Demographic differences continue to grow in Hungary. You can earn up to hundreds of thousands of forints more in the wealthiest settlement of Hungary than living in the most impoverished village. The Institute for Economic Research (GKI) has listed the income data for 2019, and it turns out that it truly matters in which part of the country we live.
According to Blikk, the average net salary in the country is HUF 200,000 per month. This number is HUF 260,000 in Budapest, while the earnings were similarly above the average in county seats – namely, HUF 214,000. However, it was only HUF 186,000 in smaller cities and HUF 161,000 in villages.
Based on the survey, it is best to live in Telki, as an employee takes home an average of HUF 390,000 there, while the conditions are the worst in Csenyéte, where one receives HUF 31,000 a month.
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“There are no ’embarrassingly’ poor people here, nor have we met a homeless person. Our biggest problem is that there are no sidewalks in some of the streets outside of the centre,” said a Telki dweller.
“Telki seems like a different world compared to Budapest. Here, everyone goes by car, even to the school, which is only a 10-minute walk away from home.”
“According to our data, the residents of the surrounding settlements live on a similar income level,” adds László Molnár, CEO of GKI.
The contrast is enormous when arriving in Csenyéte. People only earn money from public and seasonal work. As these tasks last for about half a year, these earnings yield an average monthly net of HUF 31,000.
“There is no ordinary work here. For example, in winter, only the garbage collection remains, and if the mayor gives permission, we can take home a small tree,” says one local.
“There are no shops, a car goes around the village until noon every day, and we buy from it what we need.”
Finally, the income difference is also peculiar in the capital: the people of Buda earned on average HUF 110,000 more than the people of Pest.