Can a Software Engineer afford to live in Amsterdam?

Comfortable27% of take-home left to save — solid margin to save and invest.
Median salary (gross)
Software Engineer · Amsterdam
$103,140
Income tax (~42% effective)
Netherlands
– $43,578
Take-home pay
$4,964/mo
$59,562
Living costs (1 person)
$3,640/mo · derived
– $43,680
Savings potential
$1,324/mo · 27% of take-home
$15,882

Single professional, after-tax. Salary − tax − living costs = what you could save each year.

Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in Amsterdam? →Compare Amsterdam with another city →

How we calculated this

• Salary: NL-CBS median for Software Engineer, adjusted for Amsterdam.

• Tax: Netherlands single-filer effective rate (~42%). Official calculator.

• Living costs: derived from cost-of-living index for a single professional.

Planning estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026. Your situation will differ.