Madrid vs Valencia for couples
Madrid and Valencia are both in Spain, about 302 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. Valencia leads on cost.
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
Valencia is cheaper: we estimate about €3,091 a month for a couple living centrally, against €3,256 in Madrid. That is €165 a month, or 5%, less.
Taxes
Same country, same tax: Spain is in our high tax tier.
Climate
Valencia is 2°C warmer on average over the year: 18°C against 16°C in Madrid. Rainfall is similar: about 378 mm a year in Madrid and 396 mm in Valencia.
Safety
Our safety score is country-level, so both cities get the same 65 out of 100.
Healthcare
Our healthcare score is country-level, so both cities get the same 79 out of 100.
Internet
Our broadband figure is country-level: about 200 Mbps median fixed download in both.
Language
Main languages in both: Spanish. English proficiency is rated the same in both: some English.
Residency and visas
Same country, same rules: long-term residency in Spain is rated comparatively open, with a self-funded route from about $2,793 a month in income.
Which one fits a couple
On the factors we measure, Valencia leads on cost (€3,091 against €3,256 a month), and Madrid leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Madrid: 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 Valencia (18°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Madrid (16°C).
Size differs too: Madrid is a large city (1 to 5 million people) and Valencia a mid-sized one (250,000 to 1 million people). Madrid is inland; Valencia is coastal.
OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Madrid, Valencia and 913 other cities for both of you at once.