Quick answer: European minimum wages in 2026 span roughly €550 to €2,700 gross per month — a five-fold spread that looks decisive and is not, because rents and prices spread almost as widely. For a foreign worker the question is never "which minimum is highest?" but "which combination of wage, costs and housing arrangement leaves the most at month’s end?". Here is the honest table, then the maths.
The 2026 league table (gross, monthly, approximate)
- Luxembourg: ~€2,700 (the EU ceiling; skilled minimum higher still)
- Netherlands: ~€2,400 (hourly system, ~€14.40/hour)
- Ireland: ~€2,370 (€13.50/hour)
- Germany: ~€2,400 (€13.90/hour in 2026, rising to €14.60 in 2027)
- Belgium: ~€2,100 · France: ~€1,850
- Spain: ~€1,400 (paid in 14 instalments) · Slovenia: ~€1,350
- Poland: ~€1,150–1,250 equivalent (4,806+ PLN) · Portugal: ~€920 (14 instalments) · Greece: ~€880
- Czechia/Slovakia/Baltics: ~€800–1,100 · Romania: ~€850 · Bulgaria: ~€550
- No statutory minimum (union-negotiated instead): Austria, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Finland — sector contracts effectively set floors, often high
Treat every figure as the 2026 ballpark, not gospel: most countries adjust annually (several twice a year), Spain and Portugal pay annual salary in fourteen instalments, and the no-minimum countries (Austria, Italy and the Nordics) rely on collective agreements that frequently beat their neighbours’ statutory floors.
Gross is a headline; net pays the rent
Social contributions and tax take very different bites at the bottom of the wage scale. At minimum-wage level, Dutch and German workers typically keep around two-thirds to three-quarters of gross; Spanish and Portuguese entry workers keep more, because low salaries attract little income tax. Meanwhile the wage buys different lives: €920 in Portugal with employer-provided seasonal housing can bank more savings than €2,400 in Amsterdam paying €1,300 for a room. Housing is the entire ballgame — which is why agency and seasonal jobs with included accommodation punch far above their wage class.
The send-home maths for foreign workers
A practical worked comparison: a warehouse worker in the Netherlands on ~€2,400 gross nets around €2,000, pays perhaps €800–1,000 for agency housing and living basics, and can remit €700–900 monthly. A Polish factory worker on ~€1,200 gross nets near €900, lives on €450–550 locally, and remits €350–450. A Portuguese farm worker with employer housing on €920 gross may remit €400–500. The Western wage wins in absolute euros — but the gap is half what the headline suggests, and the cheaper-country jobs are usually faster to get. Run your own version of this column before choosing a destination by its flag.
One closing legal point that matters to every reader of this site: statutory minimum wages apply to foreign workers in full, from day one, in every EU country. An employer paying a migrant below minimum is not offering a "foreigner rate" — they are breaking the law, and labour inspectorates handle complaints regardless of your nationality.
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