Jerusalem vs Marseille for couples
Jerusalem, in Israel, and Marseille, in France, are about 2,905 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. Jerusalem leads on safety; Marseille on healthcare, internet speed and residency rules.
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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
Close on cost: we estimate about €4,008 a month for a couple living centrally in Jerusalem and €3,851 in Marseille.
Taxes
A tie: Israel and France both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Jerusalem is 2°C warmer on average over the year: 18°C against 16°C in Marseille. Jerusalem is drier, with about 416 mm of rain a year against 537 mm in Marseille (23% less).
Safety
Jerusalem is the safer pick: Israel scores 60 out of 100 on safety, 8 points above France (52).
Healthcare
Marseille has the stronger healthcare: France scores 80 out of 100 on healthcare, 8 points above Israel (72).
Internet
Marseille has faster home internet: about 230 Mbps median fixed download against about 130 Mbps in Jerusalem.
Language
Main languages: Hebrew, Arabic in Jerusalem; French in Marseille. English proficiency is rated the same in both: some English.
Residency and visas
Long-term residency is easier to obtain in France (possible, with conditions) than in Israel (hard to obtain). France has a self-funded route from about $1,720 a month in income; we track no income-based route for Israel. For short visits, 101 of 198 passports can enter Israel visa-free and 93 can enter France.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts safety (60 against 52 out of 100) first, Jerusalem comes out ahead. If the other cares more about healthcare (80 against 72 out of 100), internet speed (230 Mbps against 130 Mbps) and residency rules (possible, with conditions against hard to obtain), Marseille does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Jerusalem (18°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Marseille (16°C).
Size differs too: Jerusalem is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Marseille a mid-sized one (250,000 to 1 million people). Jerusalem is near the coast; Marseille is coastal.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Jerusalem, Marseille and 913 other cities for both of you at once.