Hello everyone!!!

I have a simple question for anyone working or who has worked in Spain.....

I was wondering how much each field offers and if it isn't too personal could you list what you do and how much you make per year?

example: teacher,lawyer,dancer,etc.

I'm asking this question because I would like to compare Spain's price range versus (lower/higher/even) that of any other country such as the US.

Hi ninas!

Well that's a difficult task. It certainly depends on several things (the company, the government, the city, etc) but I can mention some examples I know:

- These are starting salaries (1st year) before tax.

a) Teacher (Public School System):

Madrid: 25.000 Euros/Year
The Canaries: 32.000 Euros/Year

b) Police Officer:

Madrid: 21.000 Euros/Year
Basque Country: 30.000 Euros/Year

c) Office Worker:

Madrid: 16.500 Euros/Year

d) Driver:

Madrid: 18.000 Euros/Year

e) Soldier:

Madrid: 14.000 Euros/Year

f) Doctor (Publich National Health Care):

Asturias: 30.000 Euros/Year

These are examples of real people; however, the wage is not exactly, for example, "10.000"; it is something like "10.872,36".

Good Luck!

I've heared that Catalonia and the Basque Autonomous Community tend to make the highest wages in Spain...Madrid/Castilla y Leon/Castilla La Mancha tend to be in the middle while Galicia make the lowest wages...

f) Doctor (Publich National Health Care):

Asturias: 30.000 Euros/year

That is low pay...a Public Doctor in Canada makes about 80.000 Euros a year...

Amleth,

based on your assessents, Spain pays much less per year than other countries

What I've noticed is that the US pays about 2/3 more for each field that you've mentioned, this information is very concerning for someone who expects to live in Spain and has the same career.

I wonder why the job market is so low when the country seems to be flourishing in every other manner? But then again it doesn't hurt to have so many people from differant countries liking Spain, after all it's good for the tourism industry

For those of you who live Espana...Due to High unemployment rate in Spain and the very low unemployemnt rate in Portugal, I heared (could be a myth) that some Spanyards living in Galicia/Extremedura/Western Castilla y Leon actually work in Portugal just to have a job, is this true ?

Ninja said: What I've noticed is that the US pays about 2/3 more for each field that you've mentioned, this information is very concerning for someone who expects to live in Spain and has the same career.

I wouldn't say that...the average first year pay for the Spanish Police Officer, Teacher and Soldier are about the same in the USA...Actually the starting pay for a Basque Community Police Officer is higher then that of almost anywhere in the USA/Canada...

Ninja...I see you are from Massachusettes, which I'm sure you know you Massachusettes folk receive much higher pay then most of the rest of the USA...

Although the pay of a Spanish Office Worker and a Public Doctor in P. of Asturias is low...

So Sorry!! I posted this yesterday w/o reading that you wanted info on professions in Spain. I haven't worked there (yet
I will keep this here for reference, though.

:p

Here in Illinois...

Retail Sales
$10,000 to $15,000 depending on your title.

Healthcare
$20,000 - $25,000 for office staff (not technical or professional)could be more or less

nurses and Radiology techs
$40,000 after several years

$40,000 to $50,000 for resident doctors in a residency program. (3 or 4 year residency) +/-

$60,000 - $70,000
upper management and other professionals in healthcare like Audiologists, etc.

$80,000 - $100,000+ (more or less)
doctors and CEOs

Teachers
$25,000 to $40,000 depends on the state

Manufacturing jobs / extreme labor
$40,000 to $60,000

Soldiers that are 'enlisted' start out about $15,000 to $25,000 per year.
Once someone receives their Pay Grade raise, it goes up. This is about every other year.

Soldiers that are 'officers' start out about $30,000 to $45,000 and have to have at least an associates degree.
some positions even offer more.

I know that for my brother, in addition to his base pay, he is getting ALOT of money (casualty pay) because he is in hostile land in Iraq.

I am in healthcare and my other brother works at CAT.

Hi ninas: There is no doubt that Spain's salaries are much less than the U.S., but you also have to look at the bigger picture - and it can be hard to calculate. For example, if you have health care insurance in the U.S. and you have a family, you could be paying up to $600.00 a month in health premiums. Spain's health care is nationalized. So add the U.S. health care premium to the spanish salary. If you own a home or car, U.S. insurance is much higher than in Spain, so you would have to consider that difference as well.

Also, I believe Spain doesn't have as many extra taxes as the U.S. A spaniard should comment on this. BUT, I don't think a Spaniard pays a federal wage tax and then a provincial wage tax (I.E. Spain Federal then Barcelona State wage tax). In the U.S., with the exception of two or three states, you pay state and federal. In some places in the U.S., you also pay a town tax on wages.

Unfortunately, you aren't comparing apples to apples when comparing U.S. pay scales to Spanish pay scales. ..not exactly! I have read in numerous places that an American actually pays about 50% of his/her pay in taxes and gov't fees.

oh yeah..and don't forget...if you are bilingual...you can expect to see a little more dinero. For example, I know of someone that worked in television with no college degree but very very good english. She made the same as a mono-lingual spaniard with a degree - - about $33K......AND>..here is a biggy...Spaniard's get loads of holidays...compared to Spaniards, we gringos work like slaves. I think they have 7 or 9 three day weekends a years plus the month of August seems to be a national holiday. I think employees receive 30 days paid vacation a year, which is one reason salaries are lower. Also, if you loose your job, your unemployment benefits are better than in the U.S.

Well it's hard to say cause your salary may be different depending on lots of things, but based on my experience the list Amleth gave was far too low. AgenteMunicipal said something about wages being much higher in the Basque Country or Catalonia and that is only part true. A teacher, for example, makes a lot more in the Basque Country. In most of the other professions, the salaries are higher in the Basque country, Catalonia and Madrid than in the rest of Spain, but life is also more expensive.

It is obvious than in Spain salaries are much lower than in the US, but not as much. In my case, for example, I make pretty much the same than the couple of american friends who have the same level of education. I used to make a lot less before, but the rise of euro against dollar changed the situation. I do have almost twice as much vacation as them though, and of course health care. Taxes, however, seem to be higher here than over there....

Anyway Ninas, I find it really hard to give you an answer to that question. I would look for jobs in my field and find out how much my future employers are willing to pay for my job.

Thanks everyone for the input!!!

I actually wasn't considering taxes and healthcare also the holiday problem makes me a little upset(ignoring that fact)it's good to know this general information so people can make an informed decision if in the future some of us (who are not already there) decide to take the plung and move permanently to Spain

Wages are lower than in the US, but so is the cost of life (living in Spain is somewhat cheaper than in the US).

Direct taxes vary from 10 to 50 % of your salary. Health insurance, unemployment insurance and a salary for life when you stop working at 65 years-old are included, though.

I can talk about my career. An engineer starts earning 15,000-18,000 € and that rises up to 150,000 in management positions. An Accenture analist (I have a friend) earns 21,000 €.

The best is to work for a US company, be sent to Spain as an expatriate, pay taxes in the US, be paid in dollars when the exchange rate is 1,4 € per dollar. THAT is life!

Fernando