If you are moving to Darmstadt-Dieburg from abroad, here is what you would actually be arriving into, on the official numbers: income, jobs, housing, connectivity, taxes and who already lives here. Every figure comes from German Regionalstatistik, the Zensus 2022 and the Breitbandatlas, not guesswork.
Darmstadt-Dieburg is one of the better-off districts in Hesse, and its housing market shows it. Few local jobs stand out: among the lightest on local jobs in Hesse.
How Darmstadt-Dieburg compares
Darmstadt-Dieburg measured against all 400 German districts (Kreise); building-land prices are recorded for 394 of them. The longer the bar, the higher the percentile; hover for the figure behind it.
See how Darmstadt-Dieburg stacks up across Hesse: Cheapest to rent · Safest · Best for families.
Cost of living and housing
9% above DE avg
6% above DE avg
Building plots go for around €343 per m², the 67th highest of 394 districts with a recorded price, the raw land cost that ultimately works its way into what you pay in rent. The median German district is around €132 per m². The average net cold rent (Nettokaltmiete) is €7.96 per m², about 9% above the German average of €7.28. That is the 2022 census figure for tenants already in place, so a fresh lease on the open market usually costs more. Disposable income per resident runs to €30,150 (91st highest of 400 German districts, 5th in Hesse). That puts it about 6% above Germany’s €28,453 average. It is a headline figure, not adjusted for local prices, so read it next to the rent above. At €7.96/m², a 70 m² flat works out to about €557 a month in cold rent (existing-tenancy 2022 level; a new lease costs more). Relative to what people here earn, it is the 16th most affordable of Hesse’s 26 districts. For scale, that is about 75% of the rent in Frankfurt (€10.58/m²).
The local housing market
Here is the shape of the market, from the 2022 census: 43.2% of homes are rented rather than owner-occupied; the vacancy rate is 3.4% (a fairly balanced market); the average home measures 107 m². The stock is 141,925 homes in 77,645 buildings, about 1.8 per building, so this is more houses than apartment blocks. In the latest year 230 new dwellings were completed against 252 permits, a rough read on how fast the housing stock is growing.
Jobs and the economy
17% below DE avg
Darmstadt-Dieburg tends to empty out by day. Its 81,002 local jobs in 2025 come to 268 per 1,000 residents, a sign that many people who live here earn their money a train or motorway ride away. Those jobs are spread across 13,172 registered businesses (2024), which gives a feel for the spread of employers here. Unemployment stands at 5.2% in 2025 (German average 6.3%), roughly one in 19 of the local workforce.
The median full-time worker here earns €4,350 a month gross (10% 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.
Who lives in Darmstadt-Dieburg
Age profile and household make-up from the 2022 census.
Age distribution
24.0% of residents are aged 25 to 45, the prime working-age band, with 14.5% under 15 and 22.4% at 65 or older. A few more strokes from the 2022 census: 23.7% of residents have a migration history (14.3% are foreign nationals); 35.8% of households are single-person; 38.7% of adults hold an Abitur / university-entrance qualification. A fair international presence to lean on while you find your feet. There are 32,528 pupils in local schools. Childcare availability climbs with age: about 0.9% of under-1s, 35.1% of 1 to 2 year olds and 57.0% of 2 to 3 year olds have a place, so a place for a baby is the hard part, much less so for a toddler.
Internet & connectivity
Share of households that can get each speed (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025). Gigabit may run over fibre or upgraded cable; true fibre (FTTB/H) is shown separately.
98% of households can get a fixed line of at least 100 Mbit/s, and 77% can reach gigabit (1,000 Mbit/s) speeds (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025). Of that, 49% 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. Working remotely as a newcomer is straightforward; the connection is rarely the problem here.
Where Darmstadt-Dieburg is in Germany
Recorded crime
Police-recorded offences in the district, per 100,000 residents.
In 2025 the police logged 2,901 offences per 100,000 residents here (the Häufigkeitszahl), 43% below the German district median of about 5,096. It records reported offences rather than convictions, and runs high in places with lots of through-traffic (stations, motorways, airports, busy centres) where many cases involve non-residents. Treat it as a measure of recorded activity, not of personal risk for residents. Source: Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik, BKA 2025.
Local taxes
Unless you start a business, local tax is a footnote here. The trade-tax multiplier (Gewerbesteuer) is 394%, but it only touches you if you register a business: the tax office sets a base amount, the municipality multiplies it. 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 Darmstadt-Dieburg is rising. In 2024, 20,647 moved in and 19,986 moved out, a net of +661. Arrivals outnumber departures, so the rental market stays tight. It granted 1,110 citizenships in 2024, a naturalisation rate of 2.3%. Some 12,535 people here hold or are seeking protection status, about 41.5 per 1,000 residents, the combined asylum, refugee and humanitarian total, with Ukrainians counted here since 2022. At the last election, 85.0% turned out to vote.
Just arrived in Darmstadt-Dieburg? Sort these first
As a more rural district, at about 459 people per km², Darmstadt-Dieburg all but needs a car. Line up insurance and a bank account before you arrive.
FAQ: relocating to Darmstadt-Dieburg
How expensive is Darmstadt-Dieburg to live in?
The average net cold rent is €7.96 per m² (9% above the €7.28 German average), from existing 2022 tenancies, so a new lease runs higher. Disposable income per resident is €30,150 (91st highest of 400 German districts, 5th in Hesse). That puts it about 6% above Germany’s €28,453 average. Building land is around €343 per m², which feeds into local rents. This figure is nominal, not adjusted for the local cost of living.
Will broadband in Darmstadt-Dieburg support remote work?
98% of households can get a fixed line of at least 100 Mbit/s, 77% gigabit of which 49% true fibre (FTTB/H); 5G mobile reaches 100% (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025), so the connection is rarely the issue for home working.
How are job prospects in Darmstadt-Dieburg?
Darmstadt-Dieburg has 81,002 jobs (268 per 1,000 residents, including commuters) and 5.2% unemployment, roughly one in 19 of the local workforce, against 6.3% across Germany.
How well does Darmstadt-Dieburg suit families?
What the data shows: 14.5% of residents are under 15, local schools serve 32,528 pupils, daycare reaches about 57.0% of two-to-three-year-olds.
Is a car necessary in Darmstadt-Dieburg?
Darmstadt-Dieburg has about 459 residents per km². That is rural enough that a car is normally a must for work and errands.
Other places in Hessen
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 ›