Cost of living in Düsseldorf: An expat guide (2024)

The cost of living in Düsseldorf pushes the city into the upper price range. We'll show you what expenses you should expect.

Marle

4 minute read

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Updated on 10 Sep 2024

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Living

With one exclusive boutique lining up next to yet another luxury shop on the Kö, newcomers to Düsseldorf soon begin to doubt how affordable life will be here. Wondering what the cost of living is in Düsseldorf?

We'll spoil it for you: the cost of living in Düsseldorf is €2,082 monthly on average. This includes expenses such as rent, groceries, transportation, health insurance, and leisure. So, let's break them down and start budgeting!

Yes, Düsseldorf is a good place to live for internationals. The city Düsseldorf has a large international community, plenty of job and education opportunities in English and excellent connectivity to the rest of the world via Germany's 3rd-largest airport.

No wonder internationals feel so at home in Düsseldorf. It's no surprise that even with English you'll quickly settle in as an international with no language barrier.

Düsseldorf comes in at 6th place on the list of the most expensive cities in Germany, right behind Munich and Frankfurt. You can expect a cost of living in Düsseldorf of €2,082 monthly for a single person renting a studio. If you're moving with your family you should budget around €3,294 per month as you need to consider expenses like daycare. On the other hand, Düsseldorf is more affordable for students who can budget living expenses around €1,410 per month.

Here's an overview of the cost of living in Düsseldorf:

Good to know: Taking a taxi in Düsseldorf can be very expensive. So, better switch to public transportation!

If you're searching homes for rent in Düsseldorf below you can find average rent prices:

To get an idea of how expensive the cost of living in Düsseldorf is, it's worth putting it in the context of the salary. As an expat in Düsseldorf, you can expect an average monthly salary of €3,061 of which around 55% will go towards living expenses.

In other words: expats in Düsseldorf may face high costs of living, and in return play in the medium range of the average German salary.

To give you a comparison: the average monthly salary in Berlin is around €3,001, in Frankfurt €3,352 and in Hamburg €3,189.

Living in Düsseldorf proves to be less expensive. Someone living in Berlin with a salary of €4,666 has to earn about €4,300 for the same standard of living in Düsseldorf. To put it in a nutshell: that's 8.5% less than in Berlin. Keep in mind though, that in Düsseldorf you also earn more on average, almost 2% more than in Berlin.

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