Cost of living in Katowice, Poland

Merged: Salary for a Katowice job

Hello,

I am from the Netherlands and currently negotiating salaries for a job in Katowice. Obviously I will not be able to bag a "Dutch salary" in Poland, so any advice on salaries and cost of living would be much appreciated.

I have been offered 5000 gross a month. I was told by HR that this is about 3550 net, is this correct? Is it enough to support a single person living in Katowice?

Thanks.

If you are a recent grad and this is your first job, AND the job will DEFINITELY help you obtain better paying work in your field of study, according to senior professionals in your field, it may be worth considering for a year. Otherwise, forget about it. It would just be an extended "vacation" that you could better spend expanding your skills and network at home with a much better outcome. The money is not enough to make it worth while. Only the value of the experience you get counts.

A lot depends on your education, skill set and experience. The more you have, the less attractive this job is.

That net amount is fairly close to accurate and is a little above average for a private sector job. For a first or second job it's not bad for Poland. It's more than a lot of people get however you would need to be careful about your day to day expenses - as an expat from the Netherlands it's likely that you would have higher expectations about disposable income, living conditions etc than most youngish people in Katowice(as well as extra expenses like visits home.

Probably worth doing, especially as living in another country broadens the mind and is a good thing to do.

I would suggest taking Dominic B's comments with a very large pinch of salt. He only really posts here to try and deter people from taking jobs in Poland - you may like to confirm this by a quick search.

@dutchie123
Check the numbeo:
numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Poland&country2=Netherlands&city1=Katowice&city2=Maastricht&tracking=getDispatchComparison

Care to tell us what kind of position are we talking about?

I believe that for a single person would not be enough, also it depends what kind of area of expertise are you aiming for.

In my opinion it would be fair to ask for 5000PLN netto AT LEAST. If not, maybe you would have better chances to find a job in your country.

I agree, it'as crap money

Hi. I have been interviewed by an IT organization in Katowice, Poland. The salary I have been offered is $2000/month. Is it enough to rent a flat and to cover all the needs for me, my wife and my 2 years old son?

Why do you quote a salary in US dollars, when you will be living in Poland where the local currency is ZLOTY (pln).
If they pay you in dollars, your salary will fluctuate depending on the dollar/pln exchange. Bit of an unknown.
There are many entries on this forum re the cost of living.
How can we estimate your impression of what constitutes 'standard of living'? Some people eat out every night, some make their own meals from scratch using local products, some buy pre-packed frozen food, some have facilities in the flat such as a washing machine, dishwasher, others do not, some have far to go to their place of work, others not. All these factors need to be taken into account.

If you're wife is going to work here then yea, you'll be fine, if she's not going to work then it's pretty average coz you'll be getting about 8-9000zl per month and split between 2 people that's 4000-4500zl per month which is not far above average.

In other words, you'll have an average lifestyle here, do you really move half way around the world to live in a Catholic, semi-dictatorship with average wages?

Tell them you want double

Numbeo is a good site for cost of living stats:
numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Katowice

This explanation needs to be clarified as it sounds as if moving to Poland would be like moving to Uganda under Idi Amin.

Being a non-Catholic in catholic Poland won't change anything for you.
The 'semi-dictatorship' term reflects the poster's political views. Nothing of that sort takes place in Poland regarding the life of an ordinary citizen except the government TV which is annoying with its PRL-style propaganda news. But there exist two other major domestic and independent TV stations in Poland which broadcast what they want plus a wide range of press titles which do the same. A reality hardly to be called 'semi-dictatorship'.

I've been living in Katowice for nearly 2 years and have to say that living here has been a very nice experience. The country itself has its own issues like any other, but in overall, the quality of life is very good, despite what the Poles say :)

@Cletter, please tell us how much money are you being offered in Polish Złotys, as this is the currency that this country uses.

As many people said in this post, there's a bunch of posts within this forum where you can find info about cost of living, but very quickly I will tell you the following:

- Rent: between 1300 to 2200 (depending how far are you from City Centre)
- Food for 2 people: 1000zl
- Media (Services): 150-220zl
- Internet 30MB: 59zl
- Cellphone (PLAY): From 9zl to 21zl depending on the plan
- One way bus ticket: 3,20zl

I would strongly recommend that don't accept any salary below 8000zl netto (after deductions - which is around 30-32%).

For less than that, it's not worth coming here unless you're leaving a very bad country.

Hope this helps.

This is very sensible advice and i'd echo the point about not moving to Kato for less than 8k netto which is about 11.5k brutto

This tax calculator will help

calculla.com/salary_in_poland

Many people many views. Katowice has crime rate above average.


I relocated from Olsztyn. The salary I have been offered is 2500zl Is it enough to cover all the needs for me, my wife and my 2 years old son? ;)

Does it?
I'm quite surprised by that, Kato is probably the safest place I've ever lived, have heard of some stabbings and assaults but nothing compared to bigger cities, I'd have thought Warsaw/Wroclaw were far worse, could be wrong though, but AFAIC it's pretty safe............except the driving, but that's just standard for Poland :D


To Katowice? And you, you're wife and a kid live on 2500zl per month?
G'way outta that ya messer

yup


then Olsztyn is safe like heaven under Gods blanket.

@smurf
I've thought about Crime stats, I often hear foreigners tell me how safe Poland is and whilst I think that's true (it is statistically much safer than western countries), I think there is more at play here.

Unless you speak good polish and read polish newspapers and watch Polish news where crimes are often reported you don't realise that crime does exist here, statistically in most countries in west/central europe you are unlikely to witness a crime live, so I do think it's a matter of perception.

Having said that Poland is one of the safest countries in Europe :), although of course Crime does exist here like everywhere else

Ok. I mean, I need to rent a flat (maybe 2 rooms, not in he city centre), we are going to cook most of food so we will eat outside not very often, we need good internet, need to buy some clothes from time to time and need to go to work each day by city transport. I think these are the main wastes.

Assuming, that I will earn about 8500zl netto, is it enough not to just survive (for me, my wife and 2 years old son) but to feel comfortable?

Thanks in advance.

You will spend 2000 for flat and 1200 for food. Internet is cheap and lighting fast lets say 70zl, electricity 200zl, dentist up to 700zl repair your any problem with one tooth without queue. Doctor up to 250zl. Cab 30zl, bus 3zl, barber 30zl, hairdresser 80zl, parking 150zl pcm, fuel 4.69zl, meal 25zl, shoes 300zl, jeans 100zl, tshirt 15zl, tv 40" 1400zl, plumber 150zl, electrician 150zl etc ;)

Oh absolutely; I suppose I was thinking in cases of personal security, assaults, murders, rapes etc. Poland's murder rate is really small compared to where I'm from; Ireland , the same goes for assaults and rapes; I thin the reason for this is so many assaults are related to drink in Ireland, while in Poland people drink as much (maybe more) but Poland doesn't have stupid licensing laws

But I agree, Poland is certainly a very safe country.
I was hit once, but it was a case of mistaken identity and the guy apologised and bought me a few pints. Had a bit of a shiner for a few days but y'know sh!t happens

Hi All,

I will be moving in Katowice, Poland from India with my wife. What should be good salary? Initially offer is 11000PLN/month. is it enough to save 5K PLZ per month? Please advice.

@pralay
11000 gross is about 7300 net. Your (very) basic cost of living together with your travel and relocation expenses will be at least 5000 PLN. If you live VERY frugally, you might be able to save 2000 PLN a month at most, but you will probably dip into that to improve your standard of living. If savings is a top priority for you, then Poland is not a country you should be considering. Savings potential in Poland is very low.

If you want to save 5000 PLN a month, then you would have to earn at least 16000 PLN a month gross, and probably a bit more

Do not rely on recruiters or internet sites to find a good job. Good jobs are almost always advertised solely by word of mouth, face to face in the real world. recruiters and internet sites get the table scraps, meaning the lousy jobs that no one wants. Take advantage of your network of real world contacts, especially those who have worked in richer countries. Aggressively expand your network if you need to.

Good luck!

saving more than $1000 per month after taxes and expenses is hard even in the west, considering that he has not only to house and feed himself but also his - most certainly - non working wife. It would be easier in an english speaking country where the wife would have a better chance of also finding work.

@DominicB .. Thanks a lot man for your advice.

Yes... My top priority is to save money and also living a standard life with non-working wife.

Looking for a job in European Countries as an Linux/Unix Administrator(Having 5.5yrs Experience).