The International Schools Review Forum

Dear all,

How much do you think you need to earn in Singapore to match the salary/cost of living balance of earning £60k per annum (housing allowance included) in a tier 2 Chinese city?

Thanks

Check here (you can obviously substitute Hangzhou with your current city):
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/c ... rrency=USD

60,000 pounds is about $110,000 SGD. It's possible to get a job with this pay (including bonus and rent) but it really depends on how cheaply you live.

Rent is much more expensive in Singapore - but taxes are much lower. Unless your a penny pincher - it's not possible to save as much and live a truly expat lifestyle in Singapore compared to a Tier 2 Chinese city. If you cook yourself (or eat at hawker centres) and don't drink alcohol that will make a big difference.

To live a true expat lifestyle in Singapore with the same savings potential - you'd probably need to be closer to $150,000 SGD which does not exist unless you are in admin.

If you compare Tianjin and Singapore, the equivalent salary would be S$230,000 a year. www.numbeo.com

sciteach wrote:
> - you'd probably need to be closer to $150,000 SGD which does not exist
> unless you are in admin.

You sure ?

I know of schools that were offering $120,000 SGD or so over a decade ago. And that was just the salary and housing - not including the bonus etc

I was in Singapore 4 years ago. My base salary as a teacher was around S$105,000. I got S$3,000/month for housing. So my total pay without the thirteenth month was over S$140,000. My partner also made the base salary and we were able to save almost an entire salary. We didn’t live the total expat lifestyle (brunches every week, car, helper), but we did eat out and drink a fair amount while traveling internationally every break.

About S$130,000, but if youre only marketable at a tier 2 in China you wont find that in SG.