Singapore marked as 'city to avoid' for software engineers

High cost of living leave developers with only $440.74 from their salaries.

Income and quality of life put Singapore at the bottom of top cities for software engineers, according to a study by US-based company Codementor.

Codementor based the rankings on real earnings, which takes into account the actual spending a software engineer makes when they receive their salary. For every country, the researchers deducted taxes, social security, living costs, and rent from the average original income.

Singapore country ranked 20th when it came to real earnings at an average of $440.74 (US$324). It got the 22nd spot for affordability with a score of 41.

Seattle was recorded the best globally, with a real earnings average of $61,459 (US$45,182). Oslo was recorded the best outside the US with $38,337 (US$28,184).

The study considered factors like rent and job openings as well. It said rent is more influential than the cost of living when it comes to earnings.

Codementor computed the Singaporean developers' average living cost per month to be $1,136 (US$835), whilst the rent per month stood at $2,806 (US$2,063).

The company also computed a developer's average income after tax in Singapore to be $47,748 (US$35,100).

Singapore was the 7th at job openings with 2,026 postings.