Birmingham vs Paris for couples

Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, and Paris, in France, are about 502 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. Birmingham leads on safety and getting by in English; Paris on healthcare and internet speed.

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Side by side

Factor	Birmingham	Paris
Country	United Kingdom	France
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	€3,980 a month	€3,993 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	10°C	13°C
Rainfall	869 mm a year	659 mm a year
Safety	56 / 100	52 / 100
Healthcare	74 / 100	80 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~110 Mbps	~230 Mbps
Main languages	English	French
English	English everywhere	Some English
Long-term residency	Possible, with conditions	Possible, with conditions
Self-funded income route	None tracked	From $1,720 a month
Visa-free short visits	35 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

Close on cost: we estimate about €3,980 a month for a couple living centrally in Birmingham and €3,993 in Paris.

Taxes

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

Climate

Paris is 3°C warmer on average over the year: 13°C against 10°C in Birmingham. Paris is drier, with about 659 mm of rain a year against 869 mm in Birmingham (24% less).

Safety

Birmingham is the safer pick: the United Kingdom scores 56 out of 100 on safety, 4 points above France (52).

Healthcare

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

Internet

Paris has faster home internet: about 230 Mbps median fixed download against about 110 Mbps in Birmingham.

Language

Main languages: English in Birmingham; French in Paris. English goes further in Birmingham (English everywhere) than in Paris (some English).

Residency and visas

Both are rated possible, with conditions for long-term residency. France has a self-funded route from about $1,720 a month in income; we track no income-based route for the United Kingdom. For short visits, 35 of 198 passports can enter the United Kingdom visa-free and 93 can enter France.

Which one fits a couple

If one of you puts safety (56 against 52 out of 100) and getting by in English (English everywhere against some English) first, Birmingham comes out ahead. If the other cares more about healthcare (80 against 74 out of 100) and internet speed (230 Mbps against 110 Mbps), Paris does.

Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Paris (13°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Birmingham (10°C).

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

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