$280,000 in Boston ≈ €240,337 in Rome
Moving to Rome from Boston with a family
Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.
What changes: Boston → Rome
- ▴ 5 more vacation days per year in Rome (statutory)
- ▴ 8 more paid parental-leave weeks (18 vs 10)
- ▴ Universal healthcare in Rome (no premium / minimal OOP)
- ▴ Childcare drops ~$32k/yr in Rome (subsidized)
- ▾ Income + payroll tax runs 45.9% in Rome vs 23.9% in Boston
- ▴ Housing runs about 40% less in Rome
- ▴ Groceries and dining runs about 28% less in Rome
The headline math
| Boston household gross | $280,000 |
| Boston taxes (23.9%) | −$66,975 |
| Boston living costs | −$135,588 |
| Boston net cash | $77,438 |
| ≈ | |
| Rome household gross needed | €240,337($274,044) |
| Rome taxes (45.9%) | −€110,336 |
| Rome living costs | −€62,088 |
| Rome net cash | €67,912 |
Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, Boston (a family with two kids) · effective tax rates: 23.9% vs 45.9%
The bottom line
- →$280,000 in Boston leaves about the same net cash as €240,337 in Rome for this scenario, after real taxes and living costs.
- →Taxes take 23.9% of gross in Boston versus 45.9% in Rome.
- →The biggest non-cash swing: 5 more vacation days per year in Rome (statutory).
These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.
Open the interactive calculator to run your own →No signup. Your salary stays in your browser — we never see it.
Moving from Boston to Rome for a family
For a family of four, this comparison produces a different answer than a single-person look at the same cities. Childcare costs, parental leave policy, and the second earner's tax treatment all push the number. With a partner at 60% of the primary salary and two kids in daycare, a $280,000 household in Boston needs €240,337 in Rome to keep the same net cash.
Childcare is the biggest single swing factor in this comparison. Boston households pay $33,600 per year; Rome caps it at €1,800 via subsidy. That difference flows directly to net cash. A standard salary comparison won't show it at all.
Parental leave: Rome provides 18 weeks paid vs 10 in Boston. A new child in the first year of the move is exactly the scenario where that gap shows up as real money (and real stress avoided).
With kids in the house, healthcare is the line that quietly compounds. Rome runs a universal system, so a rough year doesn't turn into a billing event. The Boston side carries $10,916 a year in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, exposure that simply doesn't follow you across.
K-12 schools score higher on PISA 2022 in USA (489 (math 465, reading 504, science 499)) than in Italy (477 (math 471, reading 482, science 477)), a 12-point gap on the OECD's standardized 15-year-old assessment. PISA is one signal; local school choice and curriculum philosophy matter at least as much.
Rome also adds 5 more vacation days per year (20 vs 15). With kids, that is school breaks actually covered without burning PTO.
The second-earner question is worth running separately. In high-childcare-cost cities, full-time daycare can eat most of a partner's after-tax income. In Rome, subsidized childcare changes that math entirely: both salaries actually make it to the household. Use the "Partner works in" toggle in the calculator to see what that shift does to your specific numbers.
Understand what's behind these numbers
Common questions
How much do you need to earn in Rome to match a $280,000 salary in Boston?
About €240,337. cityparity solves for the Rome gross salary whose net cash (after taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest) equals what you keep in Boston. It's an equivalence, not a raw conversion.
How much is childcare in Rome compared with Boston?
Childcare is one of the biggest swings for a family moving from Boston to Rome. cityparity nets each city's daycare cost against any government child allowance, so the figure reflects what you'd actually pay out of pocket.
Is healthcare free in Rome?
Rome has universal healthcare, so there are no US-style premiums or large deductibles. cityparity counts that as real money you don't spend, which is part of why the equivalent salary is lower than the raw number suggests.
How much vacation and parental leave do you get in Rome?
Rome has about 32 paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 22 weeks of parental leave. cityparity surfaces these as deltas rather than dollars, because time off is part of the real comparison.
Run your own numbers in the interactive calculator →