Marseille vs Strasbourg for couples

Marseille and Strasbourg are both in France, about 616 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. Strasbourg leads on cost.

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Side by side

Factor	Marseille	Strasbourg
Country	France	France
Size	Mid-sized: 250,000 to 1 million people	Mid-sized: 250,000 to 1 million people
Setting	Coastal	Inland
Est. cost for a couple	€3,851 a month	€3,665 a month
Tax tier	High tax	High tax
Average temperature	16°C	12°C
Rainfall	537 mm a year	687 mm a year
Safety	52 / 100	52 / 100
Healthcare	80 / 100	80 / 100
Internet (median fixed)	~230 Mbps	~230 Mbps
Main languages	French	French
English	Some English	Some English
Long-term residency	Possible, with conditions	Possible, with conditions
Self-funded income route	From $1,720 a month	From $1,720 a month
Visa-free short visits	93 of 198 passports	93 of 198 passports

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

Strasbourg is cheaper: we estimate about €3,665 a month for a couple living centrally, against €3,851 in Marseille. That is €186 a month, or 5%, less.

Taxes

Same country, same tax: France is in our high tax tier.

Climate

Marseille is 4°C warmer on average over the year: 16°C against 12°C in Strasbourg. Marseille is drier, with about 537 mm of rain a year against 687 mm in Strasbourg (22% less).

Safety

Our safety score is country-level, so both cities get the same 52 out of 100.

Healthcare

Our healthcare score is country-level, so both cities get the same 80 out of 100.

Internet

Our broadband figure is country-level: about 230 Mbps median fixed download in both.

Language

Main languages in both: French. English proficiency is rated the same in both: some English.

Residency and visas

Same country, same rules: long-term residency in France is rated possible, with conditions, with a self-funded route from about $1,720 a month in income.

Which one fits a couple

On the factors we measure, Strasbourg leads on cost (€3,665 against €3,851 a month), and Marseille leads on none of them. What our data does not cover can still tip it toward Marseille: 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 Marseille (16°C on average), while one who minds the heat leans toward Strasbourg (12°C).

Both are mid-sized cities, but Marseille is coastal and Strasbourg is inland.

OurNextCity has each partner answer 12 questions privately, then ranks Marseille, Strasbourg and 913 other cities for both of you at once.

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