Lyon vs Madrid for couples
Lyon, in France, and Madrid, in Spain, are about 912 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. Madrid leads on cost, safety 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
Madrid is cheaper: we estimate about €3,256 a month for a couple living centrally, against €3,767 in Lyon. That is €511 a month, or 14%, less.
Taxes
A tie: France and Spain both sit in our high tax tier.
Climate
Madrid is 3°C warmer on average over the year: 16°C against 13°C in Lyon. Madrid is drier, with about 378 mm of rain a year against 788 mm in Lyon (52% less).
Safety
Madrid is the safer pick: Spain scores 65 out of 100 on safety, 13 points above France (52).
Healthcare
Close: France scores 80 out of 100 on healthcare and Spain 79.
Internet
Close: about 230 Mbps median fixed download in Lyon and about 200 Mbps in Madrid.
Language
Main languages: French in Lyon; Spanish in Madrid. English proficiency is rated the same in both: some English.
Residency and visas
Long-term residency for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland is easier to obtain in Spain (comparatively open) than in France (possible, with conditions). The cheapest self-funded income route we track starts at about $1,720 a month in France and $2,793 in Spain. 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 France visa-free and 93 can enter Spain.
Which one fits a couple
On the factors we measure, Madrid leads on cost (€3,256 against €3,767 a month), safety (65 against 52 out of 100) and residency rules (comparatively open against possible, with conditions), and Lyon leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Lyon: jobs, family nearby, or simply which one each of you prefers after a visit.
Climate can pull the two of you apart too: a partner who wants warmth leans toward Madrid (16°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Lyon (13°C), and whoever minds rain will prefer Madrid (378 mm a year against 788 mm).
Size differs too: Lyon is a mid-sized city (250,000 to 1 million people) and Madrid a large one (1 to 5 million people).
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Lyon, Madrid and 913 other cities for both of you at once.