower and middle earners has waiting lists of 15+ years in most districts. The private rental market has absorbed the overflow at market rates, producing a ratio of 61% at the median.

Amsterdam's median salary (around €2,800 net) is relatively strong, which prevents the market from looking as catastrophic as Lisbon or Barcelona. But the gap between social housing and the private market creates a structural problem for anyone who does not already have a social housing allocation.

Paris — Ratio: 58% — Stretched

Paris operates a rent control system (encadrement des loyers) for properties within the périphérique, which theoretically caps rents based on a reference index by district, property type, and construction period. Enforcement has been inconsistent, with compliance estimated at around 60–70%.

The nominal effect is that Paris rents are lower than they would be without regulation — but the reference index is calibrated on existing market prices and the compliance gap means many properties exceed it. The 58% ratio reflects a market that is expensive relative to local salaries but has been partially constrained by policy.

Munich — Ratio: 56% — Stretched

Munich is Germany's most expensive rental market, significantly above Berlin and Hamburg. The high ratio (56%) is driven primarily by very high nominal rents (€1,800+ for a median 1-bed) rather than low salaries — Munich's median salary is among the highest in Germany.

The city benefits from strong public transport infrastructure, which means outer-district living is viable without the time penalty found in less-connected cities.

Berlin — Ratio: 48% — Borderline

Berlin remains substantially more affordable than Munich, Paris, or Western capitals, but the rapid price growth of 2016–2023 (rents roughly doubled in that period) has eroded its status as a cheap European capital. The ratio of 48% is meaningfully worse than Warsaw or Prague but substantially better than the stretched and unaffordable group.

Berlin's Mietendeckel (rent cap) was in force from 2020–2021 before being struck down by Germany's Constitutional Court. The post-cap bounce pushed rents significantly higher. The city's affordability advantage now lies primarily in salary levels rather than absolute rent.

See the full Berlin cost of living page.

Vienna — Ratio: 46% — Borderline

Vienna regularly ranks among Europe's most liveable cities, and its affordability data reflects this. A large social housing sector (Gemeindebau) provides below-market accommodation for a significant portion of the population. For those in the private market, the ratio of 46% — while above the 30% comfort threshold — is manageable.

Copenhagen — Ratio: 47% — Borderline

Copenhagen's high rents (€1,600 for a median 1-bed) are offset by Denmark's very high gross salaries. The effective tax rate in Denmark is higher than most European countries, but even post-tax, median net incomes of around €3,400 keep the rent ratio at a manageable 47%.

Prague — Ratio: 47% — Borderline

Prague is the most affordable major city in Central Europe after Warsaw. Rents have risen significantly since 2020 as the city has attracted more international workers and short-term let demand has grown, but median salaries have also risen, keeping the ratio roughly stable.

Warsaw — Ratio: 39% — Affordable

Warsaw is the standout affordability story in this comparison. A median 1-bed at €700 per month, set against a median net salary of approximately €1,800, produces a ratio of 39%. That is closer to the 30% guideline than any other major European capital.

Poland's lower cost base extends beyond housing — groceries, transport, and utilities are all substantially cheaper than Western Europe. For remote workers earning Western salaries, Warsaw produces the strongest purchasing power differential of any European capital.

The Pattern: Geography and Affordability

The data reveals a clear geographic pattern:

Worst affordability (70%+ ratio): Atlantic coast and tourist-destination cities — Lisbon, London, Dublin, Barcelona. These cities share high international demand relative to housing supply and, in Lisbon and Barcelona's case, wage bases that have not kept pace with internationalised rental pricing.

Stretched (55–70%): Major Western capitals with partial regulation or higher wage bases — Paris, Amsterdam, Munich. Expensive but not to the point of functional exclusion for median earners.

Borderline (45–55%): Northern European cities with stronger wage bases and partial housing policy support — Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, Prague. Affordable by European standards, though not by the 30% guideline.

Most affordable (under 45%): Central and Eastern European capitals — Warsaw. Low nominal rents combined with a wage base that, while lower in absolute terms, keeps pace with housing costs.

Using This Data

These ratios are calculated at the median. Your personal affordability depends on your actual salary, not the median for your city — and in cities like London or Dublin, earning significantly above the median is effectively required to rent comfortably without sharing.

Use SpendVerdict's city explorer to compare cities side-by-side, or run the calculator with your specific income to see which cities place you in a comfortable affordability band.