Milan vs Turin vs Bologna: Where to Hire in Northern Italy

Most US companies that hire in northern Italy shortlist the same three cities: Milan, Turin and Bologna. Each has a different talent profile. Each also applies a different municipal income tax surcharge to your employees. This article compares the three on both points.

What the municipal surcharge is  

Italy’s cities add a local surcharge on top of regional and national income tax. It is called the addizionale comunale. The employee pays it, not the company. Payroll withholds it from salary.

Still, it matters to you. It changes the net pay a candidate sees. In a close negotiation, a lower local surcharge can help you close the offer without raising gross salary.

The surcharge in each city  

The figures come from a secondary source, listed at the end. Confirm them with your payroll provider before you build a budget around them. Local councils can change rates and thresholds.

Milan  

Milan has a single rate of 0.8%. It also has the highest exemption threshold of the three, at EUR 23,000. Employees below that income level are exempt. For junior and mid-level roles, this makes Milan the lightest of the three on local tax.

Turin  

Turin is the most complex. The rate rises with income across four brackets: 0.8%, 0.8%, 1.1% and 1.2%. The exemption threshold is the lowest of the three, at EUR 11,790. Fewer employees fall under it, and higher earners pay a higher rate.

If you hire senior people in Turin, expect the surcharge to take a larger share of their pay than in the other two cities.

Bologna  

Bologna sits in the middle. It has a single rate of 0.8% and an exemption threshold of EUR 15,000. The rate is the same as Milan’s. The difference comes from the threshold, which is lower than Milan’s but higher than Turin’s.

What the numbers mean for hiring  

The rates are close. The base rate is 0.8% in all three cities. Only Turin goes higher, and only for higher incomes. So the surcharge alone rarely decides where to hire.

The exemption threshold is the bigger difference. It is what separates a candidate who pays nothing from one who pays the surcharge. Milan’s threshold is the most generous. Turin’s is the least.

The practical rule is simple:

• For junior and mid-level hires, Milan is the most favorable on this point.
• For senior hires, Milan and Bologna are more predictable, because the rate stays flat.
• For senior hires in Turin, model the bracket rates before you set the offer.

Talent: how to think about it  

We do not have verified talent data for this article, so we will not rank the cities on headcount or salary. Use these as starting points for your own search.

Milan is the largest business hub in the north. Finance, professional services, consulting and international company offices cluster here. Expect strong competition for candidates, especially from companies with an established local presence.

Turin has a long industrial and engineering tradition. It suits companies hiring technical and manufacturing-related roles. Its universities feed a steady pipeline of engineers.

Bologna combines a large university population with a strong industrial base in machinery and food production. It often works well for engineering, research and operations roles, with less competition from large corporate offices than Milan.

Test these ideas against real data. Look at job postings, candidate pools on professional networks and salary benchmarks for your exact role.

How to choose  

Start with the role, not the city. Ask where candidates with your required skills actually live. Then use the surcharge as a tiebreaker, not as the main driver.

1. Pick the two cities with the strongest candidate pool for the role.
2. Compare the local surcharge at the expected salary level.
3. Check whether the role can be remote within the region. Where the employee lives or works determines which city’s surcharge applies, so confirm this with payroll.

You do not need a local entity to hire in any of these cities. An Employer of Record can employ your people on your behalf and handle payroll, including the municipal surcharge withholding. That lets you test a city before you commit to it.

Ready to compare the full cost of hiring in each city? Try the cost calculator.