Both the minimum and the average salaries in Romania have skyrocketed in the past several years – hand in hand, or even lagging behind the costs of living, which still remains one of the lowest in Europe.
But you’re here to learn about the salaries in Romania – and maybe compare them with the previous years. No matter if you’re thinking of moving here, considering a job offer, or just curious about how salaries compare worldwide, I have all the data you need below!
Key Takeaways from the article:
- The minimum net monthly salary in Romania is €517 since January 2025.
- The average net salary is 5,300 lei (1,065 Euros) per month.
- The minimum wage in Romania goes up faster than the average salary.
This makes it easier for you to estimate monthly living costs, as the average salary is usually a solid indicator of how much your regular family would spend each month.
But now, let’s dig deeper and learn more about the current salaries in Romania!
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What is the minimum wage in Romania in 2025?
If you’re working a minimum-wage job in Romania in 2025, your gross salary is 4,050 lei per month. After taxes, you’re left with 2,574 lei net, or about 517 Euros. A fortune if we think that the minimum wage was just €189 ten years ago.
There is also a special minimum salary for those working in the construction filed. For construction workers in Romania, the minimum salary is 4,582 lei gross or 2,739 lei net (around 500 Euros). Because of new taxes, even though the gross values have not change, the net earnings have dropped some 92 Euros. Ouch!
Compared to previous years, the minimum salary has seen a major boost. Here is how things looked like in the past few years, compared to today (gross salaries below):
- 2017: around 1,000 lei per month
- 2022: 2,550 lei
- 2023: 3,000 lei
- 2024: 3,300 lei (and 3,700 lei starting July 2024)
- 2025: 4,050 lei
As you can see, salaries have gone up A LOT in Romania, being four times higher than they were just 8 years ago.
IMPORTANT! Employers in Romania can only keep you on minimum wage for two years max. After that, they’re legally required to bump up your pay. It’s a move meant to improve quality of life, but critics argue it might just fuel inflation. Speaking of inflation…
Romania’s inflation rate hit 16% in 2022, 9% in 2023, and remained the highest in the EU throughout 2024.
So while salaries are increasing, prices are also increasing at an alarming rate, so in real buying power, things are not changing as dramatically.
But despite all these, we do have an increased quality of life for those living on a minimum wage, at least when we compare numbers to 2017 and before.
What is the average wage in Romania in 2025?
According to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics, the average salary in Romania in 2025 is around 5,300 Lei net, per month. This is around 1,065 Euros and a decent amount to live on here.
The average take-home salary has increased by 1,000 lei (or €200) since early 2024 and is double compared to 2018.
So, even though spectacular, the increases here are not as impressive as those of the minimum salaries. This makes sense because average salaries are not regulated by the state, but by the economy itself.
But here’s the thing: these averages vary wildly depending on where you live. In bustling cities like Bucharest, Cluj, and Timisoara, wages tend to be higher, but so are living costs. Meanwhile, in smaller towns, salaries hover closer to the minimum.
However, the earnings are now almost fully aligned with the requirements for getting the digital nomad visa for Romania, which is earnings of around €1,116 per month.
Can you live on these wages?
We are a family of three living in the small city of Drobeta Turnu Severin and we’re spending around 1,400 Euros, on average, each month. BUT we don’t pay any rent, which would be at least some 600 Euros more each month.
If you want to get down the rabbit hole of estimations, check out my previous articles on the topic:
While the cost of living in Romania is still relatively low compared to other countries (although we’re starting to even it out), it’s no longer cheap to live here. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Life on Minimum Wage:
Living on 517 Euros per month is tight, to say the least. The minimum you’ll pay for rent is around 250 Euros. Add in utilities, groceries, and transportation, and you’re looking at a no-frills lifestyle.
Unless you have a partner and you’re both extremely frugal and careful with your spending (also in good health), it’s virtually impossible to live on this amount long term.
Life on the Average Salary:
With 1,065 Euros per month, you’ve got more breathing room and probably enough money to live a decent life if you’re living alone – and a better one if you’re sharing costs with a partner who brings in a similar amount.
You’d still not live like royalty, but it would be a decent life overall.
My Take:
If you’re moving here as a foreigner, sharing accommodation costs withe your colleagues or partners, or negotiating perks like employer-covered housing/food costs, would make things a lot easier no matter the wage.
Without those, living on the average salary could feel tight, especially in big cities, but it’s doable.
Wrapping up
With the past couple of years being the crazy ones they were, with wars and massive inflation and everything else that caused prices to skyrocket, we’ve seen some major movements on the income side as well.
Hopefully knowing the minimum and average salary in Romania this year will paint a clearer picture of the actual cost of living, the job prospects you’d have, and how far your money would take you in case you’re living on income from a different country.
If you still have questions – or you’d like to share additional insider notes regarding salaries in Romania, don’t hesitate to comment down below.
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Usually, waiters get something around the minimum wage and get to keep the tips they earn.
As a visitor from the UK many things like food are cheaper, but other things are stupidly expensive. Shampoo, for example, is about 3x the UK price. I can buy a Dacia car in the UK for about 80% of the price in Romania, where they are made. This seems crazy considering the average salary in UK is about 4x Romanian salary. It makes you appreciate their hospitality all the more when you realise that Romania is not a cheap place to live for Romanians.
Exactly – I always say this. Romania is cheap for those who don’t rely on the income coming from the country. But I had no idea that the Dacia cars are cheaper in other countries – that really makes no sense.
I live in Brasov with my girlfriend in my own apartment and only one of us is working at the moment. I don’t have to pay rent . The average costs we have per month are (taking into account food, utilities, bills and miscellaneous) are around 2500 per month (maybe 2800 RON in the winter season, 2200 RON in the summer). This translates to around 508 euros on average per month.
Honestly this is around what you need, in my mind, not only to survive but to live a comfortable life (going out in the week-ends – well not so much with COVID now, but you get the point – ordering food 75 of the time from various restaurants and some other activities which include various costs).
Of course if we would stop ordering food so much and not buy so many sodas we could probably cut our expenses to something around 2000 RON per month on average. Which for 2 people seems like a great deal to me.
I also believe Romania is a great place to live in. Call me nationalistic, but I feel like there’s so much potential in this medium-sized country. Of course we don’t have the salaries or GDP like in Western Europe or North America but we are catching up. And quickly. The highest ever average recorded wage was in December 2020, with 3620 RON or 743 EUR (at the conversion rate of that time). In March 2021 it was around 728 EUR, and since I’ve been observing the trends in wages (December 2016), the average salary in Romania this year will probably be something around 3600 RON or 731 EUR, which is great in my mind. If only the government would rise the minimum wage as well to be at least 50% of the real average wage that would be great. It would help around 1.4 million people to get out of relative poverty. But I’m going off the subject.
I like the blog, keep up the good work.
Excellent stuff, Alexandru! Thanks for sharing these with us – especially the cost of living details. I will also share that part of your comment on my cost of living article as it will surely help a lot of people understand how cheap Romania can really be!
Hello, I am applying for a job in Romania from China. The employer is responsible for taxes and insurance, as well as accommodation and meals, and pays me 1,000 Euros every month. Can I live well in Bucharest?
Definitely! Accommodation and food would be the biggest expenses, so not having to worry about these leaves you with lots of things to do on 1,000 per month 🙂
Hello, I am a Romanian by birth, leaving abroad for 20+ years, in fact, changing several countries in Western Europe.
I see a comment above regarding corruption and bureaucracy. Well, I do not believe 1 second those being true or higher than other countries.
I leave in France right now, and I can assure you bureaucracy is higher than in Romania. Besides, I see nobody mentioning security in Romania, probably the highest in Europe.
Regarding wages, the following: at large city, living standard for a upper range salary is one of the best in Europe. Indeed, it is negatively compensated by small city and village, well beyond Western European standards.
You take your partner out Saturday and have a great evening on any large city for. 40- 60Euro, with drinks, 3 course dinner… it would be 150Euro in France or Italy, Barcelona or Madrid. Up to 400Euro in Norway.
Hi. It is my understanding that there are a large amount of online ‘models’ based in Romania. I wonder if they are likely to earn closer to the minimum wage or if their earnings are better than that?
I am a social scientist who is currently researching the adult industry and am interested in earnings. I found your article very enlightening about the general income and living costs in the country and if I can find specifics regarding my area of study that would be fantastic!
Yes, this is a booming industry in the country and the people working there usually earn way more than the average Romanian makes per month. You can search for job postings online and you’ll see that salaries usually start at around 1,500 Euros per month.
I’m from nepal and planning to visit Romania for work purpose in factory with 550 euro monthly is this enough for me they r providing accommodations as they are saying…and does companies take our passport one we start working or not?
and can we work another jobs in cash there after finishing our 8hours shift ?please reply honestly if not then I will try another county its important for me so please😣🙏🏼
If the amount paid is net (take home), then the salary is pretty good by Romanian standards, as long as accommodation is covered. If the amount is before tax, you’ll lose around 40% to taxes and end up with an amount that’s close to the minimum wage here, which would not be enough.
I am not sure about the practices of the companies regarding passports, but I see no reason why they would keep your passport 🙂
Hi Calin,
thanks for posting these updates. What baffles me is the high tax rate: The salaries gros v net in your article are ~30%. I was under the impression Romania had a flat 10% rate. Am I mistaken? What else is deducted?
Actually, taxes are around ~45% from a gross salary. The 10% is just the income tax, but you also have to pay 25% for social security (if you have a business, you might be able to opt to pay less, but not as an employee), as well as 10% for health insurance.
Hello,
I am waiting my working visa to move to Bucharest. I got a job offer for an online cassino with a payment of 9800 ron net + bonus, free acomodation and utility bills for 1 year. I have a wife and a daughter 3 years old. How good can I live with this amount?
Also, if you know anything about family reunion visa let me now.
Thank you for this post, it helped me a lot.
The amount you have (even without bonuses) should be enough for a good life for you and your family, at least for the first year. Accommodation and utilities would probably be around 700 Euros on the lower side – but you have time to figure out costs and actual income (eg how big the bonuses are).
I have an article about getting a residence permit here: https://www.romaniaexperience.com/how-to-get-a-residence-permit-in-romania/
Your Article is very helpful to many like me. I am coming for studying an undergraduate degree program in Bucharest. Can I work part timely there to bear my expenses?
your reply will be appreciated
Yes, you are allowed to work part time while studying.
Hi! Thanks for the article, it gives a clearer picture of the job market in Romania! I moved here for a few months (expat since a toddler lol) just for fun while finishing online studies. I’m planning to apply to some part time jobs especially retail. In the US you’re allowed to have nontaxable income up to $10K+ and there were exceptions to students paying the social security etc taxes. I’m not sure about tax in Romania, is there also a minimum taxable amount, esp when it comes to the social security etc taxes? 45% seems quite high, maybe because I just always earned a little bit as a student lol.
Taxes work a bit differently as a self-employed, but if you get employed, the ~45% is the norm (paid by the employee). A part-time contract, however, might also work a bit differently – however, I don’t know the specifications.
what is limit of taxable income on Romania.
This varies, but it’s usually 6x the minimum salary over a year’s period.
I am working in Drobeta, twelve hour duty, one month, only one day given leave but one month provide salary only 2350 Ron 😭😭😭😭😭😭
That is the minimum salary that you’re getting and it sounds really low for the amount of work you put it. It will increase a bit starting 2024, but you might want to try and negotiate a bit, especially if there are no other benefits included.
Hello I found your good article. Could you help me, I have a plan to move to Romania (Timisoara) as an engineer in electrical telecommunications. I get around 4000-5000 RON a month net and accommodation but no food allowance. Can I survive with that?
Hello Stevan. Absolutely, you should have no problem living a decent life with that salary.
Food will probably be around 2,000 lei per month on the upper end (probably much less if you cook exclusively at home), so you’d still be left with at least half of your salary for other expenses.
I hope you will enjoy Timisoara, it’s a really nice city!
can I drink from the water tap or should I buy water from Lidl? Is there a tax difference between for local workers and foreign workers there? As far as I know, taxes there are quite high, around 45%.
You can read all about tap water here: https://www.romaniaexperience.com/can-you-drink-tap-water-in-romania/ And yes, taxes are high in Romania, applied to all salaries for all nationalities.
Although the overall cost of living here is obviously less than in the United States… I couldn’t help but notice some items cost less in America. I have been living in Romania since February 2022. I went back and visited the USA in February/March 2024 this year. Furniture costs less in America.
I bought a couch this year in Romania that cost about 2,000 Euros- I would have had many more options to choose from for 1/2 that price or less back home. Also, electronics, (TVs, iPhones) and gasoline are less expensive in the states. Unfortunately, the restaurant prices here are also starting to blur with some of the less expensive ones in America.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Jeff! Indeed, prices are going up steadily here in Romania and many are also similar with those in Western European countries too… so salaries have to keep up (although I believe that it’s because of the artificially boosted salaries that prices go up so quickly).