Austin $120k vs Berlin €85k vs Amsterdam €80k vs Istanbul ₺1.8M — what lands in your account?

How this comparison works

The table converts three different tax systems into one question: what remains in the account each month? Each side uses its own engine — US federal brackets plus FICA plus the state layer, German income tax by tax class, Dutch tax with or without the expat ruling, Turkish SGK plus progressive income tax plus stamp duty.

Currency and the live rate

Cross-border numbers only mean something with a date attached. The conversion uses the European Central Bank reference rate as published by the Frankfurter API and is editable: change the rate box to model a different exchange rate. A 5% currency move can flip a verdict that a percentage point of tax cannot — check the rate before you make a decision.

What the table cannot see

• Purchasing power. Living costs, rent and childcare are not equal across these cities; a higher net in one country can buy less.
• Social contributions and what they buy. Health insurance, pensions and unemployment cover are funded differently in each system, so a lower net is not automatically a worse deal.
• Personal circumstances. Marital status, children and expat rulings change the outcome more than the headline rate does.
• Local taxes. City and municipal layers are excluded unless stated on the country page.

Each figure is reproducible on the country pages, where the assumption set is printed next to the number: Germany · Netherlands · Türkiye · Methodology

Why gross-to-gross comparisons mislead

Comparing a $120,000 US salary with an €85,000 German salary on gross pay answers the wrong question. Each system subtracts in a different order and for a different purpose: the US layers federal brackets, a state rate and two flat payroll taxes on top of gross; Germany folds income tax and social insurance into a tax class and a contribution ceiling; the Netherlands applies box-1 bands and then returns part of the bill as a general and labour credit. Two salaries that look far apart on paper can land within a few percent of each other in the account, which is why the table above converts first and ranks second.

The rent test: what the net actually buys

A higher net is only better if it buys more where you live. Rent is the fastest sanity check: an urban one-bedroom that takes a fifth of take-home in one city can take a third in another, and that gap usually dwarfs the difference in income tax between two countries. After rent, compare the recurring items no offer letter mentions - health insurance premiums and deductibles, childcare, commuting, and whether a pension contribution is deducted from your pay or provided on top of it. Our city pages use published rent data, so the net figures here can be paired with a real housing cost instead of an assumption.

Exchange rate: the part that is not in your control

A cross-border salary is a dual-currency bet. The conversion above uses the European Central Bank reference rate and is editable, because a five percent currency move can flip which city wins by more than a typical tax change. If you are planning a move, model the outcome at the current rate and again at a rate ten percent worse, then check whether the decision still holds. Currency movement is also the reason to date every comparison: an answer that was right last spring may not describe today.

What each system provides for the money

Net pay is not the same thing as money kept. In Germany and the Netherlands a large share of the contribution buys health cover, pensions and unemployment insurance that a household would otherwise purchase separately; in the US, health insurance is usually an out-of-pocket line item and retirement saving is largely voluntary. A fair comparison therefore asks two questions: what lands in the account, and what does the household no longer have to buy. Each country page prints the assumption set next to its number so every figure can be traced back.