Köln vs Paris for couples
Köln, in Germany, and Paris, in France, are about 403 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, safety, getting by in English and residency rules; Paris on 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 €3,993 in Paris. That is €328 a month, or 8%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Germany and France both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Paris is 1°C warmer on average over the year: 13°C against 12°C in Köln. Paris is drier, with about 659 mm of rain a year against 784 mm in Köln (16% less).
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
Paris has faster home internet: about 230 Mbps median fixed download against about 90 Mbps in Köln.
Language
Main languages: German in Köln; French in Paris. English goes further in Köln (good English) than in Paris (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 cost (€3,665 against €3,993 a month), 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), Paris does.
Both are large cities, but Köln is inland and Paris is near the coast.
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