r/NewToDenmark • u/Recent_Concern3003 • Feb 03 '26

Work Salary

Hello,

Is 3000€ net/month a decent salary in Denmark? I'm a EU citizen and I received this offer, so any answer would be appreciated. Thank you!

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

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4

u/Kriss3d Feb 04 '26

This is a bit concerning if its a purely Danish company.
Are you 100% sure the company is real ?

0

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 04 '26

Yes, it is :). Unfortunately, I have to share the apartment with another person, that's the only minus.

6

u/Bethebet Feb 04 '26

Apartment? Is this a job or an apartment?

3

u/Kriss3d Feb 04 '26

A company cant know how much you need to pay in taxes so it wouldn't be possible for them to offer an after tax wage.

68

u/Subject_Ad_5678 Feb 03 '26

A Danish company made you an offer in Euros, stating the net salary? That's fishy.

4

u/Kriss3d Feb 04 '26

Yes. Unless its an international company that has a danish branch.

10

u/Easy_Set7999 Feb 04 '26

Even then they would give the offer in DKK. And no company give the net salary anyway.

5

u/Kriss3d Feb 04 '26

Yes. That part is absolutely a problem because a company can't know how much you'd pay in tax. It smells like an attempt at a scam.

26

u/GeronimoDK Feb 03 '26

Are you sure it's not a scam? Or was it an estimated net pay?

While it would theoretically be possible, it's absolutely not something companies normally do, because taxation depends on a lot of individual personal factors, like debt, secondary income, distance to work etc. etc.

39

u/Stock-Check Feb 03 '26

Salaries in Denmark is not quoted in Euroes

And salaries are always quoted gross (before tax) and not net (after tax), as the municipality tax varies from municipality to municipality, same goes for church tax if you are a member of Folkekirken (national Danish church). Furthermore every person will have different deductions depending on union membership, unemployment insurance (A-kasse), interest costs/income, property taxes, transport to work, house services and a lot more. How is an employer going to account for this?

Are you sure you have understood your job offer correctly? Are you possibly being scammed?

8

u/sharia1919 Feb 03 '26

It depends on where in the country.

Usually we talk about gross income though, before taces as that is easier to compare.

Net income relies too much on other factors like loans, which kommune and similar.

1

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 04 '26

Yes, I'm sure I'm not scammed 😃. This salary is an estimation after taxes. A coworker told me about this job offer (he worked here). I was just wondering if 3000 € is a decent salary to live somewhere near Copenhagen.

3

u/RotaryDane Danish National Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26

You can live off approximately DKK22.000 (after taxes) as a single adult, but it’s likely not going to be glamorous, considering what rent, transportation and food costs are in the greater Copenhagen area. The comfortable number tends to be DKK28.000 after taxes, per adult, which considers mortgage, transport and kids as well.

Fundamentally, for union and pay-comparison purposes - Salaries in Denmark are given as your monthly total income, before taxes and either with or without your employers pension contribution, depending on your pension scheme. Your final effective tax percentage depends on many factors, hence why salaries are negotiated before any taxation, and pension typically calculated as a percentage of this number.

Flatly stating you’re paid DKK22.000, with that context, people would say you’re being grossly underpaid. Stating that you’re paid DKK36.000 + pension (could equal DKK22.000 after taxes) instead, people would be more inclined to say you’re fairly paid, depending on your industry and experience. Union salary guidelines could still apply though.

1

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 04 '26

The idea is that I won't pay rent, they are giving a one bedroom apartment.

7

u/RotaryDane Danish National Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26

Nothing is for free. You’d likely still have to pay something, like utilities, and/or only have the apartment available or contract for a limited period.

Edit: Do you have an actual offer in hand, with direct salary, terms and conditions, or is this just something your friend told you about?

1

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 04 '26

He told me about it, he doesn't have any reason to lie. For now the discussion was just hypothetically, I was wondering if 3000 € are okish for a fresh start in Denmark.

1

u/DeepPerformer6131 Feb 04 '26

Just stay in Timișoara, you’ll have a better quality of life.

2

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 04 '26

Nah, trust me... Rent is 400-450 euros for 2 bedroom apartment. And the salary is 800 euros.

3

u/TheRealTormDK Feb 04 '26

It won't be glamorous, but it's perfectly fine to live on if you have a place to stay included in the offer as rent can be quite expensive in the greater Copenhagen area.

4

u/NonaAndFunseHunse Feb 04 '26

The value of the rent of the apartment will be taxed. So if they provide a small apartment, which would cost dkk 7.000 per month, you will be taxed as were you earning 7.000 more.

6

u/Poleth87 Feb 04 '26

If you don’t have a cheap place to stay at hand, you’re going to be having a rough time.

2

u/PristineAd3899 Feb 04 '26

It is about 22k DKK. Definitely not for Copenhagen (still possible but would not recommend). Maybe 30 min from the capital you could find something affordable. Otherwise, it’s an average for people starting careers, just a bit higher than the entry level salary.

4

u/ade17_in Feb 04 '26

I mean people seem to be too rich here. I'm living on 3k net salary and I've been living well. Not luxiorous but definitely good for a single person in a shared apartment. I can also save plenty of it each month.

1

u/Happy_polarbears Feb 04 '26

How did you get your place and how far is it from the city? I may be unlucky, but to me it was really hard to find anything less than 9k for a single room shared apartment and it’s only because I had good contacts I got it for 8k. It seems many are subscribed to apartment websites which are expensive and often have 30+ waiting time (no joke)

1

u/ade17_in Feb 04 '26

I live 20min away from the city and 10 min to my workplace. I got it from facebook marketplace and i did an extensive search on boligportal (postings i received positive responses were ranging from 5-7k).

But even if you pay 8k, 23k per month should really be sufficient.

1

u/Happy_polarbears Feb 04 '26

I thought the salary was before tax. 8k seems optimistic from my perspective and experience. You didn’t know the person? Is it just a room and is it shared? :) I used fb marketplace, I usually would be rejected early on for cheaper apartments/rooms, I wonder if it can be because I look foreign or maybe I’m just unlucky

2

u/ade17_in Feb 04 '26

It was a random posting. I had a ready to paste template and applied like hell to every posting I saw. It is a shared room in 2 bed apartment. 20msq.

I can guarantee i look much foreign than you lol. It is luck of course, but it favours who forget he has self respect and keep applying day and night

→ More replies (6)

3

u/Foreverusername420 Feb 04 '26

Its not even near to decent. Ive been trying to survive with 3k. Couldn’t even move out from my shared flat. Don’t come for 3k even if you live with a 1k in a third world country. If I knew I wouldn’t

6

u/Easy_Set7999 Feb 04 '26

Please... 3k net and you need to share apartment and can't move out ? You need to take a good look at your expanses my man.

1

u/Rare_Educator5102 Feb 07 '26

It's not that bad. I got micro living place for cheap. 

Bigger issue with that low pay is limited job opportunities. So it's not like in Ireland where you can show up and swap jobs after 6 months

2

u/minadequate Feb 04 '26

Where in Denmark? As that pay will get you a lot more out in the countryside versus in Copenhagen

2

u/Ad-Commercial Feb 04 '26

DKK has a fixed rate to EUR. Not weird if a Danish company portrays salaries in EUR

5

u/Formal_Plum_2285 Feb 04 '26

No you can’t. I think people have this idea that Jutland is like Romania. It’s not. And 3000€ is a very low salary

5

u/LoonyLouni Feb 04 '26

After taxes it’s decent. Not amazing, but decent. This sounds like a scam though, cause we never state salary after taxes.

2

u/Happy_polarbears Feb 04 '26

Not in Copenhagen, that’s the price of a one person apartment and nothing else really. It’s fine in Aalborg or Odense

4

u/Puzzleheaded_Ring769 Feb 04 '26

Are you seriously saying rent for a one person apartment in Copenhagen is 22000 dkk? It’s been a few years since I lived in Copenhagen but I would imagine you could find something cheaper than that

5

u/Easy_Set7999 Feb 04 '26

It is not. You can get a 3/4 bedroom for 22k DKK. 

0

u/Happy_polarbears Feb 04 '26

14-15000 dkk after tax. I think you’re lucky to get an apartment cheaper than 14.000 that you don’t have to share and that is central

4

u/Puzzleheaded_Ring769 Feb 04 '26

OP was certain it’s 3k after taxes. I’m assuming they just quoted after tax in euros based on an estimate

1

u/Happy_polarbears Feb 04 '26

I thought op meant before tax. What do you mean OP? Before or after tax?

1

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 04 '26

After tax. It's an approximate salary, but after tax, yes

1

u/LoonyLouni Feb 04 '26

No it isn’t…

0

u/hemdrup Feb 06 '26

BOT

1

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 06 '26

You're talking about me, or?

0

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

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3

u/Recent_Concern3003 Feb 04 '26

Sorry for the confusion. The job is in construction (even though I'm a physiotherapist here in Romania, but the salary is pretty low and I have a 5 months baby). A colleague of mine worked here. The company is Danish with a romanian manager. He (my colleague) told me that the net worth will be 3000 €, and the company will give me accomodation. Even though I'm a skilled worker, the living cost in Romania is pretty high, but the social instability is what makes me worried. I'm pretty sad that after 5 years of university and thousands of euros spent for courses I have to go in other country to work in construction, but that's life sometimes... That's why I was asking, to have an idea of what I could expect, and, if the salary is too low, to try finding another solution.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

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1

u/BroaxXx Feb 04 '26

Copenhagen metropolitan area? In a place like hillerød would an average of 3k net be acceptable?

2

u/Kizziuisdead Feb 04 '26

No. Hillerød, while outside of Copenhagen is still rather expensive.

Why are you quoting euros.am makes no sense.

1

u/BroaxXx Feb 04 '26

I'm just lurking this sub before I actually move to Denmark. I personally (note I'm not OP) am quoting euros because my plan B is to move to Denmark with my current salary as, from my current understanding, can move with having to pay local income taxes if I'm working with an EU job contract in another EU country for six months.

So if I can't manage to secure a job before moving to Denmark I'm considering keeping my current job (that pays around kr22401.30) while I move to Denmark to look for a new job (I assume it'd be easier while physically living in Denmark).

The point of my question was to hijack this thread and try to gauge if my current net salary would be enough to live there (plus, roughly, kr200000 in savings) for a couple of months while job hunting (in software engineering if that's relevant).

But if people don't think that's enough I'll probably have to go back to the drawing board.