Hamburg vs Luxembourg for couples

Hamburg, in Germany, and Luxembourg are about 513 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. Hamburg leads on cost and residency rules; Luxembourg on safety, healthcare and internet speed.

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Side by side

Factor	Hamburg	Luxembourg
Country	Germany	Luxembourg
Size	Large: 1 to 5 million people	Smaller: under 250,000 people
Setting	Coastal	Inland
Est. cost for a couple	€3,762 a month	€4,187 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	11°C	11°C
Rainfall	776 mm a year	832 mm a year
Safety	65 / 100	80 / 100
Healthcare	79 / 100	82 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~90 Mbps	~150 Mbps
Main languages	German	Luxembourgish, French, German
English	Good English	Good English
Long-term residency	Comparatively open	Possible, with conditions
Self-funded income route	From $1,270 a month	From $3,221 a month
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

Hamburg is cheaper: we estimate about €3,762 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,187 in Luxembourg. That is €425 a month, or 10%, less.

Taxes

A tie: Germany and Luxembourg both sit in our high tax tier.

Climate

Both average 11°C over the year. Rainfall is similar: about 776 mm a year in Hamburg and 832 mm in Luxembourg.

Safety

Luxembourg is the safer pick: Luxembourg scores 80 out of 100 on safety, 15 points above Germany (65).

Healthcare

Luxembourg has the stronger healthcare: Luxembourg scores 82 out of 100 on healthcare, 3 points above Germany (79).

Internet

Luxembourg has faster home internet: about 150 Mbps median fixed download against about 90 Mbps in Hamburg.

Language

Main languages: German in Hamburg; Luxembourgish, French, German in Luxembourg. English proficiency is rated the same in both: good 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 Luxembourg (possible, with conditions). The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $1,270 a month in Germany and $3,221 in Luxembourg. 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 Luxembourg.

Which one fits a couple

If one of you puts cost (€3,762 against €4,187 a month) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Hamburg comes out ahead. If the other cares more about safety (80 against 65 out of 100), healthcare (82 against 79 out of 100) and internet speed (150 Mbps against 90 Mbps), Luxembourg does.

Size differs too: Hamburg is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Luxembourg a smaller one (under 250,000 people). Hamburg is coastal; Luxembourg is inland.

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