Typical Post - A good salary in Rybnik - 3000 for part time in finance?

Hi all,

I am an englishman who will soon move to Rybnik.

What is a good salary in Rybnik? I will be moving from the UK and have actively saved enough to buy a flat in the centre of Rybnik and still have some money left over to support me for 1-2 years if ever anything went wrong. I am a professional who will go to work in Gliwice.

I've been offered a job for 3000zl gross and also a job for 4500zl gross. The job paying the lower wages will be less stressful and ideally i'd like to take that one, however want to be sure that it is enough to live on without having to access savings.

My wife will also be working and she will be making 2500zl-3000zl per month.

If I was earning 3000zl too would this be enough? Especially given we would have no rent or mortgage.

I am actively learning Polish and am probably intermediate level currently.

Sorry but what is your profession?


Let's make it 6k gross for the two of you. Even if you don't have to pay rent or a mortgage, i am not sure if that is enough to live as a family. It might get you by but it won't allow for any big steps, even if it is just the repairs you have to carry out in your apartment or any extra expenses that come with it. You won't be able to afford a holiday, a meal in a restaurant will be a luxury (although it could only cost you 50 zlotych per person), leave alone spoiling your wife to something special.

All in all......is it enough? I would say no!

In 2012 average salary in Rybnik was 3353zł gross (2300 net). Usually anything above average is good, as most of people earn less than average. But it doesn't mean that this salary allows for a comfortable live, especially for somebody used to the western standards.

You will be absolutely fine in Rybnik on that money, heck you could dine out every evening-we do!

dine out every evening at 6k gross for two people, taking into consideration that you have to save for any unforeseen expenses such as, let's say repairs on the apartment? Forget it. With 6k gross, you'd have roughly 4.5k left for two people or 75 zlotych per day per person if we take a 30 day month. Yes, you can eat out every day but you don't have anything left for anything else.

Here we go again. I expect Dom will be along presently to tell you to stay home and become a geophysicist.

Without kids you will be fine but work out your transport cost to Gliwice - relative to earnings then gas is expensive in Poland. You will have plenty of days in watching TV and only spending a few zlots on food so there should be plenty left to treat yourself.

Jolly Romek, I work in finance however I will be working part time hence the lower salary.

Ok, thanks for clarifying that!

My wife and I earn similar to that in Kraków working full time and still afford to go out regularly, save money each month and live a very confortable life. We are also paying rent. I wouldn't think it'd be hard to live on that in Rybnik. Maybe some of you people are too much into your expat life and don't fine any comfort in sitting at home a few nights a week just chilling out. I don't do it because I have to, but I like to spend a bit of time at home chilling.

Possibly yes! But it is not just about the "sitting at home". It helps if you get the support of the family, such as many young Poles do and even if it is just getting the veggies from the families garden. Every little helps as Tesco says.

If you have the right family support, maybe 4.5k net is enough. If you dont have it, it is not and there is no way that you can dine out every night as "mcm1" has claimed.

Please read the new rule about quoting from the post above

Jolly Romek, we don't intend to dine out every night. However we do plan to frequently (say once a month) visit the cinema, bowl, ice skate & go to the pub. We like the great outdoors and regularly cycle not far from Rybnik when we are there. We don't have kids and don't plan to have them for at least 5 years. I already speak Polish to intermediate level but the aim is to use my free time to become fluent in Polish as I want to immerse myself in Polish life. I plan to work part time for two years whilst also studying Polish so I can fully immerse myself in Polish life.

My main concern was to make sure we have enough for the essentials plus the above activities. I won't be working full time and there is always the option to increase my working hours, however i'd prefer not to so want to be comfortable that we can live on this money as it would possibly interrupt my plans to study.

Remember though I will have paid for the flat and won't have a mortgage so on that basis I hope it will be enough, it seems from the answers so far that the Jury is still out.

It seems to be enough for the lifestyle you describe. But it's not much, as I think that everybody should save 1/3 of their income and if you count that in, then not much is left. But if it's temporary state, when you don't have to save, because you have saved a lot in the past (you write that have cash for buying apartment), then it should be ok.

I hope this will put your mind at ease. As usual we spent an hour or so tonight speaking on skype with our relatives who actually live in and around Rybnik. I mentioned to them some of the points raised above by other posters- here are their own replys.

With the wages you both earn considering the fact you have no rent or mortgage to pay you will be fine financially.
Do get your ID card soonest, despite what others imagine you will not be able to connect to the utilitys otherwise.
For someone to say that without the help of getting vegetables etc. from your relatives you will struggle, how can I put this politely except each and every one of them laughed. Some grow vegetables for their own enjoyment but it is purely for pleasure, they stated it is actually cheaper and easier in the long run to buy from the stores.

Personally i have been visiting Rybnik for 20 years now. I have seen the changes, they are looking forwards to the future without a doubt. There are more financial places than you can shake a stick at, I hope you can find rewarding emplyment more locally in the future.

Lastly for now-we do dine out every day, in proper restaurants not fast food outlets.......you could as well if you so desired!
Sorry I cant help with the cost of utilities for your flat, but from the conversation I had earlier they suggest allow 350PLN per month.

And that is ok. Of course, talking to your relatives via skype will give you a certain point of view, but remember, these are your relatives and they may not always be too negative when talking to you. Secondly, just because they don't do it, does not mean that the rest of Poland doesn't either. I have found it to be fairly common, to share things of own produce amongst the family. It is a kind of support and whether or not your family in Rybnik agrees, it is not that uncommon. I know of people in Lodz who come back home with a weeks worth of supply after visiting their parents or grandparents.


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Let's bring it up to 400. Now they two of them together have ca. 4100 zloty left for the month. With 4100 PLN, they each have a budget of 68 PLN per day which is "doable" but it also not necessarily a lot considering that roughly 20-25 PLN would be spend on travel to work and back (if using the car). Now we are looking at 43-48 PLN budget per day left. With 43-48 PLN left per day, he still hasn't eaten anything, bought any clothes, paid for health insurance (if not provided by the employer), paid for car insurance (if they will use a car) etc. etc. He also hasn't put any money aside for other unexpected expenses such as repairs in the apartment.


As a visitor to Rybnik you may very well do that but it hardly applies to someone living in Rybnik with an averge local salary.


It seems to me that you have taken none of their expenses, which they will have, into consideration. My examples above may very well vary. He might use the train and buy a monthly commuter ticket but it will not vary from the above expenses too greatly. For someone who apparently visits Poland every year and appears to be spending a lot of time talking to relatives in Poland via skype, it is beyond me how you can suggest that they will be "fine" and can dine out every day on a 4100 zloty budget for both together. I am not saying that living on this budget is impossible, but it will be far from being "financially fine".

The reason is that there are still important pieces of the puzzle missing. How old are you? What education, qualifications and experience do you have? Is your wife Polish? Why do you want to live in Poland? Why, of all places, Rybnik?

You do realize that the most important number of all, especially since you are planning to have kids in the future, is the amount of POUNDS that you are able to save up each month. In Poland, your absolute savings potential will be rather low. That's going to hurt when you send your children abroad for college. Tertiary education in Poland is not very good.

How do you plan on beefing up your qualifications in Poland? That won't be easy. What do you hope to accomplish in Poland?

I was assuming you were coming here for semi-retirement until I saw that you are planning to have kids in five years. Having heard that, I have serious doubts that moving to Poland would be a wise move. Why do you think it would?

Thanks for the reply MCM much appreciated and good to hear it from the Rybnik perspective.