What Is the Minimum and Average Salary in Romania in 2024? [Updated March 2024]

  • The minimum NET salary in Romania, in 2024, is 2,079 lei (418 Euros) – to increase in July 2024
  • The average salary in Romania, in 2024, is 5,000 lei NET (1,000 Euros).
  • The minimum wage in Romania goes up faster than the average salary.
  • Extra details are shared about both types of salaries.
  • Cost of living examples to help you understand how much you need to earn.

While Romania remains one of the countries with the lowest costs of living in Europe, it is becoming more and more expensive to live in each day.

This is also reflected by the minimum salary in Romania, as well as the average wages in Romania, about which we’ll go more in depth today.

The bottom line is that they are both going up quickly – with some experts saying that the minimum wage increasing are unsustainable.

But we’re not here to discuss economics, just talk about the actual wages one could expect to earn on a monthly basis in Romania.

Even more, the average salary is a good indicator (in my opinion) of the estimated cost of living and how expensive a country is.

salaries in Romania - updated values

If a person earns, on average, 3,000 Euros per month, most likely prices in that country are higher than they are in one where the average person earns 500 Euros per month.

Also, this means that if you at least earn the average salary, you will be able to live a good life here in the country. And least in theory – although this does apply for Romania.

What is the minimum wage in Romania in 2024?

The minimum salary in Romania in 2024 is 3,300 Lei gross or 2,079 Lei net (per month). This means that somebody on minimum wages would bring home around 418 Euros each month.

NOTE: The government has announced plans to increase the minimum salary in Romania to 3,700 lei gross starting July 2024.

This is a large increase compared to the previous years. Here is how things looked like in the past few years, in terms of minimum wage, compared to today:

  • 2017: the gross minimum salary was around 1,000 lei per month
  • 2022: the gross minimum salary was 2,550 lei
  • 2023: the gross minimum salary was 3,000 lei
  • 2024: the gross minimum salary is 3,300 lei (to increase to 3,700 lei in July)

As you can see, salaries have gone up quite a bit in the past several years, usually keeping up with the huge inflation in Romania.

IMPORTANT! Starting 2022, employers are allowed to keep employees on a minim wage for a maximum of 24 months. This means that a salary increase over the minimum is mandatory afterwards.

These are some pretty interesting measures and hopefully they will result in an increased quality of life, although many claim that these will only fuel inflation.

In conclusion, the take home minimum wage in Romania is around 418 Euros per month (or 2,079 lei) but companies are only allowed to pay the minimum wage for a maximum of 24 months before being forced by law to increase it.

Currently, according to statistics, 1.867 million workers in Romania earn the minimum salary, out of around 7.65 million employees.

But the increase in the minimum wages had some side effects: prices are rising in Romania, inflation is high, the exchange rates for EUROS and USD are reaching new records each day, so in actual buying power things haven’t changed as much.

I would go as far as say that, with such a high inflation rate for 2022 (official numbers are at around 16%) and 2023 (around 9%), the buying power has decreased a bit, despite the salary hike.

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 2024?

According to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics, the average salary in Romania in 2024 is around 5,000 Lei net, per month. This means that somebody earning an average wage would bring home around 1,000 Euros each month.

Even though Romania’s minimum wages have seen spectacular increases in the past few years, the average salaries didn’t follow the same trend, although they are starting to pick up a lot, growing massively in the final years of the past year.

This makes sense, because average salaries are not regulated by the state, but by the economy.

Average salaries kept going up over the past few years: in 2020 and 2021 due to the economic boom, in 2022 to keep up with inflation, eventually slowing down a bit in 2023 and 2024.

However, unlike the minimum wage, the average salary a Romanian earns hasn’t changed much since 2022, and it’s not beating the high inflation in the country.

The average take-home salary in Romania in 2024 is around 5,000 Lei per month (around 945 Euros). This is an increase of around 1,000 Lei compared to last year. The Gross Salary is around 8,740 Lei (yup, that much goes to taxes!)

Romania is still bleeding workers who move to Western European countries, despite the increased numbers in terms of monthly income, both for the minimum and average wages.

The numbers are slightly higher than the official numbers used for calculating the digital nomad visa requirements, which place the Gross earnings at around 1,100 Euros per month (5,500 lei).

You can check out the National Institute of statistics for updated monthly values of the average wage in the country throughout the year.

Compared to the previous year, the average wage in Romania has increased by around 140 Euros – one of the biggest increases in recent years. It’s interesting to note that the average salary has more than doubled since 2013.

Another thing to consider when thinking about average wages is that the numbers are usually bigger in larger cities (Bucharest, Brasov, Cluj, Constanta, Timisoara etc) and get closer to the minimum in the smaller ones.

In other words, you have the potential to earn more in the larger cities, but the cost of living there is also higher.

We’re spending over 1,800 Euros per month as a family of three living in Romania, but these numbers can go up or down depending on your lifestyle.

Prices are going up and even though exchange rates are staying strong… it’s not easy anywhere right now.

Cost of living

Some time ago, I wrote an article detailing how you can live in the country on $1,000 per month. I had to update that article after I originally published it, as things have changed quite a bit since then.

The cost of living in Romania is still very low compared to other countries, but you’re starting to get less and less for that amount…

If you don’t want to, then I would have to say that for a foreigner moving here, the average take-home wage would be at the limit of living a decent life, if you have to pay for accommodation by yourself.

It would still be doable if you choose shared living and are very frugal. It’s even easier if your employee pays for accommodation (which would save you some 200 – 350 EUR per month).

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, especially since 2023 continued more or less in the same way.

Fortunately, things are slowing down in 2024, but the trouble is not over in my opinion.

Hopefully knowing the minimum and average salary in Romania this year will paint a clearer picture on 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.

Calin
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34 thoughts on “What Is the Minimum and Average Salary in Romania in 2024? [Updated March 2024]”

  1. 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.

    Reply
    • 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.

      Reply
  2. 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.

    Reply
    • 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!

      Reply
  3. 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?

    Reply
  4. 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.

    Reply
  5. 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!

    Reply
    • 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.

      Reply
  6. Hi I found this article quite useful. Can you please help me out as I’m planning to move to Romania(Bucharest). I belong to audit, finance and accounting profession and have little idea about the minimum and maximum wages per month there.
    What is the scope of this field in Romania.
    Per month cost of living keeping in mind I’m planning and want to save around 1000-1200 Euros per month as well

    Reply
  7. 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 pleaseπŸ˜£πŸ™πŸΌ

    Reply
    • 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 πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. Very well documented article. Very nice. I think there’s one mistake, though. In the beginning you mention the average wage being 3900 lei gross, but shouldn’t it be 4000 lei net?

    Reply
      • I am working in Drobeta, twelve hour duty, one month, only one day given leave but one month provide salary only 2350 Ron 😭😭😭😭😭😭

        Reply
        • 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.

  9. 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?

    Reply
    • 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.

      Reply
  10. 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.

    Reply
  11. 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

    Reply
  12. 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.

    Reply
    • 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.

      Reply
  13. Does the 45% deduction apply for all salary range? For someone earning minimum wage of 3000 Leu, after 45% tax, net income will be around 1,800 Leu. Can we survive with this amount in romania spceially if the employer is not giving accommodation and food allowance?

    Reply
    • For 3,000 lei gross, the net salary will be around 1,900 lei. It would be impossible to survive on this if you don’t have accommodation paid for. Even with it covered, it will still be difficult.

      Reply
  14. 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?

    Reply

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