Amsterdam vs Birmingham for couples

Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, are about 460 km apart. Every figure below comes from the data behind our city pages: an estimated monthly cost for a couple, tax tier, annual climate, safety, healthcare, internet speed, language and residency rules. Amsterdam leads on safety, healthcare and internet speed.

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Side by side

Factor	Amsterdam	Birmingham
Country	Netherlands	United Kingdom
Size	Mid-sized: 250,000 to 1 million people	Large: 1 to 5 million people
Setting	Coastal	Near the coast
Est. cost for a couple	€3,865 a month	€3,980 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	11°C	10°C
Rainfall	907 mm a year	869 mm a year
Safety	72 / 100	56 / 100
Healthcare	80 / 100	74 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~180 Mbps	~110 Mbps
Main languages	Dutch, English	English
English	English everywhere	English everywhere
Long-term residency	Possible, with conditions	Possible, with conditions
Self-funded income route	None tracked	None tracked
Visa-free short visits	93 of 198 passports	35 of 198 passports

Source: the datasets behind our city pages. Cost is our model estimate (a country-level cost index scaled for city size); tax tiers are assigned by hand from each country's top marginal income tax rate and overall tax reputation; temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages); rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals); safety and healthcare are our own country-level estimates; internet from the Ookla Speedtest Global Index; English from the EF English Proficiency Index; residency from our hand-reviewed residency dataset (not legal advice); short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset.

Factor by factor

Cost of living

Close on cost: we estimate about €3,865 a month for a couple living centrally in Amsterdam and €3,980 in Birmingham.

Taxes

A tie: the Netherlands and the United Kingdom both sit in our high tax tier.

Climate

Amsterdam is 1°C warmer on average over the year: 11°C against 10°C in Birmingham. Rainfall is similar: about 907 mm a year in Amsterdam and 869 mm in Birmingham.

Safety

Amsterdam is the safer pick: the Netherlands scores 72 out of 100 on safety, 16 points above the United Kingdom (56).

Healthcare

Amsterdam has the stronger healthcare: the Netherlands scores 80 out of 100 on healthcare, 6 points above the United Kingdom (74).

Internet

Amsterdam has faster home internet: about 180 Mbps median fixed download against about 110 Mbps in Birmingham.

Language

Main languages: Dutch, English in Amsterdam; English in Birmingham. English proficiency is rated the same in both: English everywhere.

Residency and visas

Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency. For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter the Netherlands visa-free and 35 can enter the United Kingdom.

Which one fits a couple

On the factors we measure, Amsterdam leads on safety (72 against 56 out of 100), healthcare (80 against 74 out of 100) and internet speed (180 Mbps against 110 Mbps), and Birmingham leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Birmingham: jobs, family nearby, or simply which one each of you prefers after a visit.

Size differs too: Amsterdam is a mid-sized city (250,000 to 1 million people) and Birmingham a large one (1 to 5 million people). Amsterdam is coastal; Birmingham is near the coast.

OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Amsterdam, Birmingham and 913 other cities for both of you at once.

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