Berlin vs Kraków for couples
Berlin, in Germany, and Kraków, in Poland, are about 530 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 healthcare, getting by in English and residency rules; Kraków on cost, tax, 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
Kraków is cheaper: we estimate about €2,672 a month for a couple living centrally, against €3,844 in Berlin. That is €1,172 a month, or 30%, less.
Taxes
Kraków has the lighter tax load: Poland is in our low to medium tax tier, Germany in our high tax tier.
Climate
Berlin is 1°C warmer on average over the year: 11°C against 10°C in Kraków. Berlin is drier, with about 584 mm of rain a year against 682 mm in Kraków (14% less).
Safety
Kraków is the safer pick: Poland scores 72 out of 100 on safety, 7 points above Germany (65).
Healthcare
Berlin has the stronger healthcare: Germany scores 79 out of 100 on healthcare, 17 points above Poland (62).
Internet
Kraków has faster home internet: about 140 Mbps median fixed download against about 90 Mbps in Berlin.
Language
Main languages: German in Berlin; Polish in Kraków. English goes further in Berlin (good English) than in Kraków (some English).
Residency and visas
Long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland is easier to obtain in Germany (comparatively open) than in Poland (possible, with conditions). The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $1,270 a month in Germany and $2,409 in Poland. 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 Germany visa-free and 93 can enter Poland.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts healthcare (79 against 62 out of 100), getting by in English (good English against some English) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Berlin comes out ahead. If the other cares more about cost (€2,672 against €3,844 a month), tax (low to medium tax against high tax), safety (72 against 65 out of 100) and internet speed (140 Mbps against 90 Mbps), Kraków does.
Size differs too: Berlin is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Kraków a mid-sized one (250,000 to 1 million people). Berlin is near the coast; Kraków is inland.
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