Cost of Living for a Family in France
Explore the cost of living in France, in big cities as well equally countryside. Take an indepth look at the prices of accommodation, transport, groceries, childcare and more.
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Figuring out what is the cost of living in France is like figuring out how long is a piece of string. The reply is "it depends".
The reality is that the cost of living beyond France varies every bit widely every bit the cost of living in the U.S. varies from San Francisco to Ohio. It depends on one's income and resources, the area that you live in, and almost of all, your own spending habits.
The city of Paris, for case, is in the same league every bit London, Manhattan and Zurich. Which is to say, it is quite expensive. It is and so much more expensive than the rest of French republic (effectually double), that the accountant in me had to clarify the price of living in Paris separately here.
Nonetheless Paris is non the whole of French republic, and we shouldn't derange it with the residuum. As a local living in Paris, with enough of family unit members scattered over France, I tin can tell y'all that the lifestyle (and prices) that you tin can savour outside of Paris, makes ane seriously recollect almost moving.
But the only way to do a proper anaylsis is is to look at specific items. Each bucket of items is broken downward into categories so that you can judge for yourself, whether you are a immature student computing the price of living in Provence or a family unit of iv moving to Bordeaux.
- I. Comparing Costs across different French cities
- II. Accommodation Costs
- Iii. Groceries costs
- 4. Article of clothing costs
- Five. Transportation costs
- 6. Insurance
- 7. Children and Education Costs
- Eight. Entertainment costs
- Nine. Sales Taxes in France
I. Comparing Costs across different French cities
If you are looking for a snapshot picture for the toll of living in French republic, hither are approximately the costs you would exist looking at. I've kept all the prices in Euros, to continue things consistent for currency fluctuations. The electric current boilerplate exchange rates (in 2022) are:
- €1 euro = $1.13 USD
- €1 euro = $i.46 CAD
- €one euro = $0.85 GBP
a) Big Cities in France
In terms of costs beyond major cities, Paris is the nigh expensive, while Marseille is on the lower cease, then serves as a good comparative. Cities like Bordeaux, Toulouse, Nice, and Montpellier are somewhere in the centre.
As with most cities, prices are a expert 20%-40% lower in suburbs outside of the major city centers. Paris in particular is simply 2 meg people inside the metropolis center, while it has 12million people in the Région Parisienne.
Lyon and Annecy are gaining in terms of cost of living, due to their fundamental location and quick access to the French Alps besides as the countryside. They are besides relatively close to the French Riviera (around 3 hours by car).
Bordeaux almost the west coast of French republic has recently increased in popularity (and property prices) afterward a direct fast TGV train line was established between information technology and the upper-case letter Paris.
b) Living in the Countryside
The center of French republic is substantially cheaper than living in one of the large cities, with the cost of accomodation much lower. Depending on the area, you can fifty-fifty get a house under €100k!
Regions like la Dordogne and Charente are quite in demand with British expatriates due to the proximity to the U.K., expert weather, and relatively cheap housing.
c) Sample budget
So with that being said, I should notation that the major factor in evaluating the cost of living is the toll of accommodation. I accept used Marseille and Provence as a basis for my comparison, considering it is a mid-range boondocks (and I have family at that place so I know information technology well!)
Other than in Paris, yous tin can go a reasonably sized ii sleeping accommodation apartment for around €1500 in Marseille and other cities around France. Thus, for a sample budget, I have used €1500/calendar month as a placeholder for accommodation, before discussing it more in detail below.)
Thus, for a couple with children, a sample budget for the cost of living in France would exist effectually:
| COSTS FOR A COUPLE | Provence € |
|---|---|
| Accommodation Costs | |
| a) Rent | 1500 |
| b) Building charges | 100 |
| c) Electricity | 100 |
| d) Cable bills with 2 cellphones | 100 |
| Groceries costs | |
| a) Food and other essentials | 700 |
| b) Tiffin at piece of work | 200 |
| c) Wine | 100 |
| Clothing costs | 200 |
| Transportation costs | |
| b) Gas | 100 |
| c) Tolls on roads | l |
| Insurance | |
| a) Healthcare insurance | 60 |
| b) Home insurance & Civil responsibility | 25 |
| c) Auto insurance | 35 |
| Children & Instruction Costs (later on reductions) | |
| a) Nursery and daycare (1 child) | 500 |
| b) School (ane child) | fifty |
| Amusement costs | |
| a) Dining in Restaurants (four-5 times a month) | 350 |
| b) Film tickets, Museums, etc. | 100 |
| Full PER MONTH | €four,270 |
Note: These figures accept been provided for entertainment purposes simply. All prices are estimate and are discipline to each person's personal situation. We are not responsible for any differences between actual costs and estimates.
This calculation doesn't really give the whole picture though, because in that location are a lot of circumstances where detail discounts and reductions are usually available to locals. These have been integrated in the above calculations, but may not be bachelor to everybody.
Two. Adaptation Costs
a) Housing
There are two main types of rentals in France, furnished (meublé) and unfurnished. Unfurnished is usually around 5% cheaper than furnished.
Prices in other major French cities are approximately:
- Paris – €35/sq m
- Marseille – €15/sq m
- Lyon – €16/sq thousand
- Bordeaux – €16/sq m
You can see that rental costs in Paris are more than double what they would be in other large cities in France, and pocket-sized towns will be even cheaper. And so equally in the sample budget example above, you lot would get approximately 100 sq meter two-3 bedroom apartment in Marseille, which is approximately 1100 sq ft.
If you lot are looking to purchase an apartment instead of renting, prices in major French cities are approximately:
- Paris – €x-12k/sq 1000
- Marseille – €3k/sq 1000
- Lyon – €5k/sq m
- Bordeaux – €four.5k/sq k
Notwithstanding the smaller the identify is, the college the premium. In addition, notary fees and taxes of effectually vii-ix% are added to the buy toll.
Once again, Paris apartment prices are more than double the price in the other major cities in France. An apartment of 100sqm may cost around €350keur in Marseille, but will toll around €1.4meur in Paris.
All homeowners too pay an annual taxe fonciere , which is a type of belongings taxation based on location and income (on average in the €1-3k range). In sure areas similar Paris, if the home is a secondary residence, the taxe fonciere is increased by sixty%.
In that location is also a taxe d'habitation on properties, which is paid merely by high-income owners and secondary residences.
Renovations: While a lot depends on the finishes you choose, the full general benchmark for renovation costs in the Paris area is effectually €1-2k per square meter. This is around 20% cheaper than costs for a firm in the countryside.
b) Edifice charges
Both owners and renters of apartments volition exist required to pay building charges for the budget of the building, including if the edifice has elevators, parking spaces, and a gardien (concierge).
The biggest portion of the charge is due to a gardien, so buildings in Marseille, for example, don't usually have those.
Some buildings will have centrally controlled radiators for heat, which are turned on past the building at the outset of November. The price is commonly included in the building charges, rather than in the electricity bill.
c) Electricity
Electricity depends on the size of your apartment as well every bit your consumption. For a mid-sized flat it should be effectually €75 in the summertime (most of France doesn't have airconditioning) and €150 in the wintertime.
Yet, if you lot don't take central heat radiators, you will accept electric heaters, and the prices will significantly vary based on consumption.
There is also an selection with your electricity company to only heat your hot water tank (chaudiére) at night at a slightly cheaper charge per unit.
☞ READ More than: Household items you volition own if you live in Paris
d) Cablevision bills
For cellphone, internet, and cable, y'all can normally get a bundle deal for around €l-threescore, which will also include a landline. Each boosted cellphone line is around €25 with a mid-range data packet.
Notwithstanding, a basic set of channels by antenna is bachelor all beyond French republic. An almanac amount of €140 is collected through the income tax return (called the rédevance télé), which all residents have to pay, unless they tin prove that they don't take a Goggle box.
Notation, virtually landlines in France ordinarily accept gratis calling internationally to over seventy countries, including U.S., and Canada.
Iii. Groceries costs
a) Food and other essentials
Grocery costs are pretty equivalent to North America, with a range of cheaper grocery stores up to more than expensive artisanal shops. There is non really a price divergence between Paris and smaller towns in French republic, since all the large grocery stores are online and offer delivery services.
The Whole Foods equivalent in France is the more than expensive Monoprix , which tin be establish in every neighborhood and town. At the other end of the scale, the Aldi equivalent is the cheaper E. LeClerc and Leaderprice .
The primary deviation when grocery shopping is that in that location no such affair as extreme couponing, supersales, or buy-one-go-one blazon deals. Supermarkets are restricted every bit to the type of offers that they tin propose, and deep discounting is illegal. It is hard to get a bargain in French grocery stores, the price you see is generally the price you lot pay.
Specialty shops: While the large grocery stores in France take decent stuff, French people love their artisan foods. If you desire communication on the best piece of meat for that boeuf bourguignon, head over to a boucherie (butcher shop).
For special occasions or just if they happen to be gourmand (bask their food), ownership meat at a boucherie, bread at a boulangerie, cheese at a fromagerie, etc. is very popular. Some of these specialty shops are more artisanal than others and prices can vary widely depending on how unique the products sold are.
Farmers Markets:Farmers' market across the state are not especially cheaper than grocery stores. The thought of terroir, food coming straight from the globe and existence produced nearby is very much still prelevant in France.
The produce tends to be of ameliorate quality, and the thought of paying a off-white wage ways that prices are non cheaper than the mass market.
b) Lunch at work
French employers are required to provide employees with "access to a decent meal in good conditions". In practice, this means that most large employers have negotiated with their unions to provide a highly subsidized canteen on the premises.
A full meal with entrée–plat–dessert at a work canteen should cost around €v-6. If the employer is too small to take a bottle, it tin instead buy "ticket restos" which are meal certificates to give to employees.
Fifty percent of the cost is picked upwardly by the employer and the rest by the employee. These can be used in restaurants and grocery stores to purchase meals, as the employee wishes.
c) Wine
One item that is a lot cheaper in France is the wine. I know, you may hate wine, but we are in France after all, so I had to include it in the budget! With France beingness a major international vino producer, some (non-great) French wines first as low as €2.50.
And yous can actually become a decent bottle for equally lilliputian equally €5. You can, of course, get more expensive bottles (sky is limit!). But if yous just want a elementary canteen for an apéro, a trip to the local french grocery store will come across you walk out with wine, cheese, a baguette, and a pack of charcuterie for less than €ten.
Iv. Article of clothing costs
Wear costs vary widely from fast fashion to high-end luxury brands, and then it really depends on your own tastes. That existence said, retailers in France are non immune to deep discount.
Sales periods (les soldes) are allowed only twice a yr, and you will not detect the door-crasher deals that you notice in the U.S. Items tend to be more than expensive that what you are used to in the U.S. or the U.Grand.
V. Transportation costs
a) Gas
If you lot are American, you will be shocked at the cost of gasoline in France. The current price in France is effectually one.6/litre which is around €six/gallon in Euros or $vii.10/gallon in USD. That is approximately three times the price that Americans pay.
Most of the difference is due to taxes in France, which charges high gasoline taxes. While French companies similar Total are involved in gasoline product, most of the supply is imported in.
b) Tolls on roads
If you lot bulldoze around France, yous volition also come across a lot of toll roads. The roads were sold off of individual entities years ago, and price inflation has been swift.
At that place are as well a lot of smaller tunnels and bridges that have tolls that you wouldn't expect. I one time missed an get out but outside Paris and concluded up on a price road that cost €8 to get off at the next exit, and another €8 to come dorsum.
As an example, a 7-hour trip from Paris to Marseille by automobile can easily cost over €80 in tolls each manner, and so when you gene in the cost of gas, you are easily looking at a €300 road trip for a roundtrip.
c) Airline tickets
Budget airlines are the norm in Europe, and fifty-fifty mainstream airlines like Air France have their ain budget brands. Flights tin be quite inexpensive, with add-ons similar luggage, etc. tacked on.
For example, you tin can become a flight from Paris to London for around €100-150. Yet, if yous are non located near an international airport, past the time you add together in the cost of transportation, parking, etc. the bills volition beginning to add together up.
d) Train tickets
Convenience aside, it is normally more expensive to take the SNCF trains than it is to fly. The same trip from Paris to London on the Eurostar loftier-speed train would exist closer to €200-350. Paris to Marseille would be around €150-250 for a circular trip.
However, the TGV high speed train connection is commonly from centre-ville to middle-ville, meaning that you can avert the additional costs of travelling to an airport.
6. Insurance
a) Healthcare insurance
Healthcare is free in France for tax-paying citizens and residents, so that is a toll that we don't unremarkably take into account. However, the costs are usually paid in advance by the patient and and so reimbursed by Sécurité Sociale.
Prices for a normal full general practitioner visit are effectually €35, while a more specialized physician similar a gynocologist will be around €eighty-100.
Even if you had to pay out of pocket, the prices of medications, going to the emergency room, or giving birth in a hospital, are merely pennies on the dollar.
Most people exercise accept additional wellness insurance (chosen Mutuelle ) through either their employer or individual insurance to comprehend any overages such as glasses, dental, and prescriptions that are not covered by the government. For a family of iv, it is around €120, one-half of which is normally covered by the employer.
b) Home insurance and Civil Responsibility
Both renters and owners are required to become Assurance Habitation avec Responsabilité Civile to cover the family. The assurance habitation (home insurance) covers the home and contents.
Responsibilité Civile is more interesting considering it covers actions outside the home likewise. It covers the fabric or bodily damage to a third party, whether through negligence, abandon, his children, animals or things for which he is responsible.
Information technology does not cover intentional acts. Budget around €400/year for domicile and ceremonious responsibility insurance.
c) Car insurance
Unless yous live in Paris, you may want to have a motorcar. Driving in France is not that complicated, simply there are a few driving laws to be enlightened of. Car insurance for a small car is around €400-500/year.
Vii. Children and Education Costs
a) Nursery and daycare
State subsidized daycare ( créche ) is the holy grail for nigh new parents in France, because of its high standards and affordable price. The price is based on an income calibration (past town), with the maximum being around €2.fifty/ hour. On boilerplate for a 40hour week, the monthly cost is around €800 euros for high-income earners. At the low terminate, the price can be equally depression as €l/ calendar month.
If yous do not become a spot in créche and have to get an assistant maternelle instead, a regime agency chosen CAF covers a good portion of the costs, bringing the price downwardly to the equivalent of créches.
A lot of larger companies also accept Employee Committees ( Comité d'Entreprises ) which will cover a portion of the costs.
b) School
Maternelle (from three years old) to loftier school is gratuitous in French republic, although boosted programs like early drib-off, late pick-up, and school canteens cost actress. Prices are based on income and town you live in. As an example, for school canteens in Paris, the amounts in question tin be as low €0.15 per solar day, which works out to €iv/calendar month.
In addition, all childcare expenses (including créche and after-school activities) provides income taxation credits on your annual tax render. The French government agency CAF likewise pays each family unit a stipend per month, depending on the number of children, the family's resources, and special factors such every bit if it is a unmarried parent, etc.
c) University
Public universities are free in France and every French student is guaranteed a spot somewhere. More interestingly, some schools like the National Schoolhouse of Public Administration ENA , really pay the students a stipend of around €1700/ calendar month to nourish! Competition is steep to get into schools like ENA, and students are expected to work for the government for ten years after graduating, or they pay those funds back.
There is another grade of universities in France however, chosen the Grandes Ecoles that are more prestigious, just likewise more expensive. These French "Ivy League" universities can easily price anywhere from €8k-15k a year.
On the other hand, students in France receive a subsidy for housing and other costs of living from the government bureau CAF , which depends on the parents' income and school location (The Parisian educatee'due south cost of living is assumed to exist higher than other regions).
☞ READ MORE: The French Instruction Arrangement Demystified
8. Amusement costs
a) Dining in Restaurants
In French republic, you don't really have the super-cheap $2 for a pizza slice deals that you lot see in Northward America. For ane, near French people don't snack, and so there is no reason to offer deals like that. Besides, the toll of adhering to French nutrient rules and regulations means that it would not exist profitable.
Restaurants beyond France can vary significantly from the tiny brasserie on a placidity street to 3-star Michelin restaurants in the fanciest function of boondocks. Prices already include all taxes, and tips to the server are not required.
For a Frenchman in North America, he volition be surprised to see taxes and tips added to the bill, while the American in France will be amazed past how "cheap" it seems compared to what he was expecting.
Most French people normally leave only go out a couple of euros, because the waiter is expected to earn a full salary through his employer.
b) Pic tickets, Museums, and Theme Parks
There is the total price that tourists pay, and then there is the price that locals ordinarily pay. Well-nigh French people have access to large discounts on things similar picture show tickets and sightseeing attractions through their work, as part of their union-negotiated perks.
Large theme parks like Disneyland Paris, Parc Asterix, and Jardin d'Acclimatation offering discounts to firms for their employees, as well as special offers depending on the fourth dimension of the year. (Usually, the larger the firm, the amend their Comité d'Entreprise benefits will be.)
Museums also offer EU citizens under 25 free access, as well as reduced prices for the unemployed, handicapped, and other special classes. There is likewise complimentary access to most museums on the 1st Sunday of every month.
9. Sales Taxes in France
I wasn't certain if I wanted to include taxes hither since that usually relates to income, but then I realized that I had to mention sales taxes, or Value-added Taxation ( TVA or Taxe sur la valeur ajoutée in French).
TVA is a flat sales tax that is included in all the items I have noted higher up, at either a 0% rate for basic essentials up to xx% for everything else. The sales price already includes this, so you don't need to account for this separately. Nevertheless, a 20% taxation on goods and services is a lot.
So there you take it, the deep dive into the toll of living in Paris and across French republic! Is there any category that I missed? If you enjoyed this commodity, yous may want to read more about the reality of living in Paris. (Hint: It is not what you remember!) A bientôt!
Source: https://snippetsofparis.com/cost-of-living-france/
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