Luxembourg vs Milan for couples
Luxembourg and Milan, in Italy, are about 515 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. Luxembourg leads on safety, healthcare, internet speed and getting by in English; Milan on cost 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
Milan is cheaper: we estimate about €3,494 a month for a couple living centrally, against €4,187 in Luxembourg. That is €693 a month, or 17%, less.
Taxes
A tie: Luxembourg and Italy both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Milan is 3°C warmer on average over the year: 14°C against 11°C in Luxembourg. Luxembourg is drier, with about 832 mm of rain a year against 1,007 mm in Milan (17% less).
Safety
Luxembourg is the safer pick: Luxembourg scores 80 out of 100 on safety, 23 points above Italy (57).
Healthcare
Luxembourg has the stronger healthcare: Luxembourg scores 82 out of 100 on healthcare, 6 points above Italy (76).
Internet
Luxembourg has faster home internet: about 150 Mbps median fixed download against about 70 Mbps in Milan.
Language
Main languages: Luxembourgish, French, German in Luxembourg; Italian in Milan. English goes further in Luxembourg (good English) than in Milan (limited English).
Residency and visas
Long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland is easier to obtain in Italy (comparatively open) than in Luxembourg (possible, with conditions). The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $3,221 a month in Luxembourg and $2,718 in Italy. 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 Luxembourg visa-free and 93 can enter Italy.
Which one fits a couple
If one of you puts safety (80 against 57 out of 100), healthcare (82 against 76 out of 100), internet speed (150 Mbps against 70 Mbps) and getting by in English (good English against limited English) first, Luxembourg comes out ahead. If the other cares more about cost (€3,494 against €4,187 a month) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions), Milan does.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Milan (14°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Luxembourg (11°C).
Size differs too: Luxembourg is a smaller city (under 250,000 people) and Milan a large one (1 to 5 million people). Luxembourg is inland; Milan is near the coast.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Luxembourg, Milan and 913 other cities for both of you at once.