About this site, and where the numbers come from

This site prices one question: what it actually costs an American to live somewhere else. It has two kinds of pages. Full guides, written and fact-checked by hand against each country's own official sources, with the date they were checked at the top. And data pages for 13 countries, built from named public datasets rather than estimates.

Who writes it

Alex Carter. I'm American and I live in Spain. I write about the gap between what a country publishes and what it does at the counter, because that gap is usually where a move abroad goes wrong.

I am not a lawyer, an accountant or an immigration adviser, and nothing here is advice of any of those kinds. What I do is find the published figure, name where it came from, and say plainly when it is an estimate.

The long versions are in my books, on Spain's visa and real costs, retiring on $2,000 a month, and what happens in the years after a move.

Also on Medium and Substack.

Every dataset used on this site

The data pages draw on six public datasets, listed here. The full country guides go further: each one cites the official pages it was checked against (consulates, tax agencies, health ministries) inline and in a list at the bottom, with the date.

Price level ratios

How far a dollar goes in each country

Source: World Bank, International Comparison Program

Measured prices for a comparable basket of goods, collected by national statistical agencies. Not a crowdsourced index of what people believe they spend.

Out-of-pocket health spending

What a year of healthcare costs a person, and how much of the national bill falls on individuals

Source: World Bank, health expenditure series

The share matters more than the dollar figure. A country can look cheap because care is cheap, or because nobody is covered.

The $2,086 monthly benefit

The yardstick used on every page

Source: US Social Security Administration, average monthly benefit for retired workers

Held constant so countries are compared against each other rather than against themselves.

Where Americans actually collect

How many retired workers receive a US benefit in each country

Source: US Social Security Administration, beneficiaries abroad

These are counts, not survey estimates. The SSA knows because it sends the money.

Visa income floors

What each country requires you to prove before it grants residency

Source: Each country's published immigration requirement

Given with the index the figure is pegged to, because the index is what actually governs it — IPREM in Spain, the minimum wage in Portugal and Colombia, the Basic Unified Salary in Ecuador.

Settling-in scores

How easily newcomers make friends and feel at home

Source: InterNations Expat Insider survey

A survey of self-selected respondents, so it measures perception rather than fact. Treated that way on every page it appears.

What is measured and what is not

Price levels, health spending and benefit counts are measured. Visa floors are published requirements, which is not the same as a guarantee that a particular consulate will read your file the same way. Settling-in scores are survey perception. Insurance premiums are quoted samples for comparable plans, not an offer — yours depends on your age, your history and where you apply.

Anything that cannot be sourced does not get a number. When a question has no reliable dataset behind it, the page says that instead of estimating.

What this site does not do

— No legal, tax, immigration or financial advice. Check the official source before acting.
— No politics. The subject is money, paperwork and healthcare.
— No rankings of countries as places to belong, only as places to afford.
— No arrangements with insurers, lawyers, banks or relocation agencies. When a page mentions a kind of service, nobody paid for the mention.
— All spreadsheets and checklists in the library are free. My books are sold on Amazon, and the site may carry advertising.

Everything here is free to read and download. If it has helped, you can buy Alex a coffee.

If a number here is wrong

Requirements change without announcement, usually in January when the index they are pegged to is revised. If you find a figure that no longer matches the official source, write to info@alexcarter.blog and I will correct the page and say what changed.