Cost of Living in Milan

Summary of cost of living in Milan, Italy:

Restaurants
Edit Range
Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant 20.00 € 14.00-30.00
Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 80.00 € 50.00-120.00
McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) 10.00 € 9.00-12.00
Domestic Beer (1 pint draught) 6.00 € 5.00-8.00
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 5.00 € 4.00-7.00
Cappuccino (regular) 1.97 € 1.20-3.00
Coke/Pepsi (12 oz small bottle) 2.87 € 2.50-4.00
Water (12 oz small bottle) 1.44 € 1.00-2.00
Markets
Edit
Milk (regular), (1 gallon) 6.01 € 3.79-7.57
Loaf of Fresh White Bread (1 lb) 2.18 € 1.36-3.63
Rice (white), (1 lb) 1.55 € 0.91-2.04
Eggs (regular) (12) 4.00 € 2.40-5.60
Local Cheese (1 lb) 7.34 € 5.44-9.98
Chicken Fillets (1 lb) 5.35 € 2.72-7.26
Beef Round (1 lb) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) 9.21 € 4.99-11.34
Apples (1 lb) 1.03 € 0.45-1.36
Banana (1 lb) 0.88 € 0.45-1.36
Oranges (1 lb) 1.15 € 0.68-1.81
Tomato (1 lb) 1.54 € 0.90-2.27
Potato (1 lb) 0.77 € 0.45-1.13
Onion (1 lb) 0.76 € 0.45-0.98
Lettuce (1 head) 1.32 € 0.80-2.00
Water (1.5 liter bottle) 0.52 € 0.30-1.00
Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) 7.00 € 4.00-12.00
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) 1.80 € 1.00-3.00
Imported Beer (12 oz small bottle) 2.15 € 1.30-4.00
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) 6.00 € 5.50-6.00
Transportation
Edit
One-way Ticket (Local Transport) 2.20 € 2.20-2.50
Monthly Pass (Regular Price) 39.00 € 30.00-40.00
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) 7.00 € 4.00-10.00
Taxi 1 mile (Normal Tariff) 3.22 € 1.93-6.44
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) 33.27 € 30.00-40.00
Gasoline (1 gallon) 7.06 € 6.70-7.57
Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) 26,000.00 € 24,000.00-31,000.00
Toyota Corolla Sedan 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) 30,356.25 € 28,000.00-35,000.00
Utilities (Monthly)
Edit
Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915 sq ft Apartment 247.60 € 113.33-476.00
Mobile Phone Monthly Plan with Calls and 10GB+ Data 10.00 € 7.00-15.00
Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) 27.05 € 24.00-32.00
Sports And Leisure
Edit
Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult 66.00 € 30.00-130.00
Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) 31.91 € 25.00-50.00
Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat 10.00 € 8.50-12.00
Childcare
Edit
Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child 803.40 € 650.00-1,000.00
International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child 13,558.69 € 9,000.00-20,000.00
Clothing And Shoes
Edit
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) 90.65 € 40.00-120.00
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, ...) 34.27 € 20.00-60.00
1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) 98.98 € 70.00-130.00
1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes 138.19 € 70.00-279.00
Rent Per Month
Edit
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 1,410.89 € 1,000.00-2,000.00
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 937.50 € 741.00-1,300.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 2,946.67 € 2,000.00-4,500.00
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 1,862.26 € 1,400.00-2,500.00
Buy Apartment Price
Edit
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment in City Centre 839.33 € 557.41-1,114.83
Price per Square Feet to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre 446.75 € 371.61-603.86
Salaries And Financing
Edit
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) 1,697.35 €
Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate 4.42 3.65-5.00

Prices in Milan

This city had 3260 entries in the past 12 months by 398 different contributors.
Last update: March 2024
Sources and References
Distribution of Expenses Using Our Statistical Model:
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24 Comments so far
Anonymous on Jan 01, 2024:
and this despite high prices for housing and household services.
Here in Holland, where I am now, I have met Italians who came here to work, but I have never seen a Dutch person who would go to work in Italy. We are always happy to go on vacation, not to work.
It seems to me that if you really want to live in a warm place, then Barcelona is at your service. And not Milan at all :) To live there, you must either be born Italian, or you must have an inexplicable passion for this country.
Anonymous on Jan 01, 2024:
If you are an immigrant programmer, do not move to Italy. Read before please, do not repeat my mistakes!
1. Knowledge of Italian is mandatory - even in a branch of an international company. To communicate during a coffee break, you need to understand Italian.
2. Salaries - about 30-40 euros per year. about 38% tax. The rules for obtaining deductions are quite confusing
3. An ideal country for a vacation, probably OK if you work remotely, but working locally and with residents is not an obvious choice.
Anonymous on Aug 28, 2023:
Do not move here. Worst city in Europe as far as CostOfLiving/Salary goes. The data here sugarcoats it.

A 30sqm STUDIO apartment outside of the city is at least 900-1000€ not counting utilities. A ROOM is MINIMUM 600-700€ without utilities, and that's if you're very lucky.

Average salary for a fresh grad is 1200-1300€ per month. Run.

The glass ceiling is 40-50k/year (2200-2400€ net per month). You're never gonna get more than that and it's gonna take you 15 years to get to that point.

Berlin has 8% higher cost of living but a fresh grad gets paid at least 40k there. It's shameful. Same goes for Paris, Munich, Frankfurt. Avoid this place at all costs if you care about your mental and financial health.

Cost of living has skyrocketed in the past 5-10 years to the point where the salary you need to live here as a single person is at least 70k (which would put you in the top 1%).
MARCO on Aug 06, 2023:
Stipendio medio 1300 - 1400€.
Chi ha scritto 2k al mese, non conosce il mondo reale
Basta che hai un problema a un dente e ti parte 1k€ che avevi messo da parte in 3 mesi se va bene di lavoro.
Pieno di benzina 85€ circa , come l 'abbonamento alla metropolitana.
Per prendere più di 1500-1700€ al mese devi andare in compagnie grandi e avere fortuna di essere scelto o fare lavori con turnazione notturna oppure libero professionista con partita iva.

Chi migra dal sud al nord spesso, a causa dei costi della vita nulli o quasi, si trova con gruzzoletti che gli permettono di vivere e studiare qui per poi laurearsi.
I milanesi originari del posto o sopravvivono o difficilmente rimangono in città a causa della qualità della vita e del costo di base che li mette in svantaggio paradossalmente rispetto chi arriva dal sud e inoltre l'immigrazione porta ad un abbassamento degli stipendi, perchè chi è appunto originario di qui non prenderebbe mai cifre sotto i 1400€ invece chi viene da fuori si accontenta e pensa che 1200€ sia buono, ma non calcola il costo reale di chi vive realmente li e nno è di passaggio per tornare al sud o andare all'estero.
Paolo on Jun 04, 2023:
To Paul,
I was born and keep living in Milan (unfortunately),so I can solemnly claim that here's the only one who shot crap it's you. Most probably either you don't live in Milan or you have to be well-off to affirm what you wrote. Milan is the most expensive city in all of Italy and one of the most expensive cities in all of Europe, but with starvation salaries that don't even allow you to make ends meet.
Stefano on Mar 28, 2023:
Milan is the worst city in the whole Western world (Europe/US/Canada/Australia) for the salary/cost of living ratio. It's absolutely shameful. I spent 6 years in Milan, 5 studying and 1 year working...my salary was 800€ per month and the work schedule is very hard. I was paying 700€ per month for a room in a shared apartment in the Wagner neighborhood.

As soon as I accumulated some experience I looked for a job abroad and now I live in Amsterdam. It's expensive here too but the salaries are much higher. I don't advise anybody to move to Milan
Anonymous on Dec 19, 2022:
The salaries are way lower than 1775 that's mentioned!
The tax system does not ALLOW for people to go above 4000.
But in fact, the average salary is like 1400 euros. Even in Rome the situation is much worse, it is 1200 on average!

People live together to make the ends meet. These low salaries are also the reason why the marriage age or pregnancy age are way higher than other countries, or the reason why a huge number of under 35 live with their parents (74%), compared to the EU country (average 35%) which is way higher.

This is also the reason why you see millions of Italians anywhere across the world, as if there is a war in this country.
In fact, the youth are working for the elderlies who are still alive at 100 and taking advantage of the tax system.

Just come to this country or city if you earn somewhere else but would like to enjoy the fashion, parties, etc. Anything non-work related.

Word of advice!
Silvia Karlen on Dec 09, 2022:
The average salary after taxes is indeed about Euro 1600.- a month. Most people get 13 or even 14 salaries a year. Milan has become very expensive especially when you consider rents. Don't forget though that a lot of people are commuting from the hinterland
and a high percentage own the appartment where they live. Probably they bought it when it was still affordable....
Anonymous on Oct 27, 2022:
To expand on the point below: it's common for software devs (possibly the best paid professionals) in Milan to make <25k fresh out of uni, and then hit a ceiling of 40k ish after 10-15 years. Meanwhile, the same devs 3 hours north in Munich would start with 50-55k and comfortably hit 75k+ as seniors with approximately the same cost of living. It's ridiculous.
Anonymous on Oct 27, 2022:
Milan must be the absolute worst city in Western Europe for Cost of living/Salary ratio. Its housing prices are outrageously high, yet the salaries are pitiful. Maybe Lisbon is worse? Not sure. Anyway, I would STRONGLY advice everyone against moving to this city for a job if they can go somewhere else, unless they work in fashion.
Matteo on Oct 01, 2022:
I am reading comments about people with 3-5 years of work earning 60+k. I am happy for you but you are completely outliers in Milan. The main national statistics institution says the average salary in 2022 in Milan is around 30k that, considering 14 monthly payments, consists of something more than 1.6k. Of course there are people who earns 60,80,120k but they are just a small percentile in the distribution and useless to make a good statistics. Milan is a fast and great city for whom can afford that. High salaries are hard to reach when you start with an average entry salary of around 25-27k. Again: there are also entry salaries of 40k but they’re just a tiny percentage of the total. The truth is that salaries in Milan are good but there’s a tremendous gap between gross and net salaries. Taxes are smashing the wealth of people and the government is planning to act on this - hopefully soon.
Olek on Sep 01, 2022:
It is bull**it. Please calculate the real power of value. For example in Poland, Wrocław average salary 2500net pln, 1l ON 7.70pln, small beer in pub 15pln...
Roger on Jul 26, 2022:
Salaries in Milan are not great but for sure the average here is too low otherwise the city wouldn't be so expensive.
The average Joe makes €1.600 but there are managers and executives alore with salaries anywhere between €100k and €500k.
Lets not forget that Milan is the business capital of the 7th largest economy in the world.
My salary is €120k gross for example. I'm 41 and most of my italian friends make more or less the same but it's true that there are a lot of people at my company who make a lot less.
Luca on Jun 23, 2022:
I make 56k per year plus various benefits in logistics after 4-5 years experience. Mind that I’m no engineer or programmer. I don’t think this is the average salary in Milan, in fact I feel quite lucky. On the other hand, I doubt that the average would be less than 40k yearly. All my university-educated friends in my age group make around that amount. It’s no high-life for sure, rents are out of this world. Nevertheless I don’t think the average should be set below 2k net per month.
Andrea on Apr 01, 2022:
I am Italian and I live in I am Italian and I live in Milan, I do a six months internsip for a famous auditing firm. My gross earnings are 800€ per month plus 100€ of ticket restaurant. I pay 600€ for a bedroom 3km far amway from Duomo. I've got friends working and living in London and Benelux, in addition, my girlfriend works in Paris.
In my opinion Milan is the worst city in Europe for purchasing power ahd working conditions even though you have a wide range of career opportunities. Furthermore, work loads in finance are massive, it is common to work after 8 pm.
Marco on Mar 29, 2022:
Many people are complaining about the cost of living in Milan. Yes, the city is expensive. Rents are absurd and the quality of housing desirable... BUT there is enormous wealth in this city. More than 1 in 6 in the city centre earns above 120k/year. Corriere della Sera published an article online about the topic. The 20145 postcode isn't the wealthiest, yet it has an average net salary of €71'000/year. We're talking about tens of thousands of people in a city that isn't that big.
CAP 20133 (CAP = postal code) represents the average income of the city of Milan, according to the article.

Salaries in Italy aren't sky-high, BUT it depends on the sector. If you studied law, it will be difficult to earn a good amount of money at the beginning of your career, but if you decide to work for Law Firms in the capital market segment, you can expect to make €2000-3300 euros/month (net) + benefits even before the State exam. This won't be the case if you specialise in civil or penal fields (in those cases, you'll struggle).
Milan on Feb 01, 2022:
@HG: your experience is pretty rare. The average person (actually no, the average college educated person) with 4 years experience in Milan make around 1,800€ net salary. To that you must add 1,200€ per month for rent and you are left with 600€ per month and still have to pay the ATM subscription, food, gym and the expenses when you go out on weekends. Very few people are able to save something, actually the majority get help from their family to pay part of the rent because otherwise they can't make ends meet.
HG on Jan 17, 2022:
Adding some of my experience as both me and my boyfriend live in Milan.

I have 4 yrs work experience, master degree, work in Fintech and after tax monthly 3000-3500 EUR, 14 months. (Annual gross 70k EUR)
My boyfriend has 7 yrs work experience, work in consulting and after tax monthly 3500-4000 EUR, 14 months. (Annual gross 100k EUR)

We can live a comfortable life and save around 30k per person per year in Milan.
Anonymous on Jan 02, 2022:
1600 EUR is a common ok salary in mid/small Italian cities and towns where you can rent a 1bhk for 300-400 EUR. if the ceiling of your career is such a salary you shouldn’t live in Milan, period
Karl on Nov 11, 2021:
I did a 6 months internship in this city. I run away as soon as I finished, the city is laughably overpriced compared to the salaries the average person get. I'm talking especially about rents for single rooms or a studio. Even my Italian colleagues complained and were angry that most of their salary ended up in paying their rent expense. I'm pretty sure it has the worst purchasing power (relative to the average salary) among ALL the cities in Europe (North, South, East, West). I'm in Amsterdam now and I pay for a room just 50€ more than what I paid in Milan but my salary is much higher, just terrible.
Mattia on Jun 07, 2021:
I was born and raised in Milan.
What can I say? The salaries are even lower than 1.600 euros per month. I can ensure you not so many people earn that much, regardless of their studies and/or working experiences.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t really matter whether you got a diploma or you graduated from university: the salaries are ridiculously low, especially if compares to the prohibitive cost of living - as listed above.
The city center isn’t affordable at all for obvious reasons, but so are the suburbs, unless you’d be interested in living in a quite overcrowded neighbourhood with higher micro-criminality rates, and you would still be paying too much among rent, bills, etc…
The city isn’t large at all, it’s actually quite small considering its population which consequently makes it a very crowded and not so bike friendly city.
Furthermore, I solemnly believe it should be cleaner than it currently is: it’s sadly not rare to find garbage on the street as well as broken roads and sidewalks.
I wouldn’t suggest anybody to move to Milan unless they already had an extremely high income, otherwise life won’t be easy at all.
What many expats don’t understand is that nothing is gold here, even if Italy is geographically stunning as a country, but that doesn’t mean we all live well.
Anonymous on May 11, 2021:
Milano is really bella. The country is really beautiful. Even though the income might be tight. But this probably compensate! the city is small, either the country. so it does not matter where you live. center or suburb. italy has many beautiful destinations.
Anonymous on May 11, 2021:
Europe mostly and Italy for sure, are not good places for expats to live!
You will be given the job you are deserved (by your resume). The cost of living is much higher! Especially the rents.
In the city center only paying the rent (not utilities) is at least 1500 euros!
You can go to cheap chain stores like LiDl or Eurospin but ... !!!
Jobs are awful! Purchasing power is relay really bad!
Baggio on May 21, 2020:
For a midclass life in Milan as an expat you should land a 80k EUR gross yearly salary at least.
Don’t listen to italians that feel fine living with 1500 EUR a month, that’s not midclass.