If you are moving to Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis 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.
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is one of the better-off districts in Hesse, and its housing market shows it. It reads as a commuter base: the lightest on local jobs of Hesse’s 26 districts.
How Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis compares
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis 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 Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis stacks up across Hesse: Cheapest to rent · Safest · Best for families.
Cost of living and housing
6% above DE avg
10% above DE avg
Building plots go for around €245 per m², the 118th highest of 394 districts with a recorded price, the bare ground before a brick is laid and the floor under every local rent. The median German district is around €132 per m². The average net cold rent (Nettokaltmiete) is €7.71 per m², about 6% 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 €31,202 (55th highest of 400 German districts, 4th in Hesse). That puts it about 10% above Germany’s €28,453 average. On its own that number tells half the story; the local cost of living does the rest. At €7.71/m², a 70 m² flat works out to about €540 a month in cold rent (existing-tenancy 2022 level; a new lease costs more). Against local incomes, that ranks 13th most affordable of Hesse’s 26 districts. By comparison, rent here is roughly 73% of Frankfurt’s (€10.58/m²).
The local housing market
What you are renting into, on the 2022 census: 44.5% of homes are rented rather than owner-occupied; the vacancy rate is 3.6% (roughly in balance); the average home measures 107 m². The stock is 93,856 homes in 49,473 buildings, about 1.9 per building, so this is more houses than apartment blocks. In the latest year 102 new dwellings were completed against 116 permits, a gauge of whether new supply keeps up with demand.
Jobs and the economy
19% below DE avg
A good share of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis commutes out each morning. Its 46,189 local jobs in 2025 come to 249 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 8,818 registered businesses (2024), which gives a feel for the spread of employers here. Unemployment stands at 5.1% in 2025 (German average 6.3%), roughly one in 20 of the local workforce.
Median gross pay for full-time staff here is €4,500 a month (14% above the German median of €3,950), before tax. 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 Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
Age profile and household make-up from the 2022 census.
Age distribution
The population here skews older. 22.1% of residents are aged 25 to 45, the prime working-age band, with 13.4% under 15 and 24.6% at 65 or older. A few more strokes from the 2022 census: 21.0% of residents have a migration history (12.9% are foreign nationals); 39.2% of households are single-person; 40.1% of adults hold an Abitur / university-entrance qualification. A fair international presence to lean on while you find your feet. School rolls come to 19,651 pupils. Daycare places get easier to find as children get older: about 1.6% of under-1s, 40.1% of 1 to 2 year olds and 69.6% of 2 to 3 year olds have a place, meaning infants are the squeeze and toddlers far less so.
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.
97% of households can get a fixed line of at least 100 Mbit/s, and 84% can reach gigabit (1,000 Mbit/s) speeds (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025). Of that, 58% 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 99% of households. Working remotely as a newcomer is straightforward; the connection is rarely the problem here.
Where Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is in Germany
Recorded crime
Police-recorded offences in the district, per 100,000 residents.
Police recorded 3,036 offences per 100,000 residents in 2025 (the Häufigkeitszahl), 40% 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
Local tax barely registers for a typical newcomer. The trade-tax multiplier (Gewerbesteuer) is 391%, 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
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is gaining people. In 2024, 12,770 moved in and 12,216 moved out, a net of +554. More arrive than leave, which keeps steady pressure on the rental market. In 2024 the district naturalised 565 residents, a naturalisation rate of 2.2%. Some 8,340 people here hold or are seeking protection status, about 44.9 per 1,000 residents, the combined asylum, refugee and humanitarian total, with Ukrainians counted here since 2022. Voter turnout last time around was 85.3%.
Just arrived in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis? Sort these first
As a more rural district, at about 229 people per km², Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis all but needs a car. Line up insurance and a bank account before you arrive.
FAQ: relocating to Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
How expensive is Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis to live in?
The average net cold rent is €7.71 per m² (6% above the €7.28 German average), from existing 2022 tenancies, so a new lease runs higher. Disposable income per resident is €31,202 (55th highest of 400 German districts, 4th in Hesse). That puts it about 10% above Germany’s €28,453 average. Building land is around €245 per m², which feeds into local rents. Remember it is a nominal figure and ignores what life actually costs here.
How are job prospects in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis?
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis has 46,189 jobs (249 per 1,000 residents, including commuters) and 5.1% unemployment, roughly one in 20 of the local workforce, against 6.3% across Germany.
Is the internet good enough to work from home in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis?
97% of households can get a fixed line of at least 100 Mbit/s, 84% gigabit of which 58% true fibre (FTTB/H); 5G mobile reaches 99% (Breitbandatlas, end of 2025), so a home office works at most addresses here.
Do I need a car in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis?
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis has about 229 residents per km². As a more rural district that usually means a car is essential for commuting and errands.
How does Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis compare to the rest of Germany?
Versus the national average: unemployment 5.1% versus 6.3% nationally; income €31,202 (10% above the €28,453 average); building land €245/m² against a €132 median.
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 ›