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BarcelonaSpain
Population ≈ 1,640,000
How it scores
Cost & housing70
Lifestyle52
Opportunity39
Taxes83
Barcelona vs Berlin
● sourced · ● placeholdercountry-level / regional = not city-specific
| Metric | Berlin | Barcelona |
|---|---|---|
| Cost & housing | ||
| ●Rent, 1-bed in the centre€ / month | €1,340 / mo | €1,460 / mo |
| ●Price levelEU average = 100country-level | 109 | 91 |
| Lifestyle | ||
| ●Sunshinehours / year | 1,626 h / yr | 2,524 h / yr |
| ●Air pollution (PM2.5)µg/m³ | 9 µg/m³ | 14 µg/m³ |
| ●Happy with green spaces% of residents | 87% | 64% |
| ●Happy with public transport% of residents | 80% | 72% |
| ●Feel safe walking at night% of residents | 59% | 67% |
| Opportunity | ||
| ●Unemployment%regional | 6.5% | 8.4% |
| ●Household income€ / year, net, per personregional | €26,400 | €19,900 |
| ●Job growth% / yearregional | -0.6% | 2.1% |
| ●English proficiencyEF EPI scorecountry-level | 613 | 540 |
| ●Internet speedMbps median fixed broadbandcountry-level | 135 Mbps | 230 Mbps |
| Taxes | ||
| ●Income tax + social security% of gross, single earner on the average wagecountry-level | 37% | 22% |
| ●VAT (standard rate)%country-level | 19% | 21% |
Sources
All 14 metrics are from public sources.
- Rent, 1-bed in the centre — Numbeo — apartment (1 bedroom) in city centre (entered by hand, refreshed quarterly) (2026)
- Price level — Eurostat — price level index, actual individual consumption, EU27=100 (prc_ppp_ind) (2024)
- Sunshine — National meteorological services — climate normals (1991–2020 normal)
- Air pollution (PM2.5) — Open-Meteo Air Quality API — Copernicus CAMS Europe, 2024 annual mean (2024 average)
- Happy with green spaces — EU Quality of life in European cities survey 2023 (Eurostat urb_percep) — satisfied with green spaces (2023)
- Happy with public transport — EU Quality of life in European cities survey 2023 (Eurostat urb_percep) — satisfied with public transport (2023)
- Feel safe walking at night — EU Quality of life in European cities survey 2023 (Eurostat urb_percep) — feel safe walking alone at night (2023)
- Unemployment — Eurostat — unemployment rate, Labour Force Survey (ILO concept), by NUTS 2 region (lfst_r_lfu3rt). Comparable across countries; runs several points below nationally-reported registered unemployment. (2025)
- Household income — Eurostat — net disposable income of households, EUR per inhabitant, by NUTS 2 region (nama_10r_2hhinc) (2023)
- Job growth — Eurostat — employed persons by NUTS 2 region (lfst_r_lfe2emp), 2024→2025 (2024–2025)
- English proficiency — EF English Proficiency Index 2023 (2023)
- Internet speed — Speedtest Global Index — median fixed broadband download (2025)
- Income tax + social security — OECD Taxing Wages 2023 — net personal average tax rate (single, 100% of average wage) (2023)
- VAT (standard rate) — European Commission — VAT rates applied in the EU (2025)