There are various sets of figures out there when it comes to average income in Spain. You can go based on (wildly differing) numbers cited in the Spanish press, numbers used in EU wide analysis, and data sets from the country’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

Then of course there’s also different types of salary: do you mean gross or net income? Are we talking annual income or monthly? Is it calculated by 12 or 14 annual payments? And what about the regional differences?

It can be a lot to get your head around, and therefore difficult to say what exactly is considered a ‘decent’ income in Spain. As we will see, the basic answer is that it depends on several factors (scroll to the bottom for the quick answer).

Starting with the basics, according to the latest salary figures available from INE the average annual wage in Spain is €26,948.87 gross per year. That works out to €2,245 per month gross in 12 payments and €1,924 in 14 payments, something which is common in Spain.

Of course, tax deductions (something partly devolved to the regional governments in Spain) and other financial conditions vary whenever you are and mean that the average net income is harder to gauge. 

But INE data shows that for women in Spain the average salary is €24,359.82 per year and for men €29,381.84. Women’s average income grew by 5.1 percent year on year, while men’s average salaries grew by 3.5 percent.

However, this doesn’t tell the full story and there are some pretty stark regional and professional differences hidden within that headline figure. 

So, what can we actually consider a decent salary in Spain?

International and regional differences

Whether or not you think €27,000 per year is a decent salary is relative to several factors. If you’re coming from Morocco or Portugal, for example, you probably would consider it a decent income, whereas if you move to Spain from Stockholm or Switzerland this would likely seem a very low salary.

Similarly, regional differences within Spain also shape perspectives on what’s considered a decent salary or not – and there are some pretty striking differences between the different parts of the country. What’s considered a decent salary in Murcia, for example, would probably be considered poor by someone who has worked in Madrid.

Regional breakdown:

Andalucía – €24,041.96

Aragón – €26,012.71

Asturias – €26,745.93

Balearic Islands – €27,145.79

Basque Country – €32,313.73

Canary Islands – €23,096.92

Cantabria – €25,291.14

Castilla y León – €24,186.89

Castilla-La Mancha – €23,751.71

Catalonia – €28,774.55

Valencia – €24,510.34

Extremadura – €21,922.73

Galicia – €24,169.68

Madrid – €31,230.73

Murcia – €23,851.69

Navarra  – €29,189.52

La Rioja – €24,903.38

If you’ve lived or worked in Spain, you’ll know that when Spaniards talk about salaries they generally refer to monthly income as opposed to the annual figure. Often when jobs are advertised in Spain they’ve advertised in monthly gross figures, so that’s what we’ll do here too.

It should also be noted that in Spain often salaries are paid in 14 instalments as opposed to 12, as is common abroad. So the following figures are the INE’s annual average divided into 14 payments.

INE figures show that the highest average gross monthly salaries in Spain are in Basque Country, with €2,308 per month, followed by Madrid (€2,230) and the Balearic Islands (€1,938).

In fact, thinking in terms of annual gross income, the Basque Country and Madrid are the only two regions in Spain that exceed the €30,000 per year threshold on average, so both would be considered more than decent salaries in Spain.

The next highest monthly gross salaries are in Navarra (€2,084), Catalonia (€2,055), Asturias (€1,910), Cantabria (€1806), La Rioja (€1,778), Castilla y León (€1,727) and Galicia (€1,726).

At the other end of the scale are Extremadura (€1,565), the Canary Islands (€1,649), Murcia (€1703) and Andalusia (€1,717) gross per month.

Job types

Of course, what’s considered a good or bad salary in Spain can also depend on the sector and position. A general manager of a tech company would consider a waiters salary very low, but that same salary may be considered poor compared to similar positions abroad.

Hospitality professionals have the lowest average annual wages in Spain, with €16,274.71 — 39.6 percent below the national average.

By occupation the annual earnings of ‘Directors and managers’ were on average €59,478.63, 120.7 percent higher than the average wage and a very good salary in Spain.

Surprisingly, the INE specified that the ‘economic activity’ (as opposed to occupation) with the highest annual salary in Spain is, according to the INE stats, workers ‘Electricity, gas, steam and aircon workers’ with €55,470.69 gross per year.

On the other hand, the lowest salaries overall corresponded to unskilled workers in services (not including transport workers) with an average annual salary of just €14,665.40, 45.6 percent below the average.

Nationality

There’s also quite a gap between Spanish workers’ income and those of foreigners.

Spanish workers have the highest average annual wages with €27,500, whereas all non-Spanish worker groups had a salary below the average. 

The lowest was that of those from Latin America on average (€18,214.62).

READ ALSO: What jobs do foreigners in Spain do?

Conclusion: What is considered a decent salary in Spain?

As we have seen, there is no one answer to this question in Spain. It really depends on where in Spain you’re living, where in the world you’ve come from, the sector you’re working in and even personal opinion.

The average headline figure is roughly €27,000 per year (€2,245 per month gross in 12 payments), which after tax ends up being roughly around €1,700 to €1,800 a month depending on your personal circumstances. 

Therefore, if after tax you earn €2,000 or more a month, the average person in Spain will consider that you earn a good or above average salary, enough to cover rent/mortgage, daily costs, enjoy a few meals out and some leisure and still save some money every month.

In big cities such as Barcelona, Madrid or Palma de Mallorca where rents and living costs have increased the most in recent years, €2,000 may be enough for you to break even every month but not necessarily enough to live a relatively comfortable life or maintain a small family.

To give you an idea, Barcelona authorities believe the cut-off to live “with dignity” in the Catalan capital is €1,516 a month, anything below that and the average person struggles. Financial website El Cronista also points out that in Madrid you need between €1,800 and €2,500 a month to live a decent life in the Spanish capital.

Therefore, what’s considered a good salary in these bigger pricier cities in Spain would be closer to €2,500 net a month in most Spaniards’ eyes.