Amsterdam vs Reykjavík for couples
Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and Reykjavík, in Iceland, are about 2,014 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 residency rules; Reykjavík on safety and internet speed.
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Side by side
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 €4,180 in Reykjavík. That is €315 a month, or 8%, less.
Taxes
A tie: the Netherlands and Iceland both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Amsterdam is 6°C warmer on average over the year: 11°C against 5°C in Reykjavík. Rainfall is similar: about 907 mm a year in Amsterdam and 961 mm in Reykjavík.
Safety
Reykjavík is the safer pick: Iceland scores 90 out of 100 on safety, 18 points above the Netherlands (72).
Healthcare
Close: the Netherlands scores 80 out of 100 on healthcare and Iceland 82.
Internet
Reykjavík has faster home internet: about 230 Mbps median fixed download against about 180 Mbps in Amsterdam.
Language
Main languages: Dutch, English in Amsterdam; Icelandic, English in Reykjavík. English proficiency is rated the same in both: English everywhere.
Residency and visas
Long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland is easier to obtain in the Netherlands (possible, with conditions) than in Iceland (hard to obtain). 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 Iceland.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts cost (€3,865 against €4,180 a month) and residency rules (possible, with conditions against hard to obtain) first, Amsterdam comes out ahead. If the other cares more about safety (90 against 72 out of 100) and internet speed (230 Mbps against 180 Mbps), Reykjavík does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Amsterdam (11°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Reykjavík (5°C).
Size differs too: Amsterdam is a mid-sized city (250,000 to 1 million people) and Reykjavík a smaller one (under 250,000 people).
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