Berlin vs Birmingham for couples

Berlin, in Germany, and Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, are about 1,034 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. Berlin leads on safety, healthcare and residency rules; Birmingham on internet speed and getting by in English.

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Side by side

Factor	Berlin	Birmingham
Country	Germany	United Kingdom
Size	Large: 1 to 5 million people	Large: 1 to 5 million people
Setting	Near the coast	Near the coast
Est. cost for a couple	€3,844 a month	€3,980 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	11°C	10°C
Rainfall	584 mm a year	869 mm a year
Safety	65 / 100	56 / 100
Healthcare	79 / 100	74 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~90 Mbps	~110 Mbps
Main languages	German	English
English	Good English	English everywhere
Long-term residency	Comparatively open	Possible, with conditions
Self-funded income route	From $1,270 a month	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 €3,844 a month for a couple living centrally in Berlin and €3,980 in Birmingham.

Taxes

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

Climate

Berlin is 1°C warmer on average over the year: 11°C against 10°C in Birmingham. Berlin is drier, with about 584 mm of rain a year against 869 mm in Birmingham (33% less).

Safety

Berlin is the safer pick: Germany scores 65 out of 100 on safety, 9 points above the United Kingdom (56).

Healthcare

Berlin has the stronger healthcare: Germany scores 79 out of 100 on healthcare, 5 points above the United Kingdom (74).

Internet

Birmingham has faster home internet: about 110 Mbps median fixed download against about 90 Mbps in Berlin.

Language

Main languages: German in Berlin; English in Birmingham. English goes further in Birmingham (English everywhere) than in Berlin (good English).

Residency and visas

Long-term residency is easier to obtain in Germany (comparatively open) than in the United Kingdom (possible, with conditions). Germany has a self-funded route from about $1,270 a month in income; we track no income-based route for the United Kingdom. For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter Germany visa-free and 35 can enter the United Kingdom.

Which one fits a couple

If one of you puts safety (65 against 56 out of 100), healthcare (79 against 74 out of 100) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Berlin comes out ahead. If the other cares more about internet speed (110 Mbps against 90 Mbps) and getting by in English (English everywhere against good English), Birmingham does.

Climate can pull the two of you apart too: whoever minds rain will prefer Berlin (584 mm a year against 869 mm).

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

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