3.85/5
2,960 reviews
Photo by Ansgar Scheffold via Unsplash

Cost of Living in Berlin

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great

internet

rent

cheap

anymore

relaxed

women

restaurants

amazing

parks

speed

country

expensive

airbnb

base

changed

cost

Berlin receives mixed reviews from long-term visitors and residents. On the plus side, food is widely available and inexpensive, and the city has solid public transportation. Fast internet is easily accessible and affordable. Nightlife, particularly live music and jazz clubs, is often praised. Some neighborhoods that were once less desirable are becoming more attractive.

However, the negatives are considerable and often revolve around inconsistent service quality, with many noting the inattentiveness in restaurant and business environments. While some argue that Berlin is very safe, others claim it's unsafe for women, especially in isolated areas at night—opinions are clearly polarized on this point. The city is still largely cash-based, which can be inconvenient for those used to more digital economies. Rent has risen notably in recent years, although it may still be affordable compared to other major cities.

Culturally, some say there is a lack of ambition, which may not suit entrepreneurs or highly-driven individuals. The city’s vibe has reportedly changed post-pandemic, with an increase in police presence and a decrease in the sense of freedom that once defined it. Berlin may still be enjoyable in small doses, but it's no longer the go-to base it once was for digital nomads and creatives.

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

Berlin used to be nomad base in Europe... but it's not the same anymore. The 'pandemic' changed many things -- the cost of course, but also the culture -- the freedom and liberty have been contained. The police presence and size of the state have grown -- definitely doesn't feel so relaxed anymore. It's also important to note here -- there is limited ambition. Most are looking for an easy, fun and peaceful life -- which is great, but if you are building something or running a business it can feel like the culture doesn't support you in the ways you may want or need. I ultimately decided to pull back from this city for all these reasons -- but still enjoy visiting in small doses.

3 years ago

I've been hanging out in Berlin on and off for 30 years. It is very safe for women. It is much friendlier than it used to be. There are loads of vegan restaurants now. The nightlife and specially jazz clubs are amazing! I have an excellent apartment to rent out in Wedding - which used to have a boring reputation but now is very cool.

4 years ago

Berlin is overall a great city to be.
Food is cheap and everywhere, easy to go out and have fun/meet for business.
Rent has crept up but still far better value than where I came from.
Internet: 36 EUR/month get me 450/40 mbps (cable -> DOCSIS 3.0)
Public transport is 2.70 EUR/ticket.
No woman I know has said they felt unsafe. Some really odd, xenophobic sounding comments on here.

Biggest downsides IMO:
service quality at restaurants - not that people are rude, but they don't seem to particularly care
cash heavy - for people who value anonymity, Berlin is great - i wish i could go cashless more regularly

6 years ago

I lived in Berlin for 2 years and have visited during the past 10 years on and off. I would say it's the most overrated city in all Europe. They have good marketing and spread of word advertising, but in reality its an uninspiring, ugly and depressing city with a weird energy that prevents people from getting things done. It's ok for 1 month in summer, but don't get stuck there. For women it's not safe at all, don't go to parks alone at night or empty U Bahn stations. In Berlin (and most big cities in Germany) young women are being raped by immigrants on a weekly base, its a know fact but politicians pretend it's not happening.

6 years ago

I spent 1 month and 4 days in Berlin, Great the city, functional, no too crowded, a lot of things to see and to do.
Good for business connections, reliable and affordable Public Transport ( even If I was advised a few times to don't fall in sleep in the trains ).
On the other hand. It seems that a few places in Germany are not so well interconnected on Internet Network infrastructure.
The speed was quite decent speed, but lost connectivity too often whatever I was using the phone or laptop.

7 years ago

Berlin is great but Germany overall is extremely overrated - it is NOT by any means a modern, digitised, tech- nor expat- friendly country. It is grey, depressing, unwelcoming, filled with insanely hard to navigate bureaucracy and nonsensical "rules" about everything. Digitisation does not exist and everything has to be done still in person, via paper mail, by phone or fax. Internet speed is slow and wifi not widespread. Waiting times can be insane e.g. to get a doctor's appointment, and in general what takes minutes in another country can take weeks in Germany. And given that you get taxed on the air you breathe, I would say that this is hardly worth it. And if living in Berlin would make up for it five years ago thanks to the disgustingly cheap cost of life now that rent got thrice as expensive things have dramatically changed for the worse.

7 years ago

Been living in Berlin for a couple of months. Not worth it anymore. Cold, gray, sad, more expensive than Cologne, terrible internet access (especially mobile), impossible to find decent mid-term apartments, everything getting 25% more expensive per quarter.

7 years ago

Been living in 3 different centrally located airbnb in Berlin (2018), each between 800 and 900€ per month for 40-45 sqm (we're two, so 400-450€ each). Each time a full flat and not a shared airbnb, legal now since some months (though it was always possible to get a full flat before as well). Internet was always between 15 and 50 mbps. I spend 100€ per week on food, including restaurants (pretty cheap here), check for Turkish market on Maybachufer and Turkish stores in Neukölln (I spend less on food here than in Chiang Mai!). Berlin is such an awesome place to live, very multicultural, very tolerant, many different neighborhoods, quite relaxed feeling, many parks, lakes all around. No need to speak German at all. Come over here, probably one one of the best place on earth ;) (written in Sept 2018)

8 years ago

The internet sucks in Berlin and is definitely not fast. I don’t know where you get your numbers from but I’m sure you were never in the country for very long and are using the „official numbers“ not the real ones.

8 years ago

Rent a bike using the many dockless bike sharing and enjoy the parks. Berlin is amazing during summer. Betahaus is great to meet other nomads. No need for having a membership, just go to their cafe. Checkout Meetup.com for many opportunities to meet people. AirBnB is ok but pricey, and since 2016 they are not allowed to rent flats, but only rooms. The vibe in Berlin is is usually relaxed and alternative. Falafel and doner are always an option for cheap eating.

8 years ago

Berlin is an amazing city. The two main problems of Berlin are the German way of acting and people that moves there trying to be too cool to take a shower.

8 years ago

✅ Fast internet

✅ Affordable food

✅ Good public transport

✅ Good nightlife

✅ Very safe

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members here all year round

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Great hospitals

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Very family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

❌ Mixed safety concerns

❌ Rising rent

❌ Poor service quality

❌ Cash-heavy culture

❌ Limited ambition culture

❌ Extremely expensive

❌ Cold now

❌ Gets cold in the winter

❌ Very damp now

❌ Very difficult to make friends

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

032°
freezing

-032°
freezing

745°
cold

948°
cold

1457°
cool

2475°
warm

2373°
mild

2170°
mild

2068°
mild

1355°
cool

643°
cold

-130°
freezing

Real (median)

236°
very cold

235°
very cold

947°
cold

1050°
cold

1457°
cool

2475°
warm

2373°
mild

2068°
mild

2067°
mild

1456°
cool

745°
cold

235°
very cold

Humidity

damp
88%

damp
84%

damp
79%

damp
71%

damp
74%

nice
64%

nice
71%

nice
69%

nice
73%

damp
78%

damp
87%

damp
89%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

rainy
62mm

dry
43mm

dry
50mm

dry
39mm

rainy
64mm

rainy
60mm

rainy
76mm

rainy
69mm

dry
28mm

dry
26mm

rainy
55mm

rainy
54mm

Cloud

cloudy
86%

cloudy
75%

cloudy
68%

cloudy
61%

cloudy
71%

cloudy
64%

cloudy
70%

cloudy
71%

cloudy
69%

cloudy
73%

cloudy
80%

cloudy
86%

Air quality

clean
23 US AQI

clean
37 US AQI

clean
28 US AQI

clean
25 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
24 US AQI

clean
23 US AQI

clean
22 US AQI

clean
31 US AQI

clean
21 US AQI

Sun

safe
1 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
5 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

safe
3 UVI

safe
2 UVI

safe
1 UVI

safe
0 UVI

Remote workers

9,744 people

10,467 people

11,809 people

13,320 people

14,452 people

15,923 people

20,836 people

16,128 people

17,127 people

15,943 people

11,829 people

13,114 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

Based on Berlin's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

Help pick the best photos for Berlin and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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$8,994 / mo

117 Mbps

Prague

Czechia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 5° 41° 7° 44° AQI 14

✈️22min

$5,235 / mo

🌇 Also went here1,062 people

Vienna

Austria

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 13° 55° 14° 58° AQI 43

✈️2h

$5,616 / mo

🌇 Also went here798 people

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 42

✈️12h

$4,163 / mo

🌇 Also went here738 people

Singapore

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌫 Feels 40° 104° 31° 87° Has AC AQI 94 😷

✈️13h

$4,113 / mo

🌇 Also went here735 people

11,400 remote workers in Berlin now, of which 17+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.85/5 (Rank #59) 2960 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍12 liked it 👎4 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😳 Extremely expensive: $5,033 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 31 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Great
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 Too cold: 9°C47°F (feels 8°C46°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 84%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	🥵 Very low: 3%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Good: 46 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Great: 23 US AQI
👌 Safety	Good
👩 Safe for women	Good
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Good
🎓 Education level*	High
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Okay
💰 Income level*	Very rich: $4,400 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Good
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 4k ppl/km² (1 per 16x16m)
🚶 Walkability	Great
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Great
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Bad
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Germany
🗓️ Average trip length	9 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	31 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 9°C 47°F + 💦 Damp (84%) = feels 8°C 46°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 46 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👍 23 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Friedrichshain
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Tempelhof
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	EUR 100 = USD 112
💸 Tipping	Yes, 7.50%
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
💻 Best coworking space	Betahaus
💻 Best alt. coworking space	st oberholz
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
🦷 Fluoride added	🚫 No fluoride added
🪨 Water hardness	Very hard · 328 mg/L
♻️ Return rate	👍14% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	5,833,100 visitors
📸 Tourists now	111,791 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	3,600,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$52,798 / year
😤 Population density	🧘‍♀️ not busy: 16x16m (256m²) per person
👫 Gender ratio (population)	👨 48% 👱‍♀️ 52%
👫 Gender ratio (young adults)	👨 52% 👱‍♀️ 48%
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 81% 👱‍♀️ 19%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Amazon
🏠 Apartment listings	WG Gesucht
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	EasyJet
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Lufthansa

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$5,033 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$3,627 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$6,640 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,897 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$2,644 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$5,704 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,479 / month
🏠 Median home price	$615,973
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$124 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$187 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$179 / month
🍛 Dinner	$17
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$3
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$5
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$4
👩‍🏫 International school	$15,856 / year
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$11 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$11,133
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$34,508
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$100,974

Cost of Living in Berlin

11,400 remote workers in Berlin now, of which 17+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

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