CushyIndex model research · Published 5 October 2026
What net income would leave you €1,500 a month after costs?
Five European cities, three household scenarios and a transparent rent sensitivity test. Publisher: Adrien de Malherbe. Version 2026-10-05.1.
The question this report answers
We add a fixed €1,500-equivalent monthly buffer to each city's modeled household budget. The result is the required net household income, after tax, before paying those living costs. It is not gross salary, an official comfort threshold or an observed average.
For a single adult, the model produces Barcelona: 3375 €; Madrid: 3300 €; Valencia: 2925 €; London: £4,157; Paris: 3965 € per month. The tables below explain what goes into those figures.
Read this before using the numbers
Cost inputs are legacy CushyIndex assumptions with unresolved original source rows and observation dates. Publication in October 2026 does not mean rents were observed in October. This report makes the model reproducible; it does not independently validate the market data. The ±20% rent range is a scenario test, not a confidence interval.
London uses the static assumption £1 = €1.17, so the buffer is about £1,282. All other cities use euros. We compare net income to avoid implying that unverified country tax models produce comparable gross salaries.
Single adult: monthly net income needed
| City | Rent | Other modeled costs | Required net income | EUR equivalent | Rent −20% to +20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 950 € | 925 € | 3375 € | 3375 € | 3185 € to 3565 € |
| Madrid | 900 € | 900 € | 3300 € | 3300 € | 3120 € to 3480 € |
| Valencia | 650 € | 775 € | 2925 € | 2925 € | 2795 € to 3055 € |
| London | £1,600 | £1,275 | £4,157 | 4864 € | £3,837 to £4,477 |
| Paris | 1300 € | 1165 € | 3965 € | 3965 € | 3705 € to 4225 € |
Couple: monthly net income needed
| City | Rent | Other modeled costs | Required net income | EUR equivalent | Rent −20% to +20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 1350 € | 1095 € | 3945 € | 3945 € | 3675 € to 4215 € |
| Madrid | 1300 € | 1060 € | 3860 € | 3860 € | 3600 € to 4120 € |
| Valencia | 850 € | 915 € | 3265 € | 3265 € | 3095 € to 3435 € |
| London | £2,200 | £1,495 | £4,977 | 5823 € | £4,537 to £5,417 |
| Paris | 1800 € | 1365 € | 4665 € | 4665 € | 4305 € to 5025 € |
Family, two children: monthly net income needed
| City | Rent | Other modeled costs | Required net income | EUR equivalent | Rent −20% to +20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 1700 € | 2495 € | 5695 € | 5695 € | 5355 € to 6035 € |
| Madrid | 1600 € | 2410 € | 5510 € | 5510 € | 5190 € to 5830 € |
| Valencia | 1100 € | 1985 € | 4585 € | 4585 € | 4365 € to 4805 € |
| London | £2,800 | £4,145 | £8,227 | 9626 € | £7,667 to £8,787 |
| Paris | 2500 € | 2395 € | 6395 € | 6395 € | 5895 € to 6895 € |
How to reproduce the result
- Select the household and city in the CSV or JSON.
- Add rent, groceries, transport, utilities, internet, childcare, healthcare, restaurants and leisure.
- Add 1,500 divided by the EUR-per-currency-unit rate.
- For sensitivity, change only rent by 20% in either direction.
Housing: a single adult uses one bedroom outside the centre; a couple uses one bedroom in the centre; a family uses three bedrooms outside the centre. Differences between households therefore include housing type as well as consumption.
Family: two full childcare allowances, without subsidies. Transport, restaurants and leisure remain the model's single household allowances. This can understate larger-household spending. No private schooling, moving costs, deposits, debt repayments or employer benefits are included.
Interpretation: a £100 rent increase requires £100 more net household income to keep the buffer unchanged. It does not imply a £100 increase in gross salary. Two earners can split the required net amount; their combined gross requirement depends on their individual tax situations.
Explore your own scenario
Citation and reuse
Suggested citation: CushyIndex, “Five-city relocation net-income scenarios”, 5 October 2026, model 2026-10-05.1. Link to this report and retain the modeled-data caveat when discussing its findings. Downloads contain model inputs and derived outputs, not a licensed redistribution of an external provider's dataset.