Country Affordability Match
Find where your income puts you comfortably ahead.
Derived figures
- Income percentiles by country — derived from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) (Per-country most recent PIP survey (2017-2025)) using Decile thresholds fitted with a lognormal to PIP's published median and Gini. PIP publishes decile shares but no percentile thresholds, so these are our derivation from real inputs, not PIP's own percentile table.
How this is calculated
Your income is compared against a lifestyle-cost model built from each country's median PPP income, and only countries where you'd land in at least the national top half are shown, ranked by monthly surplus in PPP-adjusted international dollars.
Using PPP-adjusted international dollars for both sides of the comparison — your income and each country's lifestyle cost — is what makes the ranking meaningful across very different economies; a raw currency comparison would make expensive countries look artificially cheap or cheap countries look artificially expensive depending on exchange rate swings. To see the same PPP logic applied to a specific monthly budget rather than an income-vs-cost ranking, see the Cross-Country Budget calculator, or for a direct salary conversion, the PPP Salary Converter.
Frequently asked questions
- Why are only some countries shown?
- Only countries where your income would land in at least the top half nationally are included — that automatically covers anyone who'd reach the top quarter too.
- How is monthly surplus calculated?
- Your income minus an estimated lifestyle cost — a multiple of that country's median PPP income (0.5x frugal, 0.75x moderate, 1.1x comfortable), scaled for household size with economies of scale rather than a flat per-person multiple. Both figures are compared in PPP-adjusted international dollars so the ranking isn't skewed by currency unit size.
- What is the housing burden proxy?
- A rough proxy assuming housing is roughly 32% of the lifestyle-cost figure, expressed as a percentage of your actual income — not a real housing-market figure.
- How is country affordability calculated?
- Your net monthly income is compared against an estimated lifestyle cost for each country — a multiple of that country's median PPP income (0.5× frugal, 0.75× moderate, 1.1× comfortable), scaled for household size — with both figures expressed in PPP-adjusted international dollars so the comparison isn't distorted by currency or raw exchange rates.
- What purchasing power threshold is used?
- Only countries where your income would land in at least the national top half (50th percentile or higher) are shown, based on national income distribution data — that automatically includes anyone who would reach the top quarter as well.
- Does this account for taxes?
- The input is your net (after-tax) monthly income, but the model does not separately simulate the destination country's tax system — it compares your existing net income against estimated lifestyle costs there, not what you would take home if you actually earned and were taxed in that country.
- What costs are not included in the affordability comparison?
- The lifestyle-cost model is a broad multiple of median PPP income, not itemised housing, healthcare, education, or childcare costs — the housing burden figure is a rough proxy rather than real housing-market data, so treat all outputs as directional rather than precise budgets.