cityparity

$150,000 in New York City ≈ €117,466 in Amsterdam

New York City vs Amsterdam: cost of living, compared

Equivalence is solved so household net cash matches across both cities, with taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, food, and travel all included.

What changes: New York City → Amsterdam

  • 5 more vacation days per year in Amsterdam (statutory)

The headline math

New York City household gross $150,000
New York City taxes (29.3%) −$43,896
New York City living costs −$82,241
New York City net cash $23,863
Amsterdam household gross needed €117,466($134,400)
Amsterdam taxes (36.7%) −€43,124
Amsterdam living costs −€53,485
Amsterdam net cash €20,857

Computed at the city-median tech-worker salary, New York City (typical professional) · effective tax rates: 29.3% vs 36.7%

Inbound-worker tax regime — Amsterdam. 30%-regeling: up to 30% of gross salary is paid tax-free for qualifying inbound employees (recruited from abroad; 150km / 16-of-24-months rule; 2025 salary floor ~EUR 46,660 on the taxable portion), cutting the Box 1 base. Max 5 years; tax-free amount capped at the WNT norm (EUR 246,000 in 2025). Rate drops to 27% from 2027. See it applied in the calculator →

These numbers use one scenario's assumptions. Plug in your own salary, family size, and lifestyle.

Open the interactive calculator to run your own →

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Moving from New York City to Amsterdam

$150,000 in New York City is worth €117,466 in Amsterdam on a household net-cash basis. That is the equivalence figure this tool solves for: the Amsterdam gross salary whose take-home, after taxes and local costs, lands in the same place as your New York City take-home. Most people are surprised by how large the number is. Most of the gap is taxes.

The effective tax rate goes from 29.3% in New York City to 36.7% in Amsterdam. That 7.4-point jump is what the equivalence solver is working against when it finds the matching gross salary.

Both cities require private health insurance. New York City runs $3,966; Amsterdam runs €2,485.

Amsterdam workers get 20 vacation days per year. New York City averages 15. That 5-day gap does not appear in any salary comparison, but at a typical professional's daily rate it represents thousands of dollars of time that stays in your life rather than being bought back by your employer.

Living costs (housing, food, transit, discretionary) total $77,900 in New York City and €50,100 in Amsterdam at these scenario defaults. The breakdown table shows each line item separately, with source citations and last-updated dates available on hover.

Common questions

How much do you need to earn in Amsterdam to match a $150,000 salary in New York City?

About €117,466. cityparity solves for the Amsterdam gross salary whose net cash (after taxes, housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest) equals what you keep in New York City. It's an equivalence, not a raw conversion.

Is healthcare free in Amsterdam?

Amsterdam does not have universal healthcare, so out-of-pocket costs are modeled the same way as in New York City.

How much vacation and parental leave do you get in Amsterdam?

Amsterdam has about 31 paid days off a year (vacation plus public holidays) and 9 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 →

Related comparisons

Every figure here comes from the same engine as the interactive calculator: real progressive tax brackets, city-median costs, childcare net of government allowances, and the social safety net priced in. Sources are cited per row in the calculator, refreshed annually. Read the full methodology →