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Ask HN: Six figures salary careers in Europe?
Aside from software engineering, that's it.
Just curious about what other careers nowadays have the potential of a six figures salary, in Europe (as I think in USA is easier to cross that threshold). Geographical location is usually very relevant so if you have anecdata, please share where as well.
- hgsss 3y agoFinance. Taking care of the assests of the European Rentiers, Tax avoiders, Leisure and Luxury classes is quite lucrative. You don't have to do too much work either cause those assets inflate themselves.
- genericacct 3y agoCardiologist and some other *ists?
- pr07ecH70r 3y agoElectronics engineer in Switzerland. :)
- 082349872349872 3y ago6 figures USD is ~88k CHF or 7'300/mo. That's a little higher than the overall 2020 median, but not by much: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/wages-income-employment-labour-costs/wage-levels-switzerland.html https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/... Sectors where the median wage was higher in 2020: energy supply information and communication financial and insurance professional, scientific, and technical public admin & defense education Edit: looks like all of the above also have median above 6 figures in local currency.
- lauranoure2026 3y agoCan you share more about how to find such a job? How many years of experience are required? :) Is proficiency in English sufficient, or are German and French also necessary? I'm a Hardware Engineer based in Poland. :)
- cpach 3y agoI would guess that at least some real estate brokers and lawyers earn that kind of money…?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- nprateem 3y agoLaw, medicine, finance, consulting, investing, celebrity. The usual suspects...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- red-iron-pine 3y agoPresumably you're getting paid in Euros and not Pounds or Swiss Francs. And is this six figures USD converted to local currency, or 100k+ in the local?
- ravshan 3y agoDoes it even matter?
- mettamage 3y agoAside from software engineering? I find it hard in NL to get a six figure salary for software engineering.
- b20000 3y agoexactly, i cannot imagine companies in west europe paying that… if i am wrong tell me who and for what roles :)
- rufus_foreman 3y ago>> in Europe Why would you restrict yourself to that though? If you want to take a chance on getting rich, move to America. That's America's purpose in the universe. Give us some information on the reason you rule out the obvious solution to your problem and maybe we can help.
- nullptr_deref 3y agoIt's hard to move to US because of the visa issue. And US is already full of competent software engineers.
- karmakurtisaani 3y ago> And US is already full of competent software engineers. This is probably a good thing. It means there's also lots and lots of companies. One actual downside of working in the US is that you get US holiday culture.
- butshouldyou 3y ago> Give us some information on the reason you rule out the obvious solution Not so obvious for some. The quality of life, as I measure it, is far too poor for me to consider it. I'm more than happy to be in Europe.
- ActorNightly 3y agoImmigrating to US isn't as easy as it seems.
- decafninja 3y agoPossibly hearsay, but an Italian SWE friend told me a Venetian gondolier can make more than an Italian SWE.
- namaria 3y agoDunno about precise figures nowadays but the job is severely gate kept and available to locals only.
- meowtastic 3y agoSaaS sales / sales engineers. Much easier to get there compared to SWE as well.
- AznHisoka 3y agoAren’t most of these paid primarily in commission?
- Lionga 3y agoAs a Freelance Software Dev I make 200 to 300K a year. Live in a low tax country (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus etc.) you will have 10% total tax / social security. COL will be about 20% of Bay Area so you can buy one or two houses every year from net income and be FIRE very quickly.
- Gooblebrai 3y agoI presume working for US companies?
- AznHisoka 3y agoWhere do you find most of your work? Freelance platforms? Networking?
- chefkoch 3y agoSorry, how would get 10% tax in These countries? Cyprus has 35% incomtax over 60k €, poland 32%, estonia 20% flat...
- b20000 3y agohow can you make 200-300k per year as a freelancer in europe?
- iExploder 3y agoVery much an outlier and I doubt it's reproducible across multiple contracts
- tommat32 3y ago[dead]
- decide1000 3y agoWork as a freelancer in any field for €95 an hour, 40 weeks per year, 27 hours per week.
- b20000 3y agoand who will do your sales? zero non-billable hours?
- kugelblitz 3y agoI feel like 95 is more difficult now than 2 or 4 years ago.
- chefkoch 3y agoEurope is quite diverse. In germany it would be IT, law, medicine, accounting, engineering and management of all sorts as the most obvious.
- lgkk 3y agoAre there even rich people in Europe? It seems like Europeans are mostly poor with a small super wealthy elite. Unlike the US where most people are middle class, a sizable number are rich (millionaire plus), and most of the wealthy come from either already well off families or self made. Everyone craps on US (I mean we are the best at everything lol good and bad) but that’s what happens when you’re the best and at the top of the hierarchy. People say shit about you. It’s not like I care much about that because my life as an immigrant to the USA is phenomenal to say the least. But I always wonder why Europeans just seem so… stagnant? Like they’ve basically plateaued. Idk. I’m from a former “colony” so it’s not any concern to me. But I always see these kinds of posts and wonder.
- sokoloff 3y agoThere are around 23 million US millionaires. I’m not even sure that single million is “rich” any more, particularly if that includes the value of all retirement accounts. (Post the pension era, $1M safely provides only about $40K/yr in retirement income for a 30 year retirement.)
- decafninja 3y agoThis is what I felt too. In the US and Asia, people seem to be trying to claw their way to the top. Not everyone succeeds obviously, but some do, and I'd say many others at the very least improve their lot in life. In Europe, it feels like most people are just content and satisfied with their current lot in life, and even those that are not, aren't really motivated to significantly change their position in society.
- gadders 3y agoMost mid-level jobs in Banking are above £100k. AVP/Associate Director might just break the barrier but VP and above definitely will. This is for all sorts of roles, not just development - Compliance, Ops, Risk etc. People who actually deal with client money will make multiples of that.