With DKK37000/month (b4 tax), is it ok to survive in Esbjerg, Denmark with my parents, wife n 1 sibling?

I am thinking of renting a house there. I assume a flat would be too small for all of us (5 of us including me). Public transport seems to be good, so I may not option out to buy a car now.

I am also not sure if the above pay is well justified for an engineer with 7 years of experience.

Appreciate all your answers. Thank you.

Hi Pilotbala

"Survive" might be the correct term for 37K to cover all expenses for five people. Housing in the outskirts of Esbjerg will not be too expensive but taxes are quite heavy in Denmark. There won't be much room for luxuries, I am afraid. But hey: Why don't your wife and your sibling find themselves a job? That's the way most Danes get by. Homemakers are rare these days.

You don't write where you come from - if it is a non EU country you might have problems bringing your parents and your sibling here for more than a short stay. Immigration laws are restrictive here. I would suggest that you contact the Danish embassy or representation in your country to ask about the possibilities. There is - as far as I remember some rules regarding economic security to get family members into Denmark.

As for the salary it very much depends of your skills and qualifications more than your experience. IDA (engineers union in Denmark) has a salary statistic which is unfortunately not public. But I am sure that you can contact them by phone or e-mail and get an evaluation of your salary level. They won't be interested in foreigners working for low salaries and thereby force their members to go down. Contact information for IDA is ph. (+45) 33 18 48 48. URL below.

Good luck and welcome to Denmark should you decide to move here. :o)

PS I just checked 'Boligportalen' for rentals in the Esbjerg area. It seems you can get apartments or houses at a reasonable size for five people within the price range DKK 5000-7500 plus expenses. (Approximately DKK 2000 for five persons.)

37000 kroner before taxes isn't a whole lot of money for 5 people.

Housing costs (even rentals) are high in denmark, and there is a 180% tax on cars, which at your salary would be next to impossible to purchase.

Public transport IS good, I use it weekly to do errands and get to and from university - it's also not cheap either (but cheaper than a car), and you can spend 1000kr a month on an 'all-zone' bus/train pass (good for one person) - which will let you travel on any bus/train you'd like. You can purchase 2,3,4 & 5 zone bus/train passes for less money, as well.

Without knowing what kind of engineer you are, I can't really say much about your pay grade though, sorry.

As the other poster has stated - there's a VERY real chance you'll have problems bringing your parents and sibling into denmark - the immigration rules are QUITE strict here - they'd have (most likely) a 3 month 'tourist visa' which they could be here under (if from EU/US areas), otherwise their time could be further limited.

Contacting both your embassy and the danish embassy now will save you a LOT of issues later.

Good luck!

No difnitely not enough minus 46 % tax, imagine 5 persons?
Denmark is one of the most place expensive to live,
Let your wife work or children if they are grown up.So that they can help with the expenses......

Good luck...