• foggy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    That is not too far off what it is like in most cities in the U.S, believe it or not.

    Where I am, minimum wage is $12. At 40 hrs a week this is $24,000 before tax. Roughly $16,000 after tax.

    That’s ~$1333.33 per month in earnings.

    2023 fair market rent in my state for a 1br is $947, but in reality, the units that are available are closer to double that price. I’d say most 1br units are $1300 - $1700 in my area.

    • DarkInspiration@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Our prices for a one bedroom apartment, depending on location, can also go that high, but I think you might be conflating what “a bedroom” means here. It’s 500€ for a bedroom in an apartment, not the whole one bedroom apartment.

      • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        When I moved back to Portugal about 4 years ago, I actually pondered on going to Germany instead, and actually went and lived in Berlin for a while and investigated and compared costs of living.

        Back then rents were already higher in Lisbon than Berlin (whilst salaries in the former are less than 1/3 those in the latter!!!) and the only thing that made living in Lisbon cheaper was that Portugal has a National Health Service (free to use) whilst residence in Germany means mandatory Health Insurance which for me - who have my own company - meant an extra €300+ a month in costs.

        In the last 4 years housing costs in Lisbon went up by almost 50% and in Berlin it was 10% or so (if I remember correctly), so now it’s actually significantly cheaper to live in Berlin, which is a way better place than present day Lisbon to live in pretty much every way but Weather.

        I’m actually living in a small city about 200km from Lisbon were I pay less than €400 a month for a one bedroom in rent, so it’s not bad for me, but that’s because I’m not having to live on the average portuguese income and don’t have to raise a family.

        Living in Lisbon would be crazy and I would be better of moving to a more cosmopolitan place like Berlin (especially because, having lived in Amsterdam, London and Berlin, for me Lisbon just feels like a pretty provincial city, hilariously filled with people who don’t know best and by comparing themselves with the countryside think they’re sophisticated and forward thinking).