Köln vs Lyon for couples
Köln, in Germany, and Lyon, in France, are about 597 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 safety, getting by in English and residency rules; Lyon on internet speed.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
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 €3,665 a month for a couple living centrally in Köln and €3,767 in Lyon.
Taxes
A tie: Germany and France both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Lyon is 1°C warmer on average over the year: 13°C against 12°C in Köln. Rainfall is similar: about 784 mm a year in Köln and 788 mm in Lyon.
Safety
Köln is the safer pick: Germany scores 65 out of 100 on safety, 13 points above France (52).
Healthcare
Close: Germany scores 79 out of 100 on healthcare and France 80.
Internet
Lyon has faster home internet: about 230 Mbps median fixed download against about 90 Mbps in Köln.
Language
Main languages: German in Köln; French in Lyon. English goes further in Köln (good English) than in Lyon (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 France (possible, with conditions). The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $1,270 a month in Germany and $1,720 in France. 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 France.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts safety (65 against 52 out of 100), getting by in English (good English against some English) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions) first, Köln comes out ahead. If the other cares more about internet speed (230 Mbps against 90 Mbps), Lyon does.
Size differs too: Köln is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Lyon a mid-sized one (250,000 to 1 million people).
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Köln, Lyon and 913 other cities for both of you at once.