Where to live in Italy
We track 13 cities in Italy, including Rome, Milan and Venice. Average temperatures run from 13°C to 19°C. We estimate a couple needs €3,041 to €3,567 a month to live centrally. Italy sits in our high tax tier. For citizens from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, long-term residency is comparatively open.
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).
- Tax tier
- High
- High personal income tax
- Languages
- Italian
- Limited English
- Safety
- 57/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 76/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~70 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 13 cities we track
| City | Size | Setting | Avg temp | Rain a year | Est. cost a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bari | mid-sized | coastal | 18°C | 568 mm | €3,292 |
| Bologna | mid-sized | near the coast | 15°C | 745 mm | €3,323 |
| Florence | mid-sized | near the coast | 16°C | 798 mm | €3,313 |
| Genoa | mid-sized | coastal | 16°C | 1,214 mm | €3,376 |
| Milan | large | near the coast | 14°C | 1,007 mm | €3,494 |
| Naples | mid-sized | coastal | 17°C | 947 mm | €3,438 |
| Palermo | mid-sized | coastal | 19°C | 479 mm | €3,391 |
| Rome | large | coastal | 17°C | 703 mm | €3,567 |
| Siracusa | smaller | coastal | 19°C | 487 mm | €3,160 |
| Trieste | smaller | coastal | 15°C | 1,016 mm | €3,232 |
| Turin | mid-sized | near the coast | 13°C | 809 mm | €3,428 |
| Venice | smaller | coastal | 14°C | 767 mm | €3,041 |
| Verona | mid-sized | near the coast | 15°C | 851 mm | €3,264 |
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
Italy sits in our high tax tier: high personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Comparatively open, for people from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Italy offers several realistic long-term routes for a capable applicant: a digital nomad/remote-worker visa, an elective-residence (passive-income/sufficient-means) visa for retirees and the independently wealthy, and an investor (golden) visa, all leading to permanent residence after five years.
Citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights here.
The cheapest self-funded routes we track for Italy:
- Income: about $2,718 a month (Italy Digital Nomad Visa (lowest sufficient-means/salary route, no Italian sponsor), EUR 28,000/yr (~EUR 2,333/mo), converted at ECB EUR/USD 1.1649 on 2026-06-02; as of June 2026)
- Investment: about $291k (Italy Investor (Golden) Visa, lowest innovative-startup tier EUR 250,000 one-time, converted at ECB EUR/USD 1.1649 on 2026-06-02; as of June 2026)
For short visits, 93 of 198 passports can enter visa-free and 105 need a visa in advance.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).