Relocating to Berlin from another country? This is what a newcomer is moving into, on the official figures: income, jobs, housing, connectivity, taxes and who lives here, all drawn from German Regionalstatistik, the Zensus 2022 and the Breitbandatlas.
Berlin is a city through and through, and it behaves like one on every measure below. Nationally it ranks 5th of 394 German districts on building-land prices, from most to least expensive.
How Berlin compares
Where Berlin ranks against all 400 of Germany’s districts (Kreise); building-land prices are recorded for 394 of them. Each bar fills to the percentile shown; hover for the underlying figure.
Berlin compared with Germany’s other major cities
The bars above set Berlin against all 400 German districts, most of them rural. If you are weighing up job offers, the more useful question is how it sits against the cities it actually competes with.
| # | City | Net cold rent | Income / resident | Median wage | Jobs / 1,000 | Unemployment | Fibre (FTTB/H) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berlin | €7.67/m² | €26,209 | €4,150 | 457 | 10.3% | 53% |
| 2 | Hamburg | €9.16/m² | €29,620 | €4,350 | 582 | 8.3% | 80% |
| 3 | Munich | €12.89/m² | €38,190 | €5,100 | 649 | 5.4% | 77% |
| 4 | Cologne | €9.39/m² | €28,764 | €4,450 | 617 | 9.1% | 66% |
| 5 | Frankfurt | €10.58/m² | €29,442 | €4,850 | 861 | 6.9% | 39% |
| 6 | Düsseldorf | €9.24/m² | €32,446 | €4,700 | 744 | 8.0% | 38% |
| 7 | Stuttgart | €10.39/m² | €31,390 | €4,950 | 723 | 6.6% | 41% |
Rent is the average net cold rent (Nettokaltmiete) from the 2022 census, income is disposable income per resident (2023), median wage is full-time gross per month (2024), jobs and unemployment are 2025, fibre coverage end of 2025.
Scale the average rent to a 70 m² flat for a year and set it against disposable income per resident, and Berlin comes out at 24.6%, 2nd of these seven cities. Düsseldorf leads the group at 23.9%; Frankfurt trails at 30.2%.
Read that ratio as a comparison device rather than a household budget: disposable income is spread across every resident, children and pensioners included, and the rent is the 2022 census level for tenants already in place. What it does show reliably is the direction of travel.
Where Berlin lags is fibre. 53% of households can get fibre to the building, against Hamburg 80%, Munich 77%, Cologne 66%. Gigabit over upgraded cable is widely available, so most addresses still get a fast line, but if you specifically need FTTB/H, check the address before you sign.
Why expats end up in Berlin
Berlin earns its living from government, science and software rather than from industry. The federal ministries and the Bundestag are here, along with three big universities and the Charité, and on top of that sits the largest startup scene in Germany — Zalando, Delivery Hero, N26 and several thousand smaller companies. That mix is why Berlin is the one German city where a newcomer can realistically work in English from day one, and it is also why the unemployment rate on this page is the highest of the big cities: the economy creates plenty of jobs but not enough for everyone who moves here.
The rent figure above needs a warning. It comes from the 2022 census and covers tenants already in place, many of them on contracts signed years ago under Berlin’s rent controls. What you will be quoted on a new lease is a different world, and viewings for a decent flat routinely draw dozens of applicants. Budget well above the number in the table, and expect the search itself to take weeks rather than days.
Practically, Berlin is spread out and the transport is good: U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams and buses on one ticket, and BER airport at the southern edge, roughly half an hour from the centre by S-Bahn or regional train. The bureaucracy is the notorious part. An Anmeldung appointment at a Bürgeramt can take weeks to come free, and almost everything else — bank account, tax number, health insurance — waits on it, so book the slot before you arrive if you can.
On neighbourhoods: Prenzlauer Berg and parts of Mitte are the settled, expensive, family end. Kreuzberg and Neukölln are younger, louder and still the default for new arrivals. Friedrichshain sits between the two. Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf in the west are quieter and more conventional than Berlin’s reputation suggests, and Wedding and Lichtenberg are where the affordable space has moved to. The honest caveat: Berlin is poorer than it looks. Incomes here are below the German average, salaries lag Munich and Düsseldorf badly, and the city runs on culture rather than on money.
Jobs and the economy
63% above DE avg
Jobs and people are in rough balance in Berlin: 1,682,946 jobs at local workplaces in 2025, 457 per 1,000 residents. Those jobs are spread across 196,449 registered businesses (2024), which gives a feel for the spread of employers here. The local jobless rate is 10.3% in 2025 (German average 6.3%), roughly one in 10 of the local workforce.
The median full-time worker here earns €4,150 a month gross (5% above the German median of €3,950), before tax and social contributions. This is a different measure from the disposable income per resident above: it is what people in work earn, not what each resident has left to spend. Source: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, 2024.
Cost of living and housing
5% above DE avg
8% below DE avg
Net cold rent (Nettokaltmiete) averages €7.67 per m² here, about 5% above the German average of €7.28. Sitting tenants pay this 2022 census rate, and newcomers on the open market generally pay a step up. Each resident has €26,209 of disposable income a year (298th highest of 400 German districts). That is about 8% below the German average of €28,453. It is a headline figure, not adjusted for local prices, so read it next to the rent above. Building plots go for around €1,128 per m², the 5th highest of 394 districts with a recorded price, the bare ground before a brick is laid and the floor under every local rent. The national midpoint is roughly €132 per m². For a 70 m² flat that is around €537 a month in cold rent at €7.67/m² — an existing tenancy in 2022; budget above it for a new lease.
The local housing market
What you are renting into, on the 2022 census: 83.7% of homes are rented rather than owner-occupied; the vacancy rate is 2.0% (not much slack); the average home measures 73 m². Vacancies are scarce, so good listings go fast. The stock is 2,058,666 homes in 337,460 buildings, about 6.1 per building, so this is very much flats over houses. In the latest year 1,555 new dwellings were completed against 922 permits, a rough read on how fast the housing stock is growing.
Who lives in Berlin
Who lives here, by age and household type, on the 2022 census.
Age distribution
This is a young, working-age place. 31.6% of residents are aged 25 to 45, the bracket most relocations fall into, with 13.9% under 15 and 19.2% at 65 or older. The 2022 census fills in the rest: 28.7% of residents have a migration history (19.5% are foreign nationals); 56.8% of households are single-person; 48.4% of adults hold an Abitur / university-entrance qualification. For an international moving in, that is reassuring: you would be far from the only foreigner here. Local schools serve 406,359 pupils. Daycare places get easier to find as children get older: about 2.0% of under-1s, 58.8% of 1 to 2 year olds and 86.6% of 2 to 3 year olds have a place, so finding care for an infant is harder than for a toddler.
Internet & connectivity
How many households can reach each speed (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025). Gigabit can arrive over fibre or upgraded cable; true fibre (FTTB/H) is broken out separately.
A fixed line of 100 Mbit/s or better is available to 99% of households, and 96% can reach gigabit (1,000 Mbit/s) speeds (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025). Of that, 53% of households can get true fibre to the building (FTTB/H); the rest of the gigabit coverage runs over upgraded cable. On mobile, 5G reaches 100% of households. For remote work, including for an overseas employer, most addresses here are well covered.
Where Berlin is in Germany
Recorded crime
Police-recorded offences in the district, per 100,000 residents.
Police recorded 13,642 offences per 100,000 residents in 2025 (the Häufigkeitszahl), 168% above the German district median of about 5,096. This counts offences registered by the police, not convictions, and is inflated wherever offenders and victims are not residents: city centres, major stations, motorways and airports all push it up. It reflects recorded activity in the area, not how dangerous the place is for the people who live there. Source: Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik, BKA 2025.
Local taxes
Local tax barely registers for a typical newcomer. The Gewerbesteuer multiplier here is 410% — relevant if you register a business, invisible if you are employed. The property tax (Grundsteuer B) reaches you as a tenant through the service charges (Nebenkosten), and it was reset in the 2025 reform, so there is no settled rate to quote yet.
Moving in and out
growing
The headcount in Berlin is rising. In 2024, 186,222 moved in and 159,115 moved out, a net of +27,107. More arrive than leave, which keeps steady pressure on the rental market. In 2024 the district naturalised 21,811 residents, a naturalisation rate of 2.7%. Some 195,675 people here hold or are seeking protection status, about 53.1 per 1,000 residents, the combined asylum, refugee and humanitarian total, with Ukrainians counted here since 2022. Turnout at the most recent election was 80.3%.
Just arrived in Berlin? Sort these first
Berlin sees a lot of churn, so internet hook-ups and bank appointments book out quickly. Sort the essentials before you land.
FAQ: relocating to Berlin
Is it easy to find a job in Berlin?
Workplaces in Berlin account for 1,682,946 jobs — 457 per 1,000 residents, commuters included — against unemployment of 10.3%, roughly one in 10 of the local workforce, against 6.3% across Germany.
How expensive is Berlin to live in?
The average net cold rent is €7.67 per m² (5% above the €7.28 German average), from existing 2022 tenancies, so a new lease runs higher. Residents have €26,209 of disposable income a year (298th highest of 400 German districts). That is about 8% below the German average of €28,453. Remember it is a nominal figure and ignores what life actually costs here.
Will broadband in Berlin support remote work?
99% of households can get a fixed line of at least 100 Mbit/s, 96% gigabit of which 53% true fibre (FTTB/H); 5G mobile reaches 100% (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025), so remote work is fine at most addresses.
Is Berlin growing or shrinking?
Berlin is gaining residents: over a year 186,222 people moved in and 159,115 moved out, a net of +27,107, about 0.7% of the population in a year.
How does Berlin compare to the rest of Germany?
Against the German average: unemployment 10.3% versus 6.3% nationally; income €26,209 (8% below the €28,453 average); building land €1,128/m² against a €132 median.
Other cities in Germany
Source: Regionaldatenbank Deutschland (regionalstatistik.de), Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder; supplementary data via Destatis GENESIS-Online. Housing, household, education and migration figures from the Zensus 2022. Broadband coverage from the Breitbandatlas (© MIG, BMDV). Recorded crime from the Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik (BKA, 2025). Median full-time gross wages from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (2024). Years per field: population 2024, jobs and unemployment 2025, income 2023, businesses, building activity and land 2024, naturalisations 2024, childcare 2025; rent, vacancy, ownership, dwelling size, single-person households, education and migration 2022 (Zensus); broadband end of 2025 (Breitbandatlas). · How we built this ›