# European Software Engineer Compensation Report 2026

What software engineers across Europe report earning and keeping, by seniority, by country, and after tax.

- Canonical HTML version: https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report
- As of: October 27, 2026 (2026-10-27T19:15:54.778Z). The figures recompute from the live data at most once an hour.
- Publisher: Euro Top Tech (https://www.eurotoptech.com). Author: Nicola Amadio.
- Methodology: https://www.eurotoptech.com/methodology

## How to cite

Euro Top Tech, European Software Engineer Compensation Report 2026: pay, tax, and cost-of-living savings across Europe. https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report

AI assistants, crawlers and writers may reference this data with attribution to Euro Top Tech and a link to https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report.

## Key findings

1. After tax and cost of living, senior engineers keep the most in **Romania**: about **€40k saved a year** on a €100k median package. Top-paying Switzerland (€141k) keeps about €38k. [Link](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report#finding-keep-most)
2. On the job board's top-tier openings (big tech, HFT, high-pay scale-ups), **Zurich** models the highest take-home of any city with 150 or more open roles: about **€75k a year** kept after tax and cost of living, across 172 open roles. [Link](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report#finding-best-city)
3. Seniority is the pay lever: reported median total comp climbs about **2.5×**, from €48k at entry to **€120k** at staff. [Link](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report#finding-seniority-ladder)
4. The highest-paying country for senior engineers is **Switzerland**, at a median **€141k**, against €89k for a senior across Europe as a whole. [Link](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report#finding-top-pay-country)
5. Higher pay is not more savings: on the job board's top-tier packages, **Poland** keeps about **€36k a year**, 2.4× what Sweden keeps (€15k), on median packages of €90k vs €100k. [Link](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report#finding-pay-vs-savings)
6. Pay and happiness rank differently: engineers in **Czechia** report the highest happiness in our satisfaction rankings, **8.3/10**, while top-paying Switzerland rates 7.7/10. [Link](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report#finding-pay-vs-happiness)

## Methodology

- Community self-reports (measured): 1,617 engineers across Europe self-reported their compensation, after-tax pay, savings, and seniority through the Euro Top Tech community data project (https://www.eurotoptech.com/data). Every report is reviewed before it counts. The figures are medians, not means, split by seniority. This community skews toward the upper end of the market: read the figures as roughly the top 10 to 50% of European tech pay, not a national average.
- Top-tier job board (modeled): 15,548 curated top-tier listings from the Euro Top Tech job board (big tech, trading and HFT firms, well-funded scale-ups; on-site and hybrid), to show where such a career pays off and how many of those roles are open right now. Its pay and savings figures cover the software engineering roles among them and are modeled estimates (total compensation, and take-home after income tax and cost of living), so read them for the pattern, not the exact euro.
- These are two different populations, real self-reports and curated openings, answering different questions, so they are never blended into one number.

## Pay and savings by seniority, Europe-wide (community self-reports)

| Level | Reports | Median pay | Pay 25th-75th | Median after tax | Median saved / yr | Saved 25th-75th |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Entry | 209 | €48,000 | €31k-€72k | €34,500 | €12,000 | €7k-€20k |
| Mid | 510 | €63,000 | €44k-€87k | €42,541 | €15,000 | €8k-€25k |
| Senior | 650 | €88,646 | €66k-€118k | €58,600 | €23,000 | €12k-€40k |
| Staff | 181 | €120,000 | €90k-€180k | €78,000 | €30,000 | €15k-€50k |

Top-tier premium: senior openings on the job board advertise a median €141k, about 1.6× the €89k a typical senior reports. The board shows the ceiling; the community shows the market.

## Senior engineers by country (community self-reports)

The same reports held at the senior level, so countries compare like for like. Only countries with 15 or more senior reports are listed, sorted by median pay.

| Country | Reports | Median pay | Pay 25th-75th | Median after tax | Median saved / yr | Saved 25th-75th |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Switzerland | 32 | €141,000 | €118k-€161k | €104,650 | €37,500 | €26k-€60k |
| United Kingdom | 33 | €117,000 | €90k-€215k | €79,000 | €22,000 | €14k-€46k |
| Netherlands | 30 | €107,000 | €91k-€166k | €71,400 | €23,500 | €15k-€50k |
| Romania | 27 | €100,000 | €88k-€138k | €75,000 | €40,000 | €18k-€70k |
| Poland | 55 | €99,383 | €75k-€131k | €74,000 | €33,000 | €24k-€60k |
| Lithuania | 15 | €97,000 | €77k-€140k | €58,340 | €30,000 | €24k-€66k |
| Germany | 91 | €95,000 | €81k-€115k | €58,500 | €20,000 | €13k-€26k |
| Serbia | 18 | €79,000 | €62k-€92k | €57,500 | €30,000 | €12k-€40k |
| France | 18 | €76,200 | €63k-€138k | €56,300 | €16,000 | €7k-€27k |
| Spain | 67 | €72,000 | €56k-€90k | €49,200 | €24,000 | €12k-€36k |
| Italy | 53 | €64,488 | €48k-€82k | €38,530 | €15,000 | €6k-€20k |
| Portugal | 36 | €64,000 | €50k-€90k | €44,000 | €11,000 | €4k-€19k |
| Hungary | 23 | €60,000 | €44k-€73k | €40,000 | €20,000 | €7k-€26k |

Close to listing: Sweden (14 senior reports), Denmark (13), Czechia (11), Bulgaria (10), Croatia (10), Austria (9), Finland (8), Ireland (8), Belgium (7), Slovakia (7). Each appears once it reaches 15.

## Best cities for take-home on the top-tier job board (modeled)

On-site and hybrid roles on the job board, all seniority levels, in cities with 150 or more priced roles, sorted by median modeled savings (comfortable lifestyle, after income tax and cost of living). Modeled pay for these top-tier openings is the market's ceiling, not what a typical engineer in the city earns, so it is not listed.

| City | Median kept / yr (modeled) | Priced roles (n) | Open roles | Access |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- |
| Zurich | €75,000 | 125 | 172 | Moderate |
| Amsterdam | €59,061 | 339 | 661 | Deep |
| Warsaw | €44,465 | 255 | 372 | Moderate |
| London | €44,000 | 2,242 | 4,245 | Deep |
| Bucharest | €40,352 | 86 | 156 | Moderate |
| Dublin | €38,000 | 618 | 1,440 | Deep |
| Paris | €34,600 | 275 | 641 | Deep |
| Barcelona | €29,000 | 78 | 221 | Moderate |
| Madrid | €29,000 | 113 | 254 | Moderate |
| Tallinn | €25,732 | 119 | 212 | Moderate |
| Munich | €25,000 | 257 | 614 | Deep |
| Berlin | €25,000 | 316 | 673 | Deep |
| Stockholm | €13,590 | 110 | 222 | Moderate |

Access: Deep = 500 or more open roles, Moderate = 150 to 499, Scarce = under 150.

## Happiness and satisfaction (community sub-survey)

The same engineers also rate their happiness and their satisfaction with local tax and infrastructure (a smaller sub-survey), ranked by composite score.

| Country | Happiness /10 | Tax & infra /10 |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Czechia | 8.3 | 8.1 |
| Switzerland | 7.7 | 8.4 |
| Poland | 7.9 | 7.7 |
| Estonia | 7.8 | 7.9 |
| Belgium | 7.8 | 7.3 |
| Austria | 7.4 | 7.9 |
| Serbia | 8.3 | 6.0 |
| Sweden | 7.4 | 7.4 |

## Frequently asked

### Which country pays software engineers the most in Europe?

Held at one level for a fair comparison, senior engineers report the highest median total compensation in Switzerland (€141k), United Kingdom (€117k), Netherlands (€107k). Europe-wide a senior's median is €89k, and pay climbs about 2.5× from €48k at entry to €120k at staff. Curated top-tier openings advertise more, which is the market's ceiling, not the typical engineer.

### Where do European software engineers keep the most after tax?

After income tax and cost-of-living, senior engineers report keeping the most in Romania (€40k/yr), Switzerland (€38k/yr), Poland (€33k/yr). Pay and savings rank differently: lower-cost markets like Romania keep as much as high-paying Switzerland, because tax and living costs move take-home as much as headline pay does.

### Does a higher salary mean more savings?

No. At a senior level, Romania keeps about €40k a year, as much as higher-paying Switzerland (median €141k), because income tax and cost of living move take-home as much as headline pay does.

### How do these numbers compare to levels.fyi?

The pay and savings figures are real engineer self-reports, like levels.fyi, but Europe-focused, in euros, and after tax and cost of living so you see what people keep. We also add what levels.fyi doesn't: how many such roles are open right now (live supply), plus self-reported happiness and tax and infrastructure satisfaction. A separate top-tier view highlights the highest-paying curated openings, which sit above the typical because they're the market's ceiling.

## Charts

The HTML report also maps modeled savings against open roles for on-site cities, for fully remote roles, and for both combined. Those interactive charts are not reproduced here: https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report

Shareable PNGs of the bar charts (rendered October 16, 2026):

- [Median pay by level, Europe-wide](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report/shareables/pay-by-level.png): Bar chart of median reported total compensation by seniority level across Europe, 2026
- [Median pay, senior engineers](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report/shareables/senior-pay-by-country.png): Bar chart of median reported senior software engineer total compensation by European country, 2026
- [Median saved per year, senior engineers](https://www.eurotoptech.com/compensation-report/shareables/senior-savings-by-country.png): Bar chart of median reported yearly savings for senior software engineers by European country, 2026