Which pays more, Barcelona or Madrid?

The median advertised salary for each is in the table above, along with the 25th and 75th percentiles so you can see the spread rather than one number.

Which has more openings?

Both counts are live and computed at the same moment, so the comparison is like for like.

Postings are read from company career systems continuously; the age row shows how old the listings themselves are.

Side by side

Barcelona vs Madrid

Barcelona pays more: a median of €47,000 against €44,000. There is 2.8× more demand for Barcelona. Listings for Madrid move faster — median age 48 days against 90.

Comparison

Side by side

Measure	Barcelona	Madrid	Gap
Open postings	68,216	24,020	+44,196
Posted this week	3,169	1,733
Median salary	€47,000	€44,000	+€3k
25th percentile	€37k	€35k
75th percentile	€58.5k	€54.5k
Salary disclosed	5.4%	7.4%
Remote share	5.4%	7.2%	-1.8pp
Median age of posting	90d	48d
Open over 60 days	30.6%	32.2%
Visa sponsorship	7.1%	24.7%

Pay

Pay distribution

Barcelona

€21k€81k

Madrid

€20k€76k

Freshness

How old the listings are

Barcelona

just posted90d median90d+

Madrid

just posted48d median90d+

Demand

What each side asks for

Barcelona — technologies

Swift

72.0%

Docker

65.8%

JavaScript

59.6%

Python

53.4%

PostgreSQL

47.2%

Snowflake

41.0%

Java

34.8%

Madrid — technologies

Terraform

72.0%

65.8%

Swift

59.6%

Java

53.4%

React

47.2%

SQL

41.0%

Snowflake

34.8%

Barcelona — employers

Lakeshore Hospitality

9.4%

Ironbark Manufacturing

8.7%

Meridian Software

8.0%

Northwind Systems

7.2%

Umbra Security

6.5%

Rivergate Media

5.8%

Halcyon Energy

5.1%

Madrid — employers

Northwind Systems

9.4%

Umbra Security

8.7%

Aperture Labs

8.0%

Vantage Logistics

7.2%

Brightline Retail

6.5%

Pinewood Education

5.8%

Tidewater Insurance

5.1%

Both sides are counted the same way on the same day, so the gap is comparable even where the absolute numbers move. Salary figures use only postings that publish a range — the disclosure rate is in the table because a median over 20% of a cohort is a weaker number than one over 70%.