How much of your salary you actually keep: 10 countries compared
Published
On an average wage, a single worker keeps 82% of gross pay in Switzerland and 61% in Belgium. Children change the picture a lot. Here is what the OECD's 2026 figures show, and what a tax rate on a job offer really means.
A job offer abroad usually comes with a gross salary. What you will live on is the net: what is left after income tax and social security contributions, plus any cash benefits the state pays you. The gap between the two varies more between countries than most people expect.
The best comparable source is the OECD's Taxing Wages report. The 2026 edition, published in April, covers the 38 OECD countries with data for 2025.
Net pay as a share of gross pay, 2025
The table shows how much of the gross wage a worker keeps at the average wage of their country, for two household types.
| Country | Single, no children | One earner couple, two children |
|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 81.9% | 94.9% |
| United Kingdom | 76.9% | 80.9% |
| Australia | 76.5% | 83.6% |
| Spain | 76.5% | 82.5% |
| United States | 75.7% | 86.9% |
| Portugal | 75.1% | 89.7% |
| Ireland | 74.9% | 90.0% |
| Netherlands | 72.1% | 80.6% |
| Germany | 61.3% | 78.7% |
| Belgium | 60.5% | 80.3% |
| OECD average | 74.9% | 85.3% |
These figures are 100% minus what the OECD calls the net personal average tax rate: income tax plus employee social security contributions, minus cash benefits, as a share of gross wage earnings. Across the OECD that rate was 25.1% for a single worker on the average wage in 2025, so the typical worker kept 74.9%. Belgium had the highest rate of all 38 countries, at 39.5%.
Three things the table tells you
Family status can matter as much as the country. In Ireland, a single worker on the average wage keeps 74.9% of gross pay. A one earner couple with two children on the same wage keeps 90.0%. Portugal and Switzerland show similar jumps. The difference comes from family allowances and tax reliefs, which some countries use heavily and others hardly at all. In the United Kingdom the gap between the two households is only four points.
High tax countries are not always what they seem. Germany and Belgium have the lowest net pay for single workers in this table, but for a one earner family the gap to the OECD average shrinks: Germany's family keeps 78.7% and Belgium's 80.3%, against 85.3% for the OECD average.
Switzerland stands apart. A single worker keeps almost 82% of gross pay and a one earner family almost 95%, the highest shares in this table. Before reading too much into that, see the note below on compulsory payments that are not taxes.
Marginal rate and effective rate are not the same thing
When people compare taxes between countries, they often compare the top rate of income tax. That is a marginal rate: the share taken from the next euro, pound or dollar you earn above a certain level. It tells you very little about what you will actually pay.
What matters for your budget is the effective, or average, rate: total tax and contributions divided by total pay. Because the first part of your income is taxed at lower rates, or not at all, the effective rate is usually well below the top marginal rate you fall into.
The OECD adds a second measure worth knowing, the tax wedge. It also counts the contributions your employer pays on top of your salary, and expresses the total as a share of what you cost the employer. Belgium's tax wedge for a single average worker was 52.5% in 2025 and Germany's 49.3%, against an OECD average of 35.1%. You never see employer contributions on your payslip, but they help explain why gross salaries differ between countries.
What this comparison does not include
- Only the average wage. The figures are for a worker earning the average full time wage in their own country. On a higher salary, progressive systems take a larger share.
- Only taxes on wages. VAT, property tax and taxes on savings are not included.
- Compulsory payments that are not taxes. The OECD leaves out what it calls non-tax compulsory payments, such as mandatory contributions to privately managed insurance or pension funds. Where those are large, part of the net pay shown here is already committed.
- Tax years differ. For the United Kingdom, "2025" means the 2025 to 2026 tax year. For Australia it means 2024 to 2025.
How to compare two offers
- Start from the same household. Compare the offers for your real situation: single, couple, one or two earners, with or without children. The table shows how much that alone can move the result.
- Ask for the net, not only the gross. Employers and payroll offices can usually estimate your monthly take home pay. Ask them to include social security contributions.
- Subtract what is compulsory but not a tax. Health insurance premiums, pension contributions to private funds and similar payments come out of net pay in some countries.
- Then look at costs. A higher net salary can disappear in rent. Net pay is only half of the equation.
Your number, not the average
The average wage in the Netherlands is not the average wage in Portugal, and your salary is probably not the average of either. To see net pay for your own profession, level and family, the cost of living calculator gives an estimate of net income and of what is left after living costs in all 50 countries.
Country profiles with the tax picture for each: Switzerland, United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, United States, Portugal, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.