Köln vs Luxembourg for couples
Köln, in Germany, and Luxembourg are about 158 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. Köln leads on cost and residency rules; Luxembourg on safety, healthcare 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
Köln is cheaper: we estimate about €3,665 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,187 in Luxembourg. That is €522 a month, or 12%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Germany and Luxembourg both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Köln is 1°C warmer on average over the year: 12°C against 11°C in Luxembourg. Rainfall is similar: about 784 mm a year in Köln 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 Köln.
Language
Main languages: German in Köln; 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 (€3,665 against €4,187 a month) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Köln 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: Köln is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Luxembourg a smaller one (under 250,000 people).
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