Top 20 Cities in Europe for Software Engineers in 2024
For on-site/non-remote jobs
1. Zurich 🇨🇭
2. London 🇬🇧
3. Amsterdam 🇳🇱
4. Berlin 🇩🇪
5. Paris 🇫🇷
6. Barcelona 🇪🇸
7. Madrid 🇪🇸
8. Dublin 🇮🇪
9. Munich 🇩🇪
10. Warsaw 🇵🇱
11. Stockholm 🇸🇪
12. Oslo 🇳🇴
13. Cambridge 🇬🇧
14. Edinburgh 🇬🇧
15. Krakow 🇵🇱
16. Belgrade 🇷🇸
17. Bucharest 🇷🇴
18. Copenhagen 🇩🇰
19. Prague 🇨🇿
20. Tallinn 🇪🇪
How was this selection and ranking established:
Basically, a mix of: salaries, job opportunities, quality of life and standard of living, purchasing power and saving rates.
For more info, you can check my previous articles from this newsletter (and their associated LinkedIn posts) about these top 20 cities and why I selected them:
Top 3 cities analysis:
- LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicola-amadio-1194a763_techcareers-europeantech-softwareengineering-activity-7159517626161840128-j-XR
- Newsletter article: https://theeuropeanengineer.substack.com/p/top-3-cities-for-software-engineers
Top 10 cities analysis:
- LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicola-amadio-1194a763_europeantech-techcareers-softwareengineering-activity-7159936347175051264-HKMa
- Newsletter article: https://theeuropeanengineer.substack.com/p/top-10-cities-for-software-engineers
Top 20 cities analysis:
- LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicola-amadio-1194a763_europeantech-techcareers-softwareengineering-activity-7160250177109262337-_mZZ
- Newsletter article: https://theeuropeanengineer.substack.com/p/top-20-cities-for-software-engineers
Saving rates:
Another useful resource I've taken into account is www.codecapitals.com, where saving rates for software engineering jobs in big tech are ranked across top European cities.
To learn how to adapt these saving rates for non big tech jobs, check the related newsletter article: https://theeuropeanengineer.substack.com/p/introducing-codecapitalscom
Job market:
And for a unique list of top companies by top cities in Europe, check this newsletter article: https://theeuropeanengineer.substack.com/p/best-companies-by-city-for-software
Please post about visa companies and which offers visa to developers outside EU
Any specific reason on why Paris is #5? Paris is a fantastic city however the salaries are really low for the cost of living, I would frankly never recommend a single young person to move and start their career in SWE in Paris!