Best fit by profile
For families
Spain
For tech workers
United States
Lower budget
Spain
Faster residency
Spain
Spain vs United States
Compare Spain and United States across visas, costs, education, healthcare, community fit, and the path to residency.
Overall picture
Spain leads in 7 of 12 equal-weight categories.
This comparison is based on general data and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. Verify details with official sources.
Data last reviewed: 2026-06-03 · 3 sources
| Category | Spain | United States |
|---|---|---|
Visa & Entry Leads: Spain | 3/5 Digital Nomad Visa and Non-Lucrative Visa available; moderate paperwork. | 1/5 H-1B subject to annual lottery; EB-2 NIW requires strong evidence; among hardest globally. |
Cost of Living Leads: Spain | 4/5 Affordable outside Madrid and Barcelona; food and leisure costs are low. | 2/5 Major tech hubs (NYC, SF, Seattle) are very expensive; mid-size cities more affordable. |
Housing Leads: Spain | 3/5 Madrid and Barcelona are expensive; other cities offer excellent value. | 2/5 SF and NYC median rents among world's highest; remote-work markets have eased elsewhere. |
Healthcare Leads: Spain | 5/5 Sistema Nacional de Salud is excellent; one of Europe's best public health systems. | 2/5 Employer-based private insurance; out-of-pocket costs can be very high without coverage. |
Education Tied | 4/5 Good public schools; strong international school network in major cities. | 4/5 Good public schools in wealthy districts; top universities globally. |
Taxes Tied | 3/5 Beckham Law provides flat 24% tax rate for qualifying new residents for 6 years. | 3/5 Federal income tax up to 37%; state tax varies (0% in Texas/Florida to 13.3% in CA). |
Safety Leads: Spain | 4/5 Generally safe; low violent crime; major cities have normal urban crime. | 3/5 Varies widely by city and neighborhood; higher violent crime rates than peer nations. |
Language Leads: United States | 2/5 Spanish required for integration; English is limited outside tourist areas. | 5/5 English; no barrier for Hebrew-English speakers. |
Israeli/Jewish Community Leads: United States | 3/5 ~15k Jews; communities in Madrid and Barcelona; Sephardic heritage. | 5/5 Largest Jewish diaspora globally (~7.5M); major hubs in NYC, LA, Miami, Chicago. |
Job Market Leads: United States | 2/5 Structurally high unemployment; limited local tech market outside Madrid/Barcelona. | 5/5 World's strongest tech and innovation job market; highest salaries for skilled roles. |
Path to PR Leads: Spain | 4/5 Long-term EU residence after 5 years; straightforward process. | 1/5 Green Card backlog can exceed 10-20 years for some nationalities via employment route. |
Path to Citizenship Leads: Spain | 3/5 10 years standard; 2 years for Sephardic Jews under 2015 nationality law. | 2/5 5 years after GC; getting GC is the bottleneck, not citizenship itself. |
Typical salaries (Software Engineer)
| Low | Median | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 28,000 EUR | 40,000 EUR | 55,000 EUR |
| United States | 90,000 USD | 140,000 USD | 200,000 USD |