Living in Poland

Poland has grown into one of central Europe's busier economies, and the breadth of that growth shows in the work on offer, from IT to construction to a deep manufacturing base, all of it open to people arriving from outside. Salaries have risen toward the upper end for the region and tax leaves most of the pay intact, so the bottom line is comfortable rather than tight. Prices have followed the wages up, yet enough remains to build a stable life. English will get you started in tech and the larger international employers, but Polish becomes the difference once you move beyond them.

Poland is a major source of emigrants, with roughly 4.6M Poles living abroad against 1.7M foreign-born residents at home. The diaspora, up 10% over the past decade, concentrates in Western Europe — Germany hosts the most at 1.9M, followed by the United Kingdom. Immigration is now led by a large Ukrainian community of 1.1M.