What a high income keeps after tax in 100 places across 47 countries and territories, computed from each place's own 2026 brackets. The findings, the method, and the full dataset to download.
On $1M a year, 12 of 100 places tax a resident's income at 0%. Tokyo leaves $479K. The gap between the top and the bottom of the board is $521K a year.
The gap grows faster than income. It is $134K a year on $300K and $5.6M on $10M.
The median effective rate across the 100 places is 30.6% on $300K, 36.4% on $1M and 38.4% on $10M. The median place leaves $636K of $1M.
A US passport changes the answer. The US taxes citizens wherever they live, so on $1M a US citizen pays more in 28 of the 100 places, a median $216K more a year. None of the 0% places stays at 0% for a US citizen.
On a $10M sale, 39 of 100 places charge no capital gains tax at their headline rate. The highest charge on the board is New York, $3.7M. The median is $2.4M.
Source: the Patrician.ch board, an original ranking of 100 residence addresses across 47 countries and territories. Tax rates, thresholds and routes are sourced. Cost, safety, schools, sun and beauty are Patrician.ch editorial indices. Figures current to October 2026. Updated . Cite as: Patrician.ch, The Keep Index 2026: what $1M a year keeps you in 100 places, patrician.ch/research/keep-index-2026/, October 2026.
Columns: idplacecountrytax_300Keffective_300Kkept_300Ktax_1Meffective_1Mkept_1Mtax_3Meffective_3Mkept_3Mtax_10Meffective_10Mkept_10Mtax_1M_us_citizencapital_gains_on_10M_salepage. Money in US dollars, rates as fractions. Licensed under CC BY 4.0: credit Patrician.ch and link to this page. Journalists: hello (at) patrician.ch, answered within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.
Method and questions
The short answers.
How was the Keep Index computed?
Each place's 2026 statutory income tax brackets are applied to a single resident's income at 4 levels, $300K, $1M, $3M and $10M, converted to US dollars at the board's fixed reference rates. What is left after income tax is the amount kept.
Where a place is modeled on a regime for new arrivals, its city page names the regime. Income tax on the published 2026 rules. Social contributions, most deductions and treaties are not modeled. Wealth tax is left out.
Can I use the data?
Yes. The CSV is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Quote it, chart it and republish it with a link to this page as the source.
The editorial indices for cost, safety, schools, sun and beauty, and the engine, are not part of the release.
How current is it?
It is rebuilt from the board on every release, current to October 2026.
The file and the findings above always carry the same numbers.
Is this tax advice?
No. It is comparison research on published rates.
A qualified adviser confirms any individual position.
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Income tax on the published 2026 rules. Social contributions, most deductions and treaties are not modeled. Figures are for a non-US single filer. Wealth tax, an exit and your passports are added when you run the engine on your own numbers. Not advice. Residence rules change often. Verify before acting.
