What Is Considered A Good Salary In Spain? [Detailed 2022 Guide]
If you’ve recently received a job offer in Spain, you are probably wondering how it compares to the cost of living there and if it will be enough to live comfortably. You will also need to compare it to the average, and how much people in your industry are making. A good salary will be one that allows you to live comfortably in Spain, and spend on a few luxuries as well and not only your necessities.
This article will give details of the average salaries in Spain, so you can analyze the offer you have received in more detail, and know if you need to negotiate for a better package.
What is Considered a Good Salary in Spain?
Despite the high rates of youth unemployment and average salaries lower than anywhere else in the EU, Spain is still a popular choice for expats to settle in. This is because of the high quality of life, lower cost of living and a good work-life balance. The expat community in Spain is ever-growing, and there are an increasing number of opportunities for English speakers as well over time.
A ‘good’ salary is an extremely subjective threshold, which will probably vary for each person. This is because we all have different requirements for living comfortably: while one person might consider an annual vacation to be a necessity, another might consider it a luxury. Similarly, eating out is a personal preference and some people might want to spend more on it.
Generally speaking, a salary of around 2000 to 2500 euros a month, after taxes, is a decent salary. This makes the annual income around 32,000 euros. This amount is sufficient for renting a one-bedroom apartment, and for spending on food and transportation and some luxuries for a single person. However, if you have a family and children living with you, it is more likely that you will need around 2200 to 2800 net income per month. This translates to an annual gross income of around 71,000 euros. Moreover, the same salary will get you less in a bigger city like Barcelona or Madrid which tend to be more expensive than the suburbs. Overall, you will need to watch out for a few expenses like rent (which is higher in the bigger cities) and utility bills (which can run higher in the warmer months) which can climb quite steeply.
Salary Requirement For Blue Card In Spain
A blue card is a residence permit and will allow a non-EU national to be employed and settle in a country in the region. It also allows your family members to accompany you, and entails movement within the EU. While your salary depends on the company that hires you, in order to qualify for a blue card you must fulfill certain conditions. You should have a contract of at least a year, and meet the minimum threshold of 33,908 euros a year. Once you have submitted your documents, your application will be processed within 45 days. The standard validity of a blue card in Spain is one year and can be renewed biannually.
Salary Requirement For Work Permit In Spain
In order to get a Spanish work visa, you will need an offer from a company in Spain. If you are a highly skilled or educated expat wishing to make the move to Spain, you can apply for the highly skilled workers visa. It has a minimum salary requirement i.e. you must have an offer from a Spanish company of at least the threshold amount to be able to qualify for this. The minimum is 40,077 euros for scientists and 55,142 euros a year for managers or directors.
What Is The Minimum Wage In Spain?
The minimum wage in Spain (Salario Minimo Interprofesional) applies to casual, domestic and temporary work as well. It is the same for everyone regardless of gender, age or the type of contract of employment. In 2022 the Spanish minimum wage was 7.82 euros per hour. Therefore, if you are a full time employee working 40 hours a week, you will be earning 1,167 euros a month, or a total of 14,000 euros annually. Spain has the seventh highest minimum wage out of 22 European countries.
What Is The Average Wage In Spain?
The average salary in Spain in 2022 was 2,710 euros gross monthly income, which is 32,520 euros in a year. If you want to get a better sense of this average figure in more detail, 25% of the population is making less than 1,600 euros while 75% earn less than 7,080 euros a month.
Average Gross Salary In Spain By Gender
Spain still does not have pay parity, as in most regions of the world. Unfortunately, women on average make 4% less than their male counterparts. While the average salary for men is 2,770 euros, it is 2,660 euros for women. That does not mean you cannot negotiate a better offer for yourself as a woman. Be sure to treat this as an incentive to get to the same salary level.
Companies are required by law to pay the same salary to individuals doing the same kind of work. If salary discrimination is proven in court, a company will be fined anywhere from 6,251 to 187,515 euros.
Average Gross Salary In Spain By Location
The average salary in Spain also differs by region. This is a product of the development of city centers, which means that the nature of jobs is different. This can in turn guarantee better paid jobs in the cities than in places that are more rural. The average salaries go up to 3,200 euros in Barcelona and Madrid, while in smaller cities like Bilbao they are as low as 2,700 euros.
Average Gross Salary In Spain By Profession and Work Experience
Some industries also pay better to begin with, so your career choice will also be a major determining factor in your average salary over time. The banking, insurance and engineering sectors pay the highest. Specifically, the pharmacy and energy sectors usually pay the most, with average salaries going up to 54,000 and 50,000 euros respectively. Next is the IT sector, paying 42,000 euros annually. The Aerospace and tourism industries pay slightly lower at 32,000 and 29,000 euros respectively in a year, on average.
Non-EU expats also have higher salaries on average. This is because they require a work visa to move, and there is a high demand for those with a work visa to fill the vacancies in the shortage list, which are otherwise hard to fill locally. Such jobs include computer engineers, data scientists, doctors, commercial technicians etc.
Generally speaking, your salary will also improve with the number of years of professional experience you have. Once you have around 2 to 5 years of experience, you can expect to be paid about 32% more than an entry level employee. The remuneration usually continues to increase with experience. Once you have more than five years of experience, you can expect to be paid 36% more. On average, you should be able to double your starting salary by the time you have ten years of professional experience.
Average Gross Salary In Spain by Company Size
There has been some evidence globally which says that bigger companies tend to pay slightly lesser on average. However, this is not necessarily the case and will depend on your company and profession.
Is 60,000 Euros A Good Salary In Spain?
If your job pays you 60,000 euros a year that means your net salary which you will be taking home will be around 42,000 euros. This is higher than what the average person earns. This is sufficient for you to be able to afford some necessities, while also having some left over to save and spend on luxuries. As a single person, you will find this income to be luxurious since expenses are likely to be even lesser.
What is Your purchasing power with Your salary in Spain?
Purchasing power is used to see how many good and services you can buy with your salary. Closely connected to this is the idea of purchasing power parity. This is an economic concept which is used to compare the currencies of different countries through the number of goods and services you can buy in each. Two countries would be at par if the basket of goods and services costs the same in each (after accounting for the exchange rate).
For their base of comparison, economists create a basket of goods and services (which are bought by most of the households). This must include a wide range of products and it is tough to decide what should be included in it. Therefore, there is a lot of debate on how useful this can be. Nevertheless, it is a good option if you want to see how much your salary in Spain can get you.
A recent measure which is used for purchasing power parity comparisons is the Big Mac Index. This will help you figure out your purchasing power in Spain based on the price of a hamburger in the country!
To start the process, you need to make sure you do all of the calculations in the same currency, so you can convert everything into US dollars.
Step 1: find out how many Big Macs you can purchase with your salary in your current country.
- Find out the price for a Big Mac in your country, converted to US dollars. For illustration purposes, here’s a list for some countries below:
- USA: $5.78
- UK: $4.8
- India: $2.54
- Mexico: $3.32
- Turkey: $1.85
- Spain: $4.93
- Convert your current net salary into US dollars
- Divide your current salary by the price of a Big Mac in your country (both should be in US dollars)
This will tell you about the number of Big Macs you can buy in your country with your current salary.
Step 2: calculate how many Big Macs you can get in Spain
- If you have received a job offer from a Spanish company, calculate your net income using an online calculator like the one at https://www.icalculator.info/spain/income-tax-calculator/annual.html
- Convert your net income into US dollars
- Divide the figure for net income by the price of a Big Mac in Spain (4.93 US dollars)
You have now calculated how many Big Macs your current salary offered will get you in Spain.
Example: To look at the process described above in a real world scenario, we can use the following example. Suppose I am living in Mexico, and earning a good salary of around 30,000 MX per month. This is equivalent to 1537 US dollars. The price of a hamburger in Mexico is $3.32, so with my current salary I can get 463 hamburgers.
Now imagine I have received an offer from a Spanish company which will pay me 60,000 euros annually. Using a tax calculator, I know that I will receive a net income of 42,000 euros annually or 3500 euros a month. This is equivalent to 3,630 US dollars. Given the price of a Big Mac in Spain which is $4.93, I can buy 736 hamburgers with my salary.
Given this information, at first glance it might seem clear that in the context of this example, since you can get more burgers in Spain with the income that you are offered, your purchasing power will improve. This is of course, not the only metric worth considering. You will also need to consider other factors for your move. This calculation provides a general threshold of your standard of living, but will not tell you much about the quality of life in both countries.
You can also expect Spain to have a better quality of living since the cost of living is lower, while salaries are comparatively decent. The beautiful landscapes, subsidized healthcare, good work-life balance and family friendly policies are also major attractions to moving to the country. The law and order situation is also better than that in Mexico.
Final Thoughts
Whether or not a salary is adequate is a question only you can answer. This is because it will vary according to your preferences, lifestyle and consequently your cost of living. This guide can be a good starting point to determine average thresholds of income, so you will know how to evaluate your offer and whether to negotiate for a better offer depending on the averages that are paid in that industry or region. You can then decide if you want to accept the job offer or not.