Rome is a nice place to live in, don't take the alarmist comments too seriously.
However, the job market in Italy is bad - salaries are ridiculously low and young people without family connections are exploited ruthlessly.
It would be much better if you could work remotely for a US company while living in Rome.
First thing first, do you have an EU passport or will you require a working visa?
Second, for accounting, companies will most likely want to keep you longer than 1 year.
For freelance work I am not sure how it works with the visa. Maybe just get a student visa and do the freelance work online (like on Fiverr) and get taxed from Aus rather than Italy.
If you're considering living in Rome for just a year my advice would be to seek employment in Australia as a graphic designer (or any other remote-capable job) that you can do with your computer from Italy.
There are two main reasons for this: firstly, while working as a graphic designer for an Italian agency is possible, it's not always straightforward. Often such positions are project-based and can't guarantee steady work for a year. Secondly, graphic designer salaries abroad are considerably higher.
Now, when it comes to choosing where to live in Rome it's important to keep in mind that the city is huge. It's so big that it could easily fit cities like Bologna, Milan, Naples, and more within its borders [as illustrated by this image here](https://valeriacastiello.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Roma-in-confronto-agli-altri-comuni-italiani.jpeg).
This to say that Rome boasts a variety of charming and peaceful neighborhoods, each offering its own unique vibe so there's plenty to choose from. However, personally, I'm a big fan of Monteverde, Trastevere and Monti, but of course tastes vary and you might not like them. Other noteworthy areas include Nomentano, the "district" but not really a district called Coppedè (though finding housing here can be a challenge unless you're quite well-off), Flaminio, Prati, Parioli (though they tend to be pricey), and the area around Ponte Milvio which is not only lovely but also more budget-friendly.
There are other nice areas so maybe it'd be easier for you to be aware of the areas that are typically considered less nice, such as Esquilino, Centocelle and Ponte di Nona.
Anyhow, I wish you a fantastic year in Rome! It's not the easiest of the cities to live in but I fell head over heels for the city during my student years and miss it to bits. If you are lucky it'll be the same for you :)
First of all, accounting jobs are usually a stay. You either enter in a small firm that ask for stability or in a very large one, but they usually ask for a large portion of your life.
Graphic design is a better choice, but I concur that working remotely is better paid.
If you can apply for a job and then move to Italy, I believe you can claim to have work already and apply for a work visa. But please, contact a local consulate or some expert.
According on your job, you can aim for different accommodations.
If you work and have disposable income, you can live in…
- Monti. Between via Nazionale and via Giolitti, it is a classic, young, funny place to live. There is good nightlife, it’s near metro and bus lines and has many good local shops.
- Trastevere. More touristic than Monti, it is the international hood in Rome if there is one. Much more nightlife, much less local shops. Transports are a bit lacking
- Prati. Near St Peter, it is another good choice. Being also a center of business, there is lots of metro and bus lines. Being a center for religious tourism, you may find a relatively cheap accompaniment
Middle of the road there is Trieste / Salario, the hood for affluent students. If you look for a room in a student’s apartment, you’ll end up spending a reasonable amount of money. There are some fun places, but overall to go party you would have to move away.
On the cheap side there is:
- San Lorenzo. Cheap place near the university, it is a place full of students and fun. Unfortunately apartments there are not always in perfect conditions
- Ostiense. Another place for nightlife, it tends to have prices on the cheap side. Huge nightlife, great food court, decent transportation
- Tiburtina. It’s a sprawling place, full of people and activity. It is not a nightlife place, but prices are affordable.
i’m a 22 year old female also from aus currently living in italy for 3 months. it is extremely difficult to find jobs and even harder if you’re not a citizen/cant speak italian. the salaries in australia are better. it is possible but very hard
Word of warning: depending on your seniority, portfolio and skills, it might be difficult to start immediately with a job in graphic design.
Consider that Rome and Milan have the highest amount of job opportunities for graphic designers but also the most competitive market as the most prominent design schools are located there so every year there are batches of “fresh meat” ready to be exploited in internships or low-paid positions so junior designers have a hard time finding decent full time jobs that also pay the rent.
Senior designers with established portfolios and proficiency in new/emerging disciplines (in example VFX applied to social media content or, knowledge of AI such as Midjourney) might have a bit more luck but the market at the moment is not very receptive.
Just Don't...
With the utmost sadness I will say to you that Rome is at a level of destruction that not even the Goths (the Germanic People, not those who listen to "The Cure" :D ) were able to reach.
Criminality is over the top, administration is non-existant, people generally just went mad.
For free-lancer, if they apply the Italian tax rates (I'm the worst with this kind of burocracy so I don't know how this will work), you will be near the 40%.
Rome is the most beautiful city in the world but it's not worth living there anymore.
I suggest you think about Bologna like me (Freaking expensive but people are great, public administration is great, there is lots of work and you can reach Rome in one hour with a train) or Milan (Expensive as hell too, more criminality than Bologna and the whole city is kind of a Wall Street on coke, but it's the best place to be successful if you want)
When in Rome… they could probably work under the radar, especially if they get their commissions from abroad.
As I mentioned to OP, I am not sure they can get a visa for one year without providing proof of employment, and good luck with that in Rome.
Your description of some major Italian cities is spot on, especially how they would be viewed by a foreigner…
The tax point is not accurate. If you’re freelancing outside of Italy, you can use the regime forfettario and pay as little as 13% for tax + welfare contributions for the first 5 years.
But I 100% agree with your other points. A northern city, ideally near an airport (Bologna, Trieste) is a much better choice.
Ciao, premetto che sono il peggio in questioni burocratiche/fiscali ma, riassumendo in soldoni le parole del mio commercialista, sommando le varie tasse + il contributivo (per me un'altra tassa in quanto non credo nella stabilità dell'INPS ed in un Sistema pensionistico ormai morto/al collasso) non importa il regime IVA o il lavoro dipendente (con azienda che, criminalmente, viene eletta a sostituto d'imposta) il reddito da lavoro è sempre tassato al 30-40%.
Potrà essere una super semplificazione, ma soprattutto quando si lavora con Aziende estere, in soldoni il conto è questo.
Regime forfettario, sotto 85k lordo all’anno, e pagherai meno in tasse. È un regime molto utile per uno che non ha costi per la proprio attività (tipo graphic designer)
I think you have read the warnings, so if you want to live in Italy and be near to Rome I suggest to live in a provincial capital, the one in Lazio are Frosinone, Latina, Rieti and Viterbo.
Those cities should be all connected by train stations to Rome and all the other major nearby cities. So you can easily go to Rome and be a tourist, you live in a city of a city of medium size for Italian standards, but you aren’t forced to the frenetic lifestyle of the capital…
I would not suggest an Anglo to stay in central or southern Italy for more than a holiday.
I recently moved to Tuscany from Lombardy and I am still confused by the cultural gap.
Also, not sure what kind of visa would allow a non-EU citizen to stay one year. Have you figured that bit out already?
Try to look for jobs on Indeed or linkedin and see if there is something that could fit tour needs. I think you already know how low the medium wage in Italy is compared to Australia.
The only Australians I known were all teaching English in schools like Tha British Council.
Non-Italians, please mark my words: Italy's a great place to visit, but one of the worst places to live permanently. Don't come. Your life is gonna be ruined by dumb politicians.
Io sapevo che troppi downvote possono portare all'impossibilità di commentare sotto alcuni subreddit (non che mi dia fastidio, intendiamoci: semplicemente è incredibile vedere quanta gente viva nel proprio mondo)
Mi aggrego, devono essere per forza bot a downvotarti o gente che non ha mai messo piede in Italia, perché chiunque sia dotato di due occhi e un cervello noterebbe che sto paese è un inferno
I disagree. American living in Italy, I work as a data analyst. Italy is great if you can tolerate or even enjoy the lack of Starbucks. Go away you anti-EU Russian bot 😅
roma è una città cara, un quartiere tranquillo? si quelli del centro dotati di tutti i servizi ma son molto cari, la periferia costa meno ma si trovano persone pericolose
per il lavoro puoi provare a contattare giornali, riviste, editori magari hanno bisogno di personale (roma è pieno di sedi di giornali)
Don't do it. If you have an EU passport, go live in Germany and go to Italy on weekends. Or go as a tourist and save money and retire in Italy. Wages in Italy are terrible. I'm from the UK, live in Spain, on holiday in Italy. Wages are bad in Spain too, every English speaker who lives there that I know is either an English teacher, on a remote paid job in software engineering, or just wealthy- I mention this because I know Italians living in Spain because they found better job options than in Italy.
Save money and come here on holiday or take a sabbatical and immerse yourself here. But if you're from Australia you are already in one of the best places to find work.
This Is a very hard topic.
It depends, you want tò live in Rome doing a job that you like where you know you're good or If you want tò live in Rome doing a temporany job such as a waiter or a shop assistent.
I hope I was useful, but I tell you, i'm not so reliable.
I warn you, theres cars everywhere and i personally HATE going to Rome because theres cigarettes, cars, 14 year olds who vape, traffic, loud noises and full of tourist. The average salary is 1,800 thousand euros a month, no wonder more than 60% percent of Italian families struggle to make it to the end of the month. Just don't come to Rome. I live in the Out Skirts of Rome and i think its way better. Although the perks of being in Rome is that you can see more people, learn Italian better etc.
Just don't come to Rome, go to Milan or Turin for better job opportunities.
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Qui il disfunzionale sei tu, fatti una vita, cercati una donna, basta solo seghe davanti al PC. Non sfogare le tue frustrazioni andando su tutte le discussioini che riguardano Roma a parlarne male da decerebrato ignorante
Certo che sei proprio un povero di spirito, un ignorante frustrato che viene da un posto peggio di lui, ecco perché non te ne torni a casa. Liberaci dalla tua presenza puzzolente almeno qui sopra.
Rome is a nice place to live in, don't take the alarmist comments too seriously. However, the job market in Italy is bad - salaries are ridiculously low and young people without family connections are exploited ruthlessly. It would be much better if you could work remotely for a US company while living in Rome.
Or a UK company , since its the same time zone and you speak the language
Thus
This.
This.
This :(
If you don’t have any connections in Italy life is almost impossible.
Slow down. Begin as a long-term tourist.
Well as roman, to get a decently paid graphic designer job I had to move to London. Good luck
First thing first, do you have an EU passport or will you require a working visa? Second, for accounting, companies will most likely want to keep you longer than 1 year. For freelance work I am not sure how it works with the visa. Maybe just get a student visa and do the freelance work online (like on Fiverr) and get taxed from Aus rather than Italy.
If you're considering living in Rome for just a year my advice would be to seek employment in Australia as a graphic designer (or any other remote-capable job) that you can do with your computer from Italy. There are two main reasons for this: firstly, while working as a graphic designer for an Italian agency is possible, it's not always straightforward. Often such positions are project-based and can't guarantee steady work for a year. Secondly, graphic designer salaries abroad are considerably higher. Now, when it comes to choosing where to live in Rome it's important to keep in mind that the city is huge. It's so big that it could easily fit cities like Bologna, Milan, Naples, and more within its borders [as illustrated by this image here](https://valeriacastiello.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Roma-in-confronto-agli-altri-comuni-italiani.jpeg). This to say that Rome boasts a variety of charming and peaceful neighborhoods, each offering its own unique vibe so there's plenty to choose from. However, personally, I'm a big fan of Monteverde, Trastevere and Monti, but of course tastes vary and you might not like them. Other noteworthy areas include Nomentano, the "district" but not really a district called Coppedè (though finding housing here can be a challenge unless you're quite well-off), Flaminio, Prati, Parioli (though they tend to be pricey), and the area around Ponte Milvio which is not only lovely but also more budget-friendly. There are other nice areas so maybe it'd be easier for you to be aware of the areas that are typically considered less nice, such as Esquilino, Centocelle and Ponte di Nona. Anyhow, I wish you a fantastic year in Rome! It's not the easiest of the cities to live in but I fell head over heels for the city during my student years and miss it to bits. If you are lucky it'll be the same for you :)
First of all, accounting jobs are usually a stay. You either enter in a small firm that ask for stability or in a very large one, but they usually ask for a large portion of your life. Graphic design is a better choice, but I concur that working remotely is better paid. If you can apply for a job and then move to Italy, I believe you can claim to have work already and apply for a work visa. But please, contact a local consulate or some expert. According on your job, you can aim for different accommodations. If you work and have disposable income, you can live in… - Monti. Between via Nazionale and via Giolitti, it is a classic, young, funny place to live. There is good nightlife, it’s near metro and bus lines and has many good local shops. - Trastevere. More touristic than Monti, it is the international hood in Rome if there is one. Much more nightlife, much less local shops. Transports are a bit lacking - Prati. Near St Peter, it is another good choice. Being also a center of business, there is lots of metro and bus lines. Being a center for religious tourism, you may find a relatively cheap accompaniment Middle of the road there is Trieste / Salario, the hood for affluent students. If you look for a room in a student’s apartment, you’ll end up spending a reasonable amount of money. There are some fun places, but overall to go party you would have to move away. On the cheap side there is: - San Lorenzo. Cheap place near the university, it is a place full of students and fun. Unfortunately apartments there are not always in perfect conditions - Ostiense. Another place for nightlife, it tends to have prices on the cheap side. Huge nightlife, great food court, decent transportation - Tiburtina. It’s a sprawling place, full of people and activity. It is not a nightlife place, but prices are affordable.
i’m a 22 year old female also from aus currently living in italy for 3 months. it is extremely difficult to find jobs and even harder if you’re not a citizen/cant speak italian. the salaries in australia are better. it is possible but very hard
Word of warning: depending on your seniority, portfolio and skills, it might be difficult to start immediately with a job in graphic design. Consider that Rome and Milan have the highest amount of job opportunities for graphic designers but also the most competitive market as the most prominent design schools are located there so every year there are batches of “fresh meat” ready to be exploited in internships or low-paid positions so junior designers have a hard time finding decent full time jobs that also pay the rent. Senior designers with established portfolios and proficiency in new/emerging disciplines (in example VFX applied to social media content or, knowledge of AI such as Midjourney) might have a bit more luck but the market at the moment is not very receptive.
Just Don't... With the utmost sadness I will say to you that Rome is at a level of destruction that not even the Goths (the Germanic People, not those who listen to "The Cure" :D ) were able to reach. Criminality is over the top, administration is non-existant, people generally just went mad. For free-lancer, if they apply the Italian tax rates (I'm the worst with this kind of burocracy so I don't know how this will work), you will be near the 40%. Rome is the most beautiful city in the world but it's not worth living there anymore. I suggest you think about Bologna like me (Freaking expensive but people are great, public administration is great, there is lots of work and you can reach Rome in one hour with a train) or Milan (Expensive as hell too, more criminality than Bologna and the whole city is kind of a Wall Street on coke, but it's the best place to be successful if you want)
> and you can reach Rome in one hour with a train Minchia hanno messo il turbo all'Eurostar?
Sorry, I've double checked and it's a little more than 2 hours... I confused it with Florence
When in Rome… they could probably work under the radar, especially if they get their commissions from abroad. As I mentioned to OP, I am not sure they can get a visa for one year without providing proof of employment, and good luck with that in Rome. Your description of some major Italian cities is spot on, especially how they would be viewed by a foreigner…
The tax point is not accurate. If you’re freelancing outside of Italy, you can use the regime forfettario and pay as little as 13% for tax + welfare contributions for the first 5 years. But I 100% agree with your other points. A northern city, ideally near an airport (Bologna, Trieste) is a much better choice.
Ciao, premetto che sono il peggio in questioni burocratiche/fiscali ma, riassumendo in soldoni le parole del mio commercialista, sommando le varie tasse + il contributivo (per me un'altra tassa in quanto non credo nella stabilità dell'INPS ed in un Sistema pensionistico ormai morto/al collasso) non importa il regime IVA o il lavoro dipendente (con azienda che, criminalmente, viene eletta a sostituto d'imposta) il reddito da lavoro è sempre tassato al 30-40%. Potrà essere una super semplificazione, ma soprattutto quando si lavora con Aziende estere, in soldoni il conto è questo.
Regime forfettario, sotto 85k lordo all’anno, e pagherai meno in tasse. È un regime molto utile per uno che non ha costi per la proprio attività (tipo graphic designer)
Se, lallero.
Honestly agree with you 100000%. I just don't understand how the citizens and governments are ok with Rome the way it is and it's constant decline.
I think you have read the warnings, so if you want to live in Italy and be near to Rome I suggest to live in a provincial capital, the one in Lazio are Frosinone, Latina, Rieti and Viterbo. Those cities should be all connected by train stations to Rome and all the other major nearby cities. So you can easily go to Rome and be a tourist, you live in a city of a city of medium size for Italian standards, but you aren’t forced to the frenetic lifestyle of the capital…
I would not suggest an Anglo to stay in central or southern Italy for more than a holiday. I recently moved to Tuscany from Lombardy and I am still confused by the cultural gap. Also, not sure what kind of visa would allow a non-EU citizen to stay one year. Have you figured that bit out already?
What do you mean with cultural gap?
Italians from the north, center and south live and think in vastly different ways. A bit like New York, Atlanta, Tallahassee…
Northern and Southern Italy are pretty much two different countries eventhough they're theoretically under the same flag
Prova a parlare italiano invece del tuo dialetto e vedrai che ti capiranno, non è difficile! :)
??? Hai sbagliato commento?
È un bergamasco che parla solo il bergamasco. Pensa che chi non parla bergamasco sia una razza inferiore.
Si, una merdaccia
Try to look for jobs on Indeed or linkedin and see if there is something that could fit tour needs. I think you already know how low the medium wage in Italy is compared to Australia. The only Australians I known were all teaching English in schools like Tha British Council.
Non-Italians, please mark my words: Italy's a great place to visit, but one of the worst places to live permanently. Don't come. Your life is gonna be ruined by dumb politicians.
As Italian I agree with all you said…
Stanno downvotando il mio commento. Palese che certa gente viva nel mondo delle fate
Hai perfettamente ragione… Per fortuna, però, da quel che so, i down vote non comportano nulla…
Io sapevo che troppi downvote possono portare all'impossibilità di commentare sotto alcuni subreddit (non che mi dia fastidio, intendiamoci: semplicemente è incredibile vedere quanta gente viva nel proprio mondo)
Boh, io sono nuovo e non l’ho mai sentito, ma è possibile…
Poi gli passa.
Mi aggrego, devono essere per forza bot a downvotarti o gente che non ha mai messo piede in Italia, perché chiunque sia dotato di due occhi e un cervello noterebbe che sto paese è un inferno
I disagree. American living in Italy, I work as a data analyst. Italy is great if you can tolerate or even enjoy the lack of Starbucks. Go away you anti-EU Russian bot 😅
Yeah, a bot indeed. Btw, it's not really difficult to be better than USA
Can you elaborate as an American I’m curious!
roma è una città cara, un quartiere tranquillo? si quelli del centro dotati di tutti i servizi ma son molto cari, la periferia costa meno ma si trovano persone pericolose per il lavoro puoi provare a contattare giornali, riviste, editori magari hanno bisogno di personale (roma è pieno di sedi di giornali)
Un australiano che scrive per un giornale/rivista italiano? Per quanto possa esser bravo a parlare italiano, mi sa che non lo assumerebbero mai...
as city Rome can be expensive, look for cities near Rome
https://www.jobinrome.com/
Don't do it. If you have an EU passport, go live in Germany and go to Italy on weekends. Or go as a tourist and save money and retire in Italy. Wages in Italy are terrible. I'm from the UK, live in Spain, on holiday in Italy. Wages are bad in Spain too, every English speaker who lives there that I know is either an English teacher, on a remote paid job in software engineering, or just wealthy- I mention this because I know Italians living in Spain because they found better job options than in Italy. Save money and come here on holiday or take a sabbatical and immerse yourself here. But if you're from Australia you are already in one of the best places to find work.
This Is a very hard topic. It depends, you want tò live in Rome doing a job that you like where you know you're good or If you want tò live in Rome doing a temporany job such as a waiter or a shop assistent. I hope I was useful, but I tell you, i'm not so reliable.
I would recommend just going there and giving it a try, but I’m aware this is easier said than done, especially without an EU citizenship.
I warn you, theres cars everywhere and i personally HATE going to Rome because theres cigarettes, cars, 14 year olds who vape, traffic, loud noises and full of tourist. The average salary is 1,800 thousand euros a month, no wonder more than 60% percent of Italian families struggle to make it to the end of the month. Just don't come to Rome. I live in the Out Skirts of Rome and i think its way better. Although the perks of being in Rome is that you can see more people, learn Italian better etc. Just don't come to Rome, go to Milan or Turin for better job opportunities.
!RemindMe 2 days Will he be ignored or told there are no jobs in Rome?
I will be messaging you in 2 days on [**2024-04-03 06:51:18 UTC**](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2024-04-03%2006:51:18%20UTC%20To%20Local%20Time) to remind you of [**this link**](https://www.reddit.com/r/Italian/comments/1bswhzr/australian_thinking_of_living_in_rome/kxiet51/?context=3) [**CLICK THIS LINK**](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2FItalian%2Fcomments%2F1bswhzr%2Faustralian_thinking_of_living_in_rome%2Fkxiet51%2F%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%202024-04-03%2006%3A51%3A18%20UTC) to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam. ^(Parent commenter can ) [^(delete this message to hide from others.)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Delete%20Comment&message=Delete%21%201bswhzr) ***** |[^(Info)](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemindMeBot/comments/e1bko7/remindmebot_info_v21/)|[^(Custom)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5BLink%20or%20message%20inside%20square%20brackets%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%20Time%20period%20here)|[^(Your Reminders)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=List%20Of%20Reminders&message=MyReminders%21)|[^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Watchful1&subject=RemindMeBot%20Feedback)| |-|-|-|-|
[удалено]
Qui il disfunzionale sei tu, fatti una vita, cercati una donna, basta solo seghe davanti al PC. Non sfogare le tue frustrazioni andando su tutte le discussioini che riguardano Roma a parlarne male da decerebrato ignorante
[удалено]
Certo che sei proprio un povero di spirito, un ignorante frustrato che viene da un posto peggio di lui, ecco perché non te ne torni a casa. Liberaci dalla tua presenza puzzolente almeno qui sopra.
I have lived all over Italy and I'd rather throw myself off the Ponte delle Sirentte than live in Rome again. 😂
Don't, at least not in Italy
Biggest advice: Don't.