Country guide · Hong Kong
Moving to Hong Kong: cost of living, salaries, taxes, visas
Major Asian finance hub with a low-tax personal regime, world-class infrastructure, and one of the world's most expensive housing markets.
Hong Kong combines a low-tax personal regime (max standard rate 17%, MPF 5% employee), zero VAT/GST, and deep capital + talent markets in finance, professional services and increasingly tech. English is widely used in business and government.
The dominant cost pressure is housing — central one-bedroom rents are among the world's highest per square meter. Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) and General Employment Policy (GEP) are the standard inbound work visa routes; Hong Kong's quasi-EU mobility benefits don't apply but the streamlined application process is much faster than Singapore equivalents.
At a glance
Hong Kong relocation profile
Mundevo coverage in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is the anchor city for cost-of-living and corridor calculations involving Hong Kong.
| City | Cost index | Rent index | Safety | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong | 88 | 95 | 82 | 7,400,000 |
Tax and visa landscape
Headline tax model + entry-point visa overview for relocators.
- Effective income tax: 15.0%
- Social security (employee): 5.0%
- Total payroll deduction: 20.0%
- VAT: 0.0%
- Currency: HKD
Effective rates assume a single salaried filer at country median wage. Special regimes (e.g. expat-favoring schemes) are not applied here — see the visa guide for those.
Visa categories, residency routes, and tax-regime context for relocators are detailed in the dedicated visa guide.
Hong Kong visa guide →Salary bands at Hong Kong — by role
Illustrative gross-salary bands for 6 senior IC roles in Hong Kong. Derived from NYC anchor × Hong Kong pay-tier multiplier. Cross-check Levels.fyi, Glassdoor before negotiating.
| Role | P25 | P50 | P75 | NYC anchor (P50) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineer | HK$567,245 | HK$704,167 | HK$899,769 | $180,000 |
| Product manager | HK$586,806 | HK$762,847 | HK$1,017,130 | $195,000 |
| UX / product designer | HK$387,292 | HK$510,521 | HK$686,562 | $145,000 |
| Marketing manager | HK$334,479 | HK$457,708 | HK$616,146 | $130,000 |
| Data scientist | HK$528,125 | HK$684,606 | HK$899,769 | $175,000 |
| Finance analyst | HK$430,324 | HK$606,366 | HK$860,648 | $155,000 |
Top relocation corridors
Closest peers by cost-of-living index — the moves most commonly considered alongside Hong Kong.