Country rankings: take-home pay, leave, childcare, and family benefits
Updated July 2026 ยท computed from cityparity's engine data
Seventy countries, five dimensions, one engine-computed number for each: what a salary keeps after tax, what a paid week off is worth, what childcare costs after the subsidy, what parents get back in cash, and who banks the most paid time off. Every figure below comes from the same tax brackets, labor law, and benefit tables behind the calculator, not a survey.
Take-home pay by country
Kuwait keeps 100% of a $150,000 salary. Belgium keeps about half. Effective tax rate at $100k, $150k, and $250k for 70 countries, run through real brackets instead of the marginal headline rate.
Vacation days by country
The US sets no federal floor for paid vacation. Every other rich country on this list does. Statutory and customary paid time off for 70 countries, with the gap against the US priced at a $150,000 salary.
Parental leave by country, priced
A year of Norwegian parental leave is worth about $141,000 at a $150,000 salary. The US federal default, FMLA, is worth $0. Full-pay-equivalent weeks puts a generous-but-partial-pay scheme and a short-but-full-pay one on the same scale.
Childcare costs by country
Berlin's public Kita is free. A comparable US metro runs $1,650 to $2,400 a month, paid from after-tax income. Monthly preschool cost after the standing subsidy, for 70 countries.
Child benefit by country
Germany pays about $295 a month per child in Kindergeld. Norway's barnetrygd works differently but lands in the same table. Cash paid per child per year for 70 countries, benefits and tax credits counted the same way.
These are country averages. Your own answer depends on the two actual cities, your salary, and your family size: run a real comparison.
Figures come from cityparity's per-city engine, computed from official sources with a per-value audit trail; currency conversions use rates from 2026-07-27 and drift daily. Treat any single number as a strong estimate and run your own. See the methodology.