Amsterdam vs Copenhagen for couples

Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and Copenhagen, in Denmark, are about 621 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 cost and getting by in English; Copenhagen on safety and internet speed.

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Side by side

Factor	Amsterdam	Copenhagen
Country	Netherlands	Denmark
Size	Mid-sized: 250,000 to 1 million people	Large: 1 to 5 million people
Setting	Coastal	Coastal
Est. cost for a couple	€3,865 a month	€4,318 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	11°C	10°C
Rainfall	907 mm a year	645 mm a year
Safety	72 / 100	75 / 100
Healthcare	80 / 100	80 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~180 Mbps	~220 Mbps
Main languages	Dutch, English	Danish, English
English	English everywhere	Good English
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	93 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

Amsterdam is cheaper: we estimate about €3,865 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,318 in Copenhagen. That is €453 a month, or 10%, less.

Taxes

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

Climate

Amsterdam is 1°C warmer on average over the year: 11°C against 10°C in Copenhagen. Copenhagen is drier, with about 645 mm of rain a year against 907 mm in Amsterdam (29% less).

Safety

Copenhagen is the safer pick: Denmark scores 75 out of 100 on safety, 3 points above the Netherlands (72).

Healthcare

Tied: the Netherlands and Denmark both score 80 out of 100 on healthcare.

Internet

Copenhagen has faster home internet: about 220 Mbps median fixed download against about 180 Mbps in Amsterdam.

Language

Main languages: Dutch, English in Amsterdam; Danish, English in Copenhagen. English goes further in Amsterdam (English everywhere) than in Copenhagen (good English).

Residency and visas

Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights in both. For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter the Netherlands visa-free and 93 can enter Denmark.

Which one fits a couple

If one of you puts cost (€3,865 against €4,318 a month) and getting by in English (English everywhere against good English) first, Amsterdam comes out ahead. If the other cares more about safety (75 against 72 out of 100) and internet speed (220 Mbps against 180 Mbps), Copenhagen does.

Climate can pull the two of you apart too: whoever minds rain will prefer Copenhagen (645 mm a year against 907 mm).

Size differs too: Amsterdam is a mid-sized city (250,000 to 1 million people) and Copenhagen a large one (1 to 5 million people).

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

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