Living in Nice
France's fifth-largest city and the capital of the Côte d'Azur — a Mediterranean seaside hub with a mild, sunny climate, an international airport, and a growing remote-work and tech scene anchored by the nearby Sophia-Antipolis technology park. Rents run high for a provincial French city but well below Paris; international schools cluster along the Antibes–Mougins corridor. French dominates daily life, with English common across the tourism and expat economy.
Verified
At a glance
The headline numbers for Nice — each with its own source and freshness. A live official figure is not the same as a survey estimate or a 30-year climate normal.
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Official anchor: Carte des loyers 2024 (asking rents / 'loyers d'annonce', charges comprises) gives Nice apartments 20.43 €/m²/month commune-wide. No official source publishes an intra-Nice center/outside asking grid, so a curated ±~10% split is applied: center (Carré d'Or / centre-ville / Promenade) = 22 €/m², outer districts = 18 €/m² — informed by the Observatoire des Loyers 06 zone spread and SeLoger's Nice asking range (15–28 €/m², avg ~20). Cells = €/m² × typical surface (studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m²) × 1.1399 USD/EUR.
- Notes
- DERIVED matrix. The directly-sourced input is the commune-wide 20.43 €/m² asking figure (charges comprises); the center/outside split and the per-type cells are curated using typical French apartment surfaces and a documented zone premium/discount. A flat €/m² per location is applied — small units (studios) really command a higher €/m² than large ones, so studio cells are conservative and 3br cells slightly high. Charges-comprises asking rents sit above observatoire observed (net-of-charges) medians.
/mo
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.
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Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
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AtmoSud — Bilan de la qualité de l'air 2024, particules PM2.5 (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- No verifiable numeric annual-mean PM2.5 for a Nice station could be retrieved — AtmoSud (the accredited PACA air-quality body) publishes station data only through interactive dashboards that are not machine-readable, and commercial aggregators expose only real-time spot readings (not annual means), so the value is left null rather than fabricated. Official qualitative bounds from the AtmoSud 2024 bilan: the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³) is exceeded (so > 5); the EU limit (25 µg/m³) has been respected at every station since 2019; in 2024 even the Nice Promenade traffic station meets the stricter 2030 objective of 10 µg/m³, implying the annual mean is roughly 6–9 µg/m³ at urban-background sites. To fill later: query the AtmoSud open-data (DIDON) API or the EEA Air Quality Portal for the Nice Arson urban-background station annual mean.
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M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
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EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).
- Notes
- A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.
Population 357,737 · Europe/Paris · country-level facts (taxes, visas, crypto) inherited from France
What it costs you per month
A planning estimate: real asking rent plus a cost-of-living basket scaled to your household. Not a quote.
≈ $31,620 / year
- Rent (1-bed)$821
- Transport$283
- Food & non-alcoholic beverages$273
- Restaurants & hotels$191
- Housing (water, energy, maintenance — excl. rent)$185
- Insurance & financial services$182
- Recreation, sport & culture$158
- Other goods & services (personal care, social protection, misc.)$138
- Health (out-of-pocket & non-reimbursed)$85
- Furnishings & household equipment$84
- Information & communication$80
- Alcoholic beverages & tobacco$74
- Clothing & footwear$65
- Education$16
- Living costs$1,814
Rent from the asking-rent matrix below. Living costs scale a one-person basket ($1,814/mo) by household size and lifestyle; the equivalence factors are our assumption. Schooling and one-off setup are excluded.
Cost of living
What a single person spends each month — food, utilities, transport, eating out and the rest — excluding rent.
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INSEE — La consommation des ménages en 2024 (Insee Première 2056, COICOP functional breakdown)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Each INSEE 2024 COICOP function (€B/yr) → per-capita USD/mo by ÷ 31.377M households ÷ 2.14 ÷ 12 then ×1.030 CPI uplift ×1.1399 FX. Housing (04) shown net of rent (actual + imputed rents excluded). Items sum ≈ $1,814 ≈ the $1,816 headline. Health is households' out-of-pocket/non-reimbursed only — France's universal Assurance Maladie plus near-universal mutuelles cover most care, so this line is structurally low.
France's household-budget basket for a single person, excluding rent. Non-rent costs vary little between cities — the city-specific part is rent, shown under Housing below.
Cost of living (single, excl. rent)country-level1,816USD/month, single person, excluding rent4.8
What this measures
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
Housing
What it costs to rent, by apartment type and location.
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Official anchor: Carte des loyers 2024 (asking rents / 'loyers d'annonce', charges comprises) gives Nice apartments 20.43 €/m²/month commune-wide. No official source publishes an intra-Nice center/outside asking grid, so a curated ±~10% split is applied: center (Carré d'Or / centre-ville / Promenade) = 22 €/m², outer districts = 18 €/m² — informed by the Observatoire des Loyers 06 zone spread and SeLoger's Nice asking range (15–28 €/m², avg ~20). Cells = €/m² × typical surface (studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m²) × 1.1399 USD/EUR.
- Notes
- DERIVED matrix. The directly-sourced input is the commune-wide 20.43 €/m² asking figure (charges comprises); the center/outside split and the per-type cells are curated using typical French apartment surfaces and a documented zone premium/discount. A flat €/m² per location is applied — small units (studios) really command a higher €/m² than large ones, so studio cells are conservative and 3br cells slightly high. Charges-comprises asking rents sit above observatoire observed (net-of-charges) medians.
| Apartment | Central | Outside centre |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 752 USD/mo | 616 USD/mo |
| 1-bedroom | 1,003 USD/mo | 821 USD/mo |
| 2-bedroom | 1,505 USD/mo | 1,231 USD/mo |
| 3-bedroom | 2,132 USD/mo | 1,744 USD/mo |
DERIVED matrix. The directly-sourced input is the commune-wide 20.43 €/m² asking figure (charges comprises); the center/outside split and the per-type cells are curated using typical French apartment surfaces and a documented zone premium/discount. A flat €/m² per location is applied — small units (studios) really command a higher €/m² than large ones, so studio cells are conservative and 3br cells slightly high. Charges-comprises asking rents sit above observatoire observed (net-of-charges) medians.
Climate
Temperature and rainfall through the year, plus air quality.
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NOAA/WMO Climatological Standard Normals 1991–2020 — Nice (WMO 07690)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- WMO 1991–2020 station normals, NCEI accession 0253808 v6.6 (public domain). Station NICE, WMO 07690 (Nice-Côte d'Azur airport, coastal), 43.65N 7.21E, elevation 2 m. tMax/tMin = mean of daily maximum/minimum; precipMm = mean monthly precipitation total. Annual means: tMax 19.8°C, tMin 12.8°C, precipitation 791.3 mm. Classically Mediterranean — mild, wet autumn/winter (Oct–Nov wettest) and hot, dry summers (Jul–Aug precip 14–17 mm).
Average day/night temperature (lines, left axis) and total rainfall (bars, right axis) for each month — 1991–2020 normals. Hover a month for exact figures.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daytime high °C | 13.3° | 13.5° | 15.4° | 17.4° | 21.0° | 24.7° | 27.5° | 27.9° | 24.8° | 21.0° | 17.0° | 14.1° |
| Nighttime low °C | 5.8° | 6.1° | 8.3° | 10.8° | 14.5° | 18.1° | 20.8° | 21.1° | 17.7° | 14.0° | 9.7° | 6.6° |
| Rainfall mm | 74 | 54 | 51 | 69 | 40 | 36 | 14 | 17 | 81 | 128 | 138 | 90 |
Climate comfort9pleasant months/year8.5
What this measures
Number of months whose 1991–2020 climate normals satisfy: mean daily maximum between 15°C and 28°C and monthly precipitation under 150mm. Computed from the city's climate-normals indicator; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precipitation < 150mm: Mar (15.4), Apr (17.4), May (21.0), Jun (24.7), Jul (27.5), Aug (27.9), Sep (24.8), Oct (21.0), Nov (17.0) = 9. Jan (13.3), Feb (13.5) and Dec (14.1) miss on the 15°C floor; no month exceeds the 28°C ceiling (Aug peaks 27.9) or the 150mm rain cap (wettest Nov 138.4). Nice scores high thanks to a long, maritime-moderated warm season.
Air quality (PM2.5)no verified data—
What this measures
Annual mean fine-particulate (PM2.5) concentration for the city, latest available year. Anchors follow the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³ → 10) through the EU limit value territory (25 µg/m³ → 2). Preferred source: European Environment Agency city-level air quality data; outside Europe: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database or the national monitoring network.
No verifiable numeric annual-mean PM2.5 for a Nice station could be retrieved — AtmoSud (the accredited PACA air-quality body) publishes station data only through interactive dashboards that are not machine-readable, and commercial aggregators expose only real-time spot readings (not annual means), so the value is left null rather than fabricated. Official qualitative bounds from the AtmoSud 2024 bilan: the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³) is exceeded (so > 5); the EU limit (25 µg/m³) has been respected at every station since 2019; in 2024 even the Nice Promenade traffic station meets the stricter 2030 objective of 10 µg/m³, implying the annual mean is roughly 6–9 µg/m³ at urban-background sites. To fill later: query the AtmoSud open-data (DIDON) API or the EEA Air Quality Portal for the Nice Arson urban-background station annual mean.
Safety
How safe daily life is, from official crime statistics.
Homicide ratecountry-level1.3intentional homicides per 100,000/year8.4
What this measures
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
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Eurostat — police-recorded offences by category (crim_off_cat, ICCS, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded offences per 100,000 inhabitants, 2024 (ICCS categories: theft 0502, serious assault 020111, drug offences 0601, burglary 0501, sexual violence 0301, robbery 0401). France records assault broadly (coups et blessures volontaires), so its serious-assault level here is high on paper — partly a recording-breadth effect. Intentional homicide (1.28, same Eurostat 2024 series) is the scored safety headline shown separately. Recording practices and legal definitions differ between countries, so read the levels as context, not a league table.
Police-recorded offences per 100,000 inhabitants, 2024 (ICCS categories: theft 0502, serious assault 020111, drug offences 0601, burglary 0501, sexual violence 0301, robbery 0401). France records assault broadly (coups et blessures volontaires), so its serious-assault level here is high on paper — partly a recording-breadth effect. Intentional homicide (1.28, same Eurostat 2024 series) is the scored safety headline shown separately. Recording practices and legal definitions differ between countries, so read the levels as context, not a league table.
Infrastructure
Internet speed and how parcels get to your door.
Domestic delivery qualitycountry-levelExcellent10.0
What this measures
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
La Poste / Colissimo (Pickup) and Mondial Relay network figures
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has one of Europe's densest out-of-home parcel networks. Colissimo/Pickup: 26,000+ pickup points (≈17,500 relay points + ≈6,500 automatic lockers, incl. ≈4,500 24/7 Pickup Station lockers). Mondial Relay: ≈17,000 points (≈9,000 lockers + ≈8,000 relais). Plus Relais Colis, Chronopost, DPD, and La Poste home delivery ~6 days/week, with nationwide next-day/2-day standard options → 'excellent'.
International delivery easecountry-levelMinor friction7.0
What this measures
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Intra-EU shipping is frictionless (single market — most European cross-border parcels arrive like domestic ones). For non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and from 1 July 2026 applies a temporary flat customs duty per item on ≤€150 consignments (VAT already collected at checkout via IOSS since 2021). Predictable but no longer duty-free — the same EU regime as other member states.
Internet speedcountry-level51.4Mbps, median fixed download5.1
What this measures
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
Healthcare
What comprehensive private medical cover costs.
Private healthcare costcountry-level821USD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-old9.1
What this measures
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).
- Notes
- A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.
Money & crypto
Crypto rules and how freely personal money moves.
Crypto regulationcountry-levelLegal regulated8.0
What this measures
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
impots.gouv.fr — Plus-values sur cessions d'actifs numériques (cryptomonnaies); AMF/MiCA CASP regime
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and regulated. Capital gains on digital assets for private/occasional investors are taxed at the flat PFU — 31.4% from 1 Jan 2026 (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social levies; the social part rose from 17.2% when the 2026 Social Security law lifted CSG on capital income 9.2%→10.6%), with the option to elect the progressive scale instead (since 2023). Total annual disposals ≤ €305 are exempt. Crypto-asset service providers authorise as CASPs under the EU MiCA regulation (the former AMF 'PSAN' regime from the 2019 PACTE law), with the AMF as competent authority.
Financial control levelcountry-levelLow10.0
What this measures
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 1, 2015
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Composite: France uses the euro, fully convertible, with EU free movement of capital and NO exchange/capital controls. The main constraint is a cash-payment cap — a French tax resident may pay at most €1,000 in cash to a professional (since Sept 2015; non-resident tourists up to €15,000); cash between private individuals is unlimited (written proof required above €1,500). The EU Anti-Money-Laundering Regulation adds an EU-wide €10,000 cash cap from 2027. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. These are ordinary AML measures, not capital controls → 'low'.
Language
How far English gets you in daily life and services.
English proficiencycountry-levelModerate5.0
What this measures
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.
Education
International schooling options for families.
International schools3accredited international schools, count4.7
What this measures
Count of international schools in the metro area accredited by or member of IB, CIS, COBIS, or an equivalent national-curriculum-abroad body (verified against the accreditor's public registry, not aggregator sites).
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 14, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Verified floor of 3, each tied to a named accreditor: (1) International School of Nice (Nice) — IB World School (full continuum), CIS + MSA accredited, the flagship English-medium IB school in Nice itself; (2) ICS Côte d'Azur (Sophia Antipolis / Valbonne, ~20 km SW) — IB World School, PYP since 2018, IB school code 049702; (3) Mougins British International School (Mougins, ~30 km SW) — British curriculum to IGCSE/A-Level via Cambridge International + Pearson Edexcel, COBIS member.
- Notes
- Conservative accreditor-verified floor. The Antibes/Mougins/Sophia-Antipolis/Valbonne cluster IS included (2 of the 3). Excluded: schools in Monaco (a separate sovereign state) and several Nice-area bilingual FR/EN private schools whose international accreditation could not be confirmed. Counting those would push the total well above 3.
Demographics
Who else lives here — the share of foreign residents and the largest national communities, from official statistics.
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INSEE — L'essentiel sur… les immigrés et les étrangers (population étrangère)
Open data
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- INSEE: 6.3 million foreign nationals (étrangers) = 9.1% of the population (2025, provisional). Distinct from immigrés (foreign-born, 8.0M / 11.6%) — many immigrés have since acquired French nationality, and some foreign nationals were born in France. The nationality breakdown below is published on the foreign-born (immigrés) basis, INSEE's cleanly-tabulated series.
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INSEE — L'essentiel sur… les immigrés et les étrangers (immigrés par pays de naissance)
Open data
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Shares taken directly from INSEE (immigrés by country of birth, 2025); counts derived = share × 7,970,000 immigrés (rounded to nearest 1,000). These seven countries account for 46.3% of all immigrés.
- Notes
- Shown on the immigrés (foreign-born) basis — INSEE's cleanly-published country breakdown — which is the 8.0M foreign-born population, not the 6.3M foreign nationals of the headline share (many immigrés have naturalised). Italy and Turkey are tied at 3.5%; the historic Maghreb and Iberian communities dominate.
Shown on the immigrés (foreign-born) basis — INSEE's cleanly-published country breakdown — which is the 8.0M foreign-born population, not the 6.3M foreign nationals of the headline share (many immigrés have naturalised). Italy and Turkey are tied at 3.5%; the historic Maghreb and Iberian communities dominate.
How you can stay
All requirements & citizenship filterHow you can legally enter and stay. These apply across France.
- EU/EEA/Swiss citizens — freedom of movement (no permit required)Special programEU citizensEU/EEA (incl. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and Swiss nationals may enter, live and work in France with no visa or residence permit5 yrs +→ PR path
- Long-stay visa/permit — entrepreneur / profession libérale (self-employed)Freelance permitAll except EU citizensThird-country nationals setting up or running a self-employed commercial, industrial, artisanal or liberal-profession activity in France1 yr +→ PR path
- Carte de séjour pluriannuelle 'Talent — porteur de projet' (business creation / investment)Business visaAll except EU citizensThird-country nationals in one of: (a) hold a master's-level degree OR prove ≥5 years' comparable professional experience AND create a business in France backed by a real, serious economic project; (b) run an innovative economic project recognised by a public body; or (c) make a direct economic investment in France4 yrs +→ PR path
- Long-stay visitor visa/permit (VLS-TS 'visiteur') — no work permittedTemporary residenceAll except EU citizensincome ≥ 1,399 EUR/monthLong-stay visa equivalent to a residence permit (VLS-TS) bearing the mention 'visiteur', valid 1 year and renewable1 yr +→ PR path
- Visa-free short stay (Schengen 90/180)Visa-free stayUS citizens, UK citizens, Ukrainian citizensValid (for Ukraine, biometric) passport of a Schengen visa-exempt country3 mo
- Temporary protection for displaced Ukrainians (protection temporaire)Special programUkrainian citizensDisplaced persons from Ukraine covered by the EU Temporary Protection Directive6 mo +
What you'd pay in taxes
Full schemes & calculatorThe tax schemes a freelancer can choose from. Rules are national, the same in Nice as anywhere in France.
- Micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC) — 34% allowance + progressive income tax34% of revenue + 25.6% of revenue34.1% burden at €60k
- SASU — 15%/25% corporate tax + 31.4% PFU on dividendsprogressive on profit: 15% up to 42,500, 25% above + 31.4% of amount left after "Impôt sur les sociétés (IS)"43.7% burden at €60k
- Micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC) — versement libératoire (2.2% flat income tax)25.6% of revenue + 0.2% of revenueover cap at €60k →
See what you would keep
Your income against France's real tax schemes — the same engine as the full calculator.
- 1 Micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC) — 34% allowance + progressive income tax39,536 EURnet/year34.1% burden
- 2 SASU — 15%/25% corporate tax + 31.4% PFU on dividends33,786 EURnet/year43.7% burden
- 3 Micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC) — versement libératoire (2.2% flat income tax)over income cap43,200 EURnet/year28.0% burden
Who is Nice for?
The same place reads differently depending on why you move. Each lens pulls the facts that matter most for that plan — with sources, and the trade-offs stated plainly.
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
Works in your favour
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La Poste / Colissimo (Pickup) and Mondial Relay network figures
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has one of Europe's densest out-of-home parcel networks. Colissimo/Pickup: 26,000+ pickup points (≈17,500 relay points + ≈6,500 automatic lockers, incl. ≈4,500 24/7 Pickup Station lockers). Mondial Relay: ≈17,000 points (≈9,000 lockers + ≈8,000 relais). Plus Relais Colis, Chronopost, DPD, and La Poste home delivery ~6 days/week, with nationwide next-day/2-day standard options → 'excellent'.
Watch-outs
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.
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M-Lab NDT country aggregates for France
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for FR in 2023 (~10.47M download tests; daily medians ranged 24.9–61.1 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below Ookla-style or advertised figures (French fibre commonly markets 300–1000+ Mbps) — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- France has extensive FTTH fibre coverage; the M-Lab single-stream median understates real-world line speeds and is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
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EF EPI 2025 — France (score 539, rank 38/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): France score 539, global rank 38, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), up 11 places and +15 points vs 2024. English is workable in Paris tech/expat circles and tourism-facing Côte d'Azur, but French is essential for administration, most workplaces, and daily life — France sits below the very-high Northern-European tier.
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
Works in your favour
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Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- France has universal public health cover (Assurance Maladie, ~70% reimbursement) topped up by a COMPLEMENTARY private 'mutuelle santé' — supplementary, not full-replacement. Mutuelle pricing is age-banded, not health-rated. Market data (goodassur, 48,082 individual quotes, July 2026): age 25–34 avg €68.98/mo, 35–44 avg €90.68/mo; a mid-market intermediate plan for a healthy 35-year-old ≈ €60/mo = €720/yr → $821/yr at 1.1399. Range ≈ €35/mo ($479/yr) to ≈ €90/mo ($1,231/yr).
- Notes
- A supplementary top-up on the mandatory public system, not a full private replacement policy (like Austria's Sonderklasse). ~95%+ of residents carry a mutuelle; employees usually get a subsidised group contract (employer pays ≥50%), so this individually-purchased premium is the situation of a freelancer/self-employed person. Mid-market monthly range ≈ €50–70.
Watch-outs
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 14, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Verified floor of 3, each tied to a named accreditor: (1) International School of Nice (Nice) — IB World School (full continuum), CIS + MSA accredited, the flagship English-medium IB school in Nice itself; (2) ICS Côte d'Azur (Sophia Antipolis / Valbonne, ~20 km SW) — IB World School, PYP since 2018, IB school code 049702; (3) Mougins British International School (Mougins, ~30 km SW) — British curriculum to IGCSE/A-Level via Cambridge International + Pearson Edexcel, COBIS member.
- Notes
- Conservative accreditor-verified floor. The Antibes/Mougins/Sophia-Antipolis/Valbonne cluster IS included (2 of the 3). Excluded: schools in Monaco (a separate sovereign state) and several Nice-area bilingual FR/EN private schools whose international accreditation could not be confirmed. Counting those would push the total well above 3.
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AtmoSud — Bilan de la qualité de l'air 2024, particules PM2.5 (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- No verifiable numeric annual-mean PM2.5 for a Nice station could be retrieved — AtmoSud (the accredited PACA air-quality body) publishes station data only through interactive dashboards that are not machine-readable, and commercial aggregators expose only real-time spot readings (not annual means), so the value is left null rather than fabricated. Official qualitative bounds from the AtmoSud 2024 bilan: the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³) is exceeded (so > 5); the EU limit (25 µg/m³) has been respected at every station since 2019; in 2024 even the Nice Promenade traffic station meets the stricter 2030 objective of 10 µg/m³, implying the annual mean is roughly 6–9 µg/m³ at urban-background sites. To fill later: query the AtmoSud open-data (DIDON) API or the EEA Air Quality Portal for the Nice Arson urban-background station annual mean.
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
Works in your favour
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impots.gouv.fr — Plus-values sur cessions d'actifs numériques (cryptomonnaies); AMF/MiCA CASP regime
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and regulated. Capital gains on digital assets for private/occasional investors are taxed at the flat PFU — 31.4% from 1 Jan 2026 (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social levies; the social part rose from 17.2% when the 2026 Social Security law lifted CSG on capital income 9.2%→10.6%), with the option to elect the progressive scale instead (since 2023). Total annual disposals ≤ €305 are exempt. Crypto-asset service providers authorise as CASPs under the EU MiCA regulation (the former AMF 'PSAN' regime from the 2019 PACTE law), with the AMF as competent authority.
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Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 1, 2015
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Composite: France uses the euro, fully convertible, with EU free movement of capital and NO exchange/capital controls. The main constraint is a cash-payment cap — a French tax resident may pay at most €1,000 in cash to a professional (since Sept 2015; non-resident tourists up to €15,000); cash between private individuals is unlimited (written proof required above €1,500). The EU Anti-Money-Laundering Regulation adds an EU-wide €10,000 cash cap from 2027. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. These are ordinary AML measures, not capital controls → 'low'.
Watch-outs
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Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 turnover, single (1 part) = micro-entrepreneur (micro-BNC, scheme fr-micro-bnc): micro-social 25.6% = 15,360; CFP 0.2% = 120; income tax on 66% of turnover (34% allowance) = 39,600 → 11%/30% bands = 4,984. Levies 20,464 → 34.1%. The versement libératoire (28% flat) is blocked at €60k by the RFR cap; a SASU all-dividend chain runs ≈43.7%.
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Works in your favour
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Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (value 1.28; 2023 was 1.30). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29; cross-checked against decoding the full crim_off_cat matrix. Moderate by European standards — above the safest EU states (Austria 0.85) but well below the global average.
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SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precipitation < 150mm: Mar (15.4), Apr (17.4), May (21.0), Jun (24.7), Jul (27.5), Aug (27.9), Sep (24.8), Oct (21.0), Nov (17.0) = 9. Jan (13.3), Feb (13.5) and Dec (14.1) miss on the 15°C floor; no month exceeds the 28°C ceiling (Aug peaks 27.9) or the 150mm rain cap (wettest Nov 138.4). Nice scores high thanks to a long, maritime-moderated warm season.
Watch-outs
i
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- INSEE national-accounts household final consumption by COICOP, 2024. Functions sum to €1,543.8B on-territory; subtract housing rentals (actual €77.0B + imputed €220.7B = €297.7B) → €1,246.1B non-rent. Per-capita on the household basis (to match peers): ÷ 31.377M households (Jan 2024) ÷ avg size 2.14 ÷ 12 = €1,546/capita/mo (2024). CPI-uplift mid-2024→mid-2026 ×1.030 = €1,593/mo. ×1.1399 USD/EUR = $1,816/mo. Per-capita basis to match Czechia/Spain/Austria; a lone single-person household spends materially more.
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AtmoSud — Bilan de la qualité de l'air 2024, particules PM2.5 (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- No verifiable numeric annual-mean PM2.5 for a Nice station could be retrieved — AtmoSud (the accredited PACA air-quality body) publishes station data only through interactive dashboards that are not machine-readable, and commercial aggregators expose only real-time spot readings (not annual means), so the value is left null rather than fabricated. Official qualitative bounds from the AtmoSud 2024 bilan: the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³) is exceeded (so > 5); the EU limit (25 µg/m³) has been respected at every station since 2019; in 2024 even the Nice Promenade traffic station meets the stricter 2030 objective of 10 µg/m³, implying the annual mean is roughly 6–9 µg/m³ at urban-background sites. To fill later: query the AtmoSud open-data (DIDON) API or the EEA Air Quality Portal for the Nice Arson urban-background station annual mean.
Compare Nice
Full country picture: France overview