CITY / CITYVerified city comparison
BolognavsFlorence.
Florence is stronger on 2 of 8 headline facts; Bologna on 0. Cost of living (single, excl. rent): Bologna $1,093/mo, Florence $1,093/mo. Freelancer tax burden: Bologna 24.9%, Florence 24.9%. Climate comfort: Bologna 5/12 mo, Florence 6/12 mo.
VerifiedUpdated
14 compared criteria · 17 sources · country-level facts are clearly inherited
it / it · SettleMetric
01
The key differences
The key numbers head-to-head — the stronger side is marked. The overall score stays decoration; what matters is which facts fit you.
Headline result
Florence leads on 2 of 8
Bologna
0
Florence
2
01Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Bologna
$1,093/mo
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Florence
$1,093/mo
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
02Freelancer tax burden
Bologna
24.9%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Florence
24.9%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
03Homicide rate
Bologna
0.57/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Florence
0.57/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
04Climate comfort
Bologna
5/12 mo
SettleMetric — computed from the Bologna 1991–2020 normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Months whose 1991–2020 normals have a mean daily maximum of 15–28°C and under 150 mm of precipitation: March, April, May, September, October = 5. June, July and August are excluded for heat (28.6, 31.5 and 31.4°C) and November, December, January and February for cold — November's 12.8°C maximum is the reason Bologna scores below Florence and Naples. No month is excluded for rain.
Florencestronger
6/12 mo
SettleMetric — computed from the Firenze Peretola 1991–2020 WMO normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Months whose 1991–2020 normals have a mean daily maximum of 15–28°C and under 150 mm of precipitation: March, April, May, September, October, November = 6. June, July and August are excluded for heat (29.1, 32.3 and 32.4°C) and December to February for cold. No month is excluded for rain.
05Internet speed
Bologna
27 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
Florence
27 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
06English proficiency
Bologna
Moderate
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Florence
Moderate
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
07Private healthcare cost
Bologna
no verified data
Florence
no verified data
08Air quality (PM2.5)
Bologna
14.3 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Bologna/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 14.27 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage — the best coverage of the Italian cities in this dataset — from three stations: one suburban background, one urban background and one urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 44.49433°N 11.32313°E, essentially the city centre, over a footprint of 395,416 people against the 391,473 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading.
- Notes
- Nearly three times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and clearly above the 2030 EU limit of 10. This is Po Valley air: the basin traps winter emissions under stable inversions, and Bologna reads about 13% dirtier than Florence just 100 km south across the Apennines. Only three stations feed the row, the thinnest network of the six Italian cities here, so the figure is less robust than Naples's or Rome's. The trend is downward but uneven — 15.93 in 2020, 15.75 in 2022, 13.37 in 2023, 14.27 in 2024.
Florencestronger
12.7 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Firenze/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 12.665 µg/m³ at 93% temporal coverage, from five stations — one suburban background, two urban background and two urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 43.78002°N 11.27284°E, about 1.2 km north of the centre, over a footprint of 366,927 people against the 361,625 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading rather than a metropolitan one.
- Notes
- Two and a half times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and above the 2030 EU limit of 10. Cleaner than Milan and Bologna, close to Rome. The series is flat rather than falling — 13.36 in 2020, 12.07 in 2021, 13.13 in 2022, 12.53 in 2023, 12.67 in 2024 — so Florence has not repeated the Po Valley's recent improvement, but it started from a much lower base.
02
Which city fits your plan?
Each lens weighs only the facts that matter to that plan, and names the side it favours.
Remote IT / freelancer
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
A close call for this plan
01Freelancer tax burden
Bologna
24.9%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Florence
24.9%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
02Internet speed
Bologna
27 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
Florence
27 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
03English proficiency
Bologna
Moderate
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Florence
Moderate
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
04Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Bologna
$1,093/mo
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Florence
$1,093/mo
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
05Domestic delivery quality
Bologna
Good
Poste Italiane — Rete Punto Poste (punti di ritiro e Locker)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 28, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Poste Italiane's Punto Poste network lists over 18,000 pickup points and lockers, and more than 30,000 proximity points counting post offices, alongside private networks — BRT, GLS, SDA, DHL, UPS and InPost Italia. Home delivery is nationwide with next-day options in the north and centre. Rated 'good' rather than 'excellent': locker density is far below Poland's or France's (Poste's own locker estate is in the low thousands, against ~26,000 InPost lockers in Poland), and delivery reliability is noticeably weaker in the south and on the islands.
- Notes
- Cash on delivery (contrassegno) is still a mainstream consumer option in Italy, unlike in France — a legacy of lower card penetration that remains useful for anyone without an Italian bank card yet.
Florence
Good
Poste Italiane — Rete Punto Poste (punti di ritiro e Locker)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 28, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Poste Italiane's Punto Poste network lists over 18,000 pickup points and lockers, and more than 30,000 proximity points counting post offices, alongside private networks — BRT, GLS, SDA, DHL, UPS and InPost Italia. Home delivery is nationwide with next-day options in the north and centre. Rated 'good' rather than 'excellent': locker density is far below Poland's or France's (Poste's own locker estate is in the low thousands, against ~26,000 InPost lockers in Poland), and delivery reliability is noticeably weaker in the south and on the islands.
- Notes
- Cash on delivery (contrassegno) is still a mainstream consumer option in Italy, unlike in France — a legacy of lower card penetration that remains useful for anyone without an Italian bank card yet.
Family
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
Florence fits better — 2 of 5
01International schools
Bologna
2
International Schools Database — International schools in Bologna (2 schools listed)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Aug 28, 2026
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- The directory's headline count and its list agree at two: International School of Bologna and Kinder International School Bologna. The same directory and the same counting rule were used for Rome, Milan, Genoa and Florence in this dataset. The nearest alternatives the directory lists are single schools in Modena and Ferrara, both about 45 km away.
- Notes
- The thinnest international-school provision of the six Italian cities here — two schools for 391,000 residents, against five in Florence, a city of almost exactly the same size. For a household relocating with school-age children this is the sharpest practical drawback of Bologna, and it sits oddly beside the city's reputation as a university town: the higher-education depth does not extend downward to schooling in English. A directory count rather than an accreditor-by-accreditor tally, because the IB World School registry answers automated requests with a bot challenge that we do not bypass.
Florencestronger
5
International Schools Database — International schools in Florence (5 schools listed)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Aug 28, 2026
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- The directory's headline count and its list agree at five: International School of Florence (British and Italian curricula), Canadian School of Florence, Bilingual International School Borgo San Lorenzo, Lycée Victor Hugo (French), and Florence Bilingual School. The same directory and the same counting rule were used for Rome, Milan and Genoa in this dataset.
- Notes
- Five schools for 362,000 residents is better provision per head than Rome's 29 for 2.7 million, and two and a half times what Bologna offers at almost exactly the same city size. The curricula are British/Italian, Canadian, French and bilingual; Milan is the only other city in this dataset with a Canadian school. A directory count rather than an accreditor-by-accreditor tally: the IB World School registry answers automated requests with a bot challenge that we do not bypass.
02Homicide rate
Bologna
0.57/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Florence
0.57/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
03Private healthcare cost
Bologna
no verified data
Florence
no verified data
04Air quality (PM2.5)
Bologna
14.3 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Bologna/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 14.27 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage — the best coverage of the Italian cities in this dataset — from three stations: one suburban background, one urban background and one urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 44.49433°N 11.32313°E, essentially the city centre, over a footprint of 395,416 people against the 391,473 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading.
- Notes
- Nearly three times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and clearly above the 2030 EU limit of 10. This is Po Valley air: the basin traps winter emissions under stable inversions, and Bologna reads about 13% dirtier than Florence just 100 km south across the Apennines. Only three stations feed the row, the thinnest network of the six Italian cities here, so the figure is less robust than Naples's or Rome's. The trend is downward but uneven — 15.93 in 2020, 15.75 in 2022, 13.37 in 2023, 14.27 in 2024.
Florencestronger
12.7 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Firenze/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 12.665 µg/m³ at 93% temporal coverage, from five stations — one suburban background, two urban background and two urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 43.78002°N 11.27284°E, about 1.2 km north of the centre, over a footprint of 366,927 people against the 361,625 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading rather than a metropolitan one.
- Notes
- Two and a half times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and above the 2030 EU limit of 10. Cleaner than Milan and Bologna, close to Rome. The series is flat rather than falling — 13.36 in 2020, 12.07 in 2021, 13.13 in 2022, 12.53 in 2023, 12.67 in 2024 — so Florence has not repeated the Po Valley's recent improvement, but it started from a much lower base.
05English proficiency
Bologna
Moderate
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Florence
Moderate
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Money & crypto
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
A close call for this plan
01Crypto regulation
Bologna
Legal regulated
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and fully regulated, but taxed harder than most of Europe from 2026: the substitute tax on crypto capital gains (art. 67(1)(c-sexies) TUIR) rose from 26% to 33% on gains realised from 1 January 2026, and the previous €2,000 annual exemption threshold was abolished from 2025 — so the first euro of gain is taxable. Euro-denominated e-money tokens stay at 26%. Service providers operate under the EU MiCA regime, supervised by CONSOB and the Bank of Italy. Note that the regime forfettario's substitute tax does not cover capital gains: crypto is declared separately in quadro RT whatever your business regime.
Florence
Legal regulated
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and fully regulated, but taxed harder than most of Europe from 2026: the substitute tax on crypto capital gains (art. 67(1)(c-sexies) TUIR) rose from 26% to 33% on gains realised from 1 January 2026, and the previous €2,000 annual exemption threshold was abolished from 2025 — so the first euro of gain is taxable. Euro-denominated e-money tokens stay at 26%. Service providers operate under the EU MiCA regime, supervised by CONSOB and the Bank of Italy. Note that the regime forfettario's substitute tax does not cover capital gains: crypto is declared separately in quadro RT whatever your business regime.
02Financial control level
Bologna
Low
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Italy uses the euro, with EU free movement of capital and no exchange or capital controls. The binding constraints are ordinary anti-money-laundering rules — a ceiling on cash transfers between parties (art. 49 of D.Lgs. 231/2007), a reporting duty on large cash tourism sales, and the RW section of the tax return, in which residents must declare foreign accounts and assets including crypto. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. None of this restricts moving your own money, so the classification is 'low', the same as France and Spain.
- Notes
- Two official sources disagree on the general cash ceiling and we flag rather than hide it: the 2023 Budget Law (law 197/2022) raised it from €1,000 to €5,000 from 1 January 2023, and this Agenzia delle Entrate page tracks that by setting the tourism cash-sale reporting threshold at €5,000 ('previously €1,000 until 2025'), while the Treasury's own prevention-of-financial-crime FAQ still displays €1,000 as the limit in force since 2022. Either figure lands Italy in the same band. Worth knowing separately: Italy's declaration duty for foreign-held assets is broad, and penalties for undeclared foreign accounts are real.
Florence
Low
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Italy uses the euro, with EU free movement of capital and no exchange or capital controls. The binding constraints are ordinary anti-money-laundering rules — a ceiling on cash transfers between parties (art. 49 of D.Lgs. 231/2007), a reporting duty on large cash tourism sales, and the RW section of the tax return, in which residents must declare foreign accounts and assets including crypto. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. None of this restricts moving your own money, so the classification is 'low', the same as France and Spain.
- Notes
- Two official sources disagree on the general cash ceiling and we flag rather than hide it: the 2023 Budget Law (law 197/2022) raised it from €1,000 to €5,000 from 1 January 2023, and this Agenzia delle Entrate page tracks that by setting the tourism cash-sale reporting threshold at €5,000 ('previously €1,000 until 2025'), while the Treasury's own prevention-of-financial-crime FAQ still displays €1,000 as the limit in force since 2022. Either figure lands Italy in the same band. Worth knowing separately: Italy's declaration duty for foreign-held assets is broad, and penalties for undeclared foreign accounts are real.
03Freelancer tax burden
Bologna
24.9%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Florence
24.9%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Calm lifestyle
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Florence fits better — 2 of 4
01Homicide rate
Bologna
0.57/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Florence
0.57/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
02Air quality (PM2.5)
Bologna
14.3 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Bologna/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 14.27 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage — the best coverage of the Italian cities in this dataset — from three stations: one suburban background, one urban background and one urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 44.49433°N 11.32313°E, essentially the city centre, over a footprint of 395,416 people against the 391,473 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading.
- Notes
- Nearly three times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and clearly above the 2030 EU limit of 10. This is Po Valley air: the basin traps winter emissions under stable inversions, and Bologna reads about 13% dirtier than Florence just 100 km south across the Apennines. Only three stations feed the row, the thinnest network of the six Italian cities here, so the figure is less robust than Naples's or Rome's. The trend is downward but uneven — 15.93 in 2020, 15.75 in 2022, 13.37 in 2023, 14.27 in 2024.
Florencestronger
12.7 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Firenze/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 12.665 µg/m³ at 93% temporal coverage, from five stations — one suburban background, two urban background and two urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 43.78002°N 11.27284°E, about 1.2 km north of the centre, over a footprint of 366,927 people against the 361,625 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading rather than a metropolitan one.
- Notes
- Two and a half times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and above the 2030 EU limit of 10. Cleaner than Milan and Bologna, close to Rome. The series is flat rather than falling — 13.36 in 2020, 12.07 in 2021, 13.13 in 2022, 12.53 in 2023, 12.67 in 2024 — so Florence has not repeated the Po Valley's recent improvement, but it started from a much lower base.
03Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Bologna
$1,093/mo
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Florence
$1,093/mo
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
04Climate comfort
Bologna
5/12 mo
SettleMetric — computed from the Bologna 1991–2020 normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Months whose 1991–2020 normals have a mean daily maximum of 15–28°C and under 150 mm of precipitation: March, April, May, September, October = 5. June, July and August are excluded for heat (28.6, 31.5 and 31.4°C) and November, December, January and February for cold — November's 12.8°C maximum is the reason Bologna scores below Florence and Naples. No month is excluded for rain.
Florencestronger
6/12 mo
SettleMetric — computed from the Firenze Peretola 1991–2020 WMO normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Months whose 1991–2020 normals have a mean daily maximum of 15–28°C and under 150 mm of precipitation: March, April, May, September, October, November = 6. June, July and August are excluded for heat (29.1, 32.3 and 32.4°C) and December to February for cold. No month is excluded for rain.
03
The full comparison
Open any fact to see what it measures, how fresh it is and the complete source trail for both cities.
01
Taxes
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileBologna24.9Florence24.9
What this measures
Effective total burden (income tax + mandatory social and health contributions) for a solo IT freelancer with €60,000/year revenue and 10% deductible expenses, using the most favourable eligible scheme in the country's tax-schemes data. Computed by the SettleMetric tax engine; recorded as a curated value with the winning scheme id in method.
Lower is better· % effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profile· re-verified every 365 days
Bologna
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
Florence
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue for an IT freelancer = it-forfettario-it-67. Taxable base 67% × 60,000 = 40,200 (ATECO group 9 coefficient; expenses never reduce the base). INPS Gestione Separata 26.07% = 10,480.14, deducted from the forfeitary income → 29,719.86. Imposta sostitutiva 15% = 4,457.98. Levies 14,938.12 → 24.9%. The first five years of a new activity run at 5% instead (19.9%); the ordinary IRPEF route on the same profile is near 41%.
02
Legalization
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Remote-work legalization easeBolognaDedicated nomad visaFlorenceDedicated nomad visa
What this measures
Best available legalization route for a location-independent earner with a median (non-EU, non-US) passport, classified from this country's legalization-paths data: dedicated digital-nomad visa; general freelance/self-employment permit; realistic long-stay path (e.g. renewable temporary residence); only short visa-free/tourist stays; effectively none.
Rated by category· re-verified every 180 days
Bologna
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 4, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Italy has run a dedicated digital-nomad and remote-worker visa since the decree took effect on 4 April 2024. It sits outside the decreto-flussi quotas, needs no nulla osta, is issued for up to a year and renews annually. It is not a low bar: the work must be highly qualified in the sense of art. 27-quater of the immigration act, with at least six months of prior experience in the activity.
Florence
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 4, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Italy has run a dedicated digital-nomad and remote-worker visa since the decree took effect on 4 April 2024. It sits outside the decreto-flussi quotas, needs no nulla osta, is issued for up to a year and renews annually. It is not a low bar: the work must be highly qualified in the sense of art. 27-quater of the immigration act, with at least six months of prior experience in the activity.
03
Cost of living
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentBologna1,093Florence1,093
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.
Lower is better· USD/month, single person, excluding rent· re-verified every 365 days
Bologna
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
Florence
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, tavole allegate)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- ISTAT household budget survey 2024: average monthly household spending €2,755.09, of which imputed rent (affitti figurativi) €617.39 → monetary spending €2,137.70. Actual rentals removed using Italy's 2025 HICP weight for COICOP 04.1 (29.51 per 1,000 = 2.951%, Eurostat prc_hicp_inw) = €63.08 → €2,074.62 excluding all rent. Divided by the average household size of 2.2 (Eurostat ilc_lvph01) = €943.01 per person per month; uplifted by HICP annual averages 2024→2025 (122.3 → 124.3, ×1.0164) = €958.43; converted at 1 EUR = 1.1399 USD (ECB, 2026-07-02) → $1,093.
- Notes
- Per-capita basis, to match how Spain, Czechia, Austria and France are computed in this dataset. ISTAT also publishes the real single-person household basket, which is what a solo mover actually faces: €1,931.70/month total, €1,347.48 after removing imputed and actual rent — about $1,561/month on the same uplift and FX. A person living alone has no household economies of scale, so read the $1,093 as the comparable cross-country figure and the $1,561 as the realistic personal one. No extrapolation into 2026 was applied beyond the 2025 annual average.
ISTAT — Spese per consumi delle famiglie, Anno 2024 (Prospetto 4, divisioni di spesa)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Each ISTAT 2024 spending division for all households, divided by the average household size 2.2, uplifted ×1.0164 (HICP 2024→2025) and converted at 1.1399 USD/EUR. The housing line is shown net of both imputed rent (€617.39/household) and actual rentals (€63.08, from the 2.951% HICP weight), leaving water, energy, maintenance and condominium charges. Items sum to $1,094 against the $1,093 headline; the €1 gap is rounding.
- Notes
- Food is the largest single line at a quarter of the basket — a high share for Western Europe, and one reason Italy's overall cost sits below France and Austria despite comparable incomes. Health is out-of-pocket only: the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale covers residents, with co-payments (ticket) and private consultations making up this line.
Food & non-alcoholic beverages281 USD
Housing (water, energy, maintenance — excl. rent)160 USD
Transport157 USD
Restaurants & accommodation85 USD
Other goods & services (personal care, social protection, misc.)71 USD
Furnishings & household equipment61 USD
Health (out-of-pocket)61 USD
Recreation, sport & culture55 USD
Clothing & footwear54 USD
Insurance & financial services39 USD
Information & communication38 USD
Alcoholic beverages & tobacco23 USD
Education9 USD
04
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
Bologna
Florence
Immobiliare.it — Mercato immobiliare Bologna, canoni di locazione richiesti per zona (giugno 2026)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2026
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Two per-m² rates from the 10 zone quotations of June 2026: central = mean of the priciest quartile (3 zones) = €16.76/m²; outside the centre = mean of the cheapest quartile (Toscana/Savena €14.09, San Vitale/Mazzini €14.79, Barca/Santa Viola €14.80) = €14.56/m². Applied to the dataset's assumed floor areas — studio 35 m², 1BR 55 m², 2BR 80 m², 3BR 110 m² — and converted at 1 EUR = 1.1534 USD (ECB, 2026-08-13). Read through the Internet Archive snapshot of 2026-07-17, as above.
- Notes
- A central premium of just 1.15x — by far the flattest rent gradient in this dataset, against 1.78x in Rome, 1.68x in Naples, 1.61x in Genoa, 1.58x in Florence and 1.52x in Milan. Moving out of central Bologna saves about 13%, so the usual relocation trade-off of commute against rent barely exists here. One caveat: the flatness partly reflects the coarse ten-zone grid immobiliare.it publishes for Bologna — ten zones against Rome's 51 and Florence's 15 — so genuinely cheap pockets may be averaged into their neighbours rather than showing up as their own low quotation.
Immobiliare.it — Mercato immobiliare Firenze, canoni di locazione richiesti per zona (giugno 2026)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jun 30, 2026
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Two per-m² rates from the 15 zone quotations of June 2026: central = mean of the priciest quartile (4 zones) = €23.45/m²; outside the centre = mean of the cheapest quartile (Ugnano/Mantignano €12.55, L'Isolotto €14.78, Legnaia/Soffiano €16.01, Serpiolle/Careggi €16.12) = €14.87/m². Applied to the dataset's assumed floor areas — studio 35 m², 1BR 55 m², 2BR 80 m², 3BR 110 m² — and converted at 1 EUR = 1.1534 USD (ECB, 2026-08-13). Read through the Internet Archive snapshot of 2026-07-17, as above.
- Notes
- A central premium of 1.58x, the narrowest of Italy's big cities after Bologna and Milan. Florence is small enough that "outside the centre" still means a 20-minute bus ride rather than a suburb, which is why the cheap quartile is not very cheap: even Ugnano, the bottom zone, asks more per square metre than central Genoa.
01Studio
Bolognacheaper
$677$588 outside
Florence
$947$600 outside
021-bedroom
Bolognacheaper
$1,063$924 outside
Florence
$1,488$943 outside
032-bedroom
Bolognacheaper
$1,547$1,343 outside
Florence
$2,164$1,372 outside
043-bedroom
Bolognacheaper
$2,127$1,847 outside
Florence
$2,976$1,886 outside
05
Safety
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearBologna0.6Florence0.6
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).
Lower is better· intentional homicides per 100,000/year· re-verified every 730 days
Bologna
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
Florence
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (2023 was also 0.57). Dataset last updated by Eurostat 2026-04-29. Among the safest large countries in Europe — roughly half the French rate and a fifth of the global average — and down from 1.05 in 2008.
06
Climate
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Climate comfortpleasant months/yearBologna5Florencestronger6
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.
Higher is better· pleasant months/year· re-verified every 3650 days
Bologna
SettleMetric — computed from the Bologna 1991–2020 normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Months whose 1991–2020 normals have a mean daily maximum of 15–28°C and under 150 mm of precipitation: March, April, May, September, October = 5. June, July and August are excluded for heat (28.6, 31.5 and 31.4°C) and November, December, January and February for cold — November's 12.8°C maximum is the reason Bologna scores below Florence and Naples. No month is excluded for rain.
Florence
SettleMetric — computed from the Firenze Peretola 1991–2020 WMO normals
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Months whose 1991–2020 normals have a mean daily maximum of 15–28°C and under 150 mm of precipitation: March, April, May, September, October, November = 6. June, July and August are excluded for heat (29.1, 32.3 and 32.4°C) and December to February for cold. No month is excluded for rain.
02+−Air quality (PM2.5)µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5Bologna14.3Florencestronger12.7
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.
Lower is better· µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5· re-verified every 730 days
Bologna
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Bologna/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 14.27 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage — the best coverage of the Italian cities in this dataset — from three stations: one suburban background, one urban background and one urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 44.49433°N 11.32313°E, essentially the city centre, over a footprint of 395,416 people against the 391,473 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading.
- Notes
- Nearly three times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and clearly above the 2030 EU limit of 10. This is Po Valley air: the basin traps winter emissions under stable inversions, and Bologna reads about 13% dirtier than Florence just 100 km south across the Apennines. Only three stations feed the row, the thinnest network of the six Italian cities here, so the figure is less robust than Naples's or Rome's. The trend is downward but uneven — 15.93 in 2020, 15.75 in 2022, 13.37 in 2023, 14.27 in 2024.
Florence
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row "Firenze/ITA", year 2024, pm25_concentration 12.665 µg/m³ at 93% temporal coverage, from five stations — one suburban background, two urban background and two urban traffic. The row aggregates a station centroid of 43.78002°N 11.27284°E, about 1.2 km north of the centre, over a footprint of 366,927 people against the 361,625 comune population, so this is a city-proper reading rather than a metropolitan one.
- Notes
- Two and a half times the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, inside the current EU limit of 25 and above the 2030 EU limit of 10. Cleaner than Milan and Bologna, close to Rome. The series is flat rather than falling — 13.36 in 2020, 12.07 in 2021, 13.13 in 2022, 12.53 in 2023, 12.67 in 2024 — so Florence has not repeated the Po Valley's recent improvement, but it started from a much lower base.
07
Healthcare
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldBolognano verified dataFlorenceno verified data
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.
Lower is better· USD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-old· re-verified every 365 days
Bologna
No verified premium. Italian insurers do not publish individual health-policy tariffs the way French mutuelle comparators do, and the figures circulating on broker blogs (roughly €300–500 a year for a basic individual policy at 35) are not traceable to a named tariff table, so they are not recorded here. What is certain is the structure: residents — including foreigners with a residence permit — enrol in the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, which covers GP care, hospital treatment and subsidised specialist care against a co-payment (ticket). Private policies in Italy are supplementary, bought mainly to skip public waiting lists, not a replacement. Non-residents on a digital-nomad or elective-residence visa must instead hold private travel/health insurance for the visa itself.
Florence
No verified premium. Italian insurers do not publish individual health-policy tariffs the way French mutuelle comparators do, and the figures circulating on broker blogs (roughly €300–500 a year for a basic individual policy at 35) are not traceable to a named tariff table, so they are not recorded here. What is certain is the structure: residents — including foreigners with a residence permit — enrol in the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, which covers GP care, hospital treatment and subsidised specialist care against a co-payment (ticket). Private policies in Italy are supplementary, bought mainly to skip public waiting lists, not a replacement. Non-residents on a digital-nomad or elective-residence visa must instead hold private travel/health insurance for the visa itself.
08
Money & crypto
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Crypto regulationBolognaLegal regulatedFlorenceLegal regulated
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.
Rated by category· re-verified every 180 days
Bologna
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and fully regulated, but taxed harder than most of Europe from 2026: the substitute tax on crypto capital gains (art. 67(1)(c-sexies) TUIR) rose from 26% to 33% on gains realised from 1 January 2026, and the previous €2,000 annual exemption threshold was abolished from 2025 — so the first euro of gain is taxable. Euro-denominated e-money tokens stay at 26%. Service providers operate under the EU MiCA regime, supervised by CONSOB and the Bank of Italy. Note that the regime forfettario's substitute tax does not cover capital gains: crypto is declared separately in quadro RT whatever your business regime.
Florence
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and fully regulated, but taxed harder than most of Europe from 2026: the substitute tax on crypto capital gains (art. 67(1)(c-sexies) TUIR) rose from 26% to 33% on gains realised from 1 January 2026, and the previous €2,000 annual exemption threshold was abolished from 2025 — so the first euro of gain is taxable. Euro-denominated e-money tokens stay at 26%. Service providers operate under the EU MiCA regime, supervised by CONSOB and the Bank of Italy. Note that the regime forfettario's substitute tax does not cover capital gains: crypto is declared separately in quadro RT whatever your business regime.
02+−Financial control levelBolognaLowFlorenceLow
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.
Rated by category· re-verified every 365 days
Bologna
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Italy uses the euro, with EU free movement of capital and no exchange or capital controls. The binding constraints are ordinary anti-money-laundering rules — a ceiling on cash transfers between parties (art. 49 of D.Lgs. 231/2007), a reporting duty on large cash tourism sales, and the RW section of the tax return, in which residents must declare foreign accounts and assets including crypto. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. None of this restricts moving your own money, so the classification is 'low', the same as France and Spain.
- Notes
- Two official sources disagree on the general cash ceiling and we flag rather than hide it: the 2023 Budget Law (law 197/2022) raised it from €1,000 to €5,000 from 1 January 2023, and this Agenzia delle Entrate page tracks that by setting the tourism cash-sale reporting threshold at €5,000 ('previously €1,000 until 2025'), while the Treasury's own prevention-of-financial-crime FAQ still displays €1,000 as the limit in force since 2022. Either figure lands Italy in the same band. Worth knowing separately: Italy's declaration duty for foreign-held assets is broad, and penalties for undeclared foreign accounts are real.
Florence
Official source
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Composite: Italy uses the euro, with EU free movement of capital and no exchange or capital controls. The binding constraints are ordinary anti-money-laundering rules — a ceiling on cash transfers between parties (art. 49 of D.Lgs. 231/2007), a reporting duty on large cash tourism sales, and the RW section of the tax return, in which residents must declare foreign accounts and assets including crypto. Non-resident banking is available with standard KYC. None of this restricts moving your own money, so the classification is 'low', the same as France and Spain.
- Notes
- Two official sources disagree on the general cash ceiling and we flag rather than hide it: the 2023 Budget Law (law 197/2022) raised it from €1,000 to €5,000 from 1 January 2023, and this Agenzia delle Entrate page tracks that by setting the tourism cash-sale reporting threshold at €5,000 ('previously €1,000 until 2025'), while the Treasury's own prevention-of-financial-crime FAQ still displays €1,000 as the limit in force since 2022. Either figure lands Italy in the same band. Worth knowing separately: Italy's declaration duty for foreign-held assets is broad, and penalties for undeclared foreign accounts are real.
09
Infrastructure
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−Domestic delivery qualityBolognaGoodFlorenceGood
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.
Rated by category· re-verified every 730 days
Bologna
Poste Italiane — Rete Punto Poste (punti di ritiro e Locker)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 28, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Poste Italiane's Punto Poste network lists over 18,000 pickup points and lockers, and more than 30,000 proximity points counting post offices, alongside private networks — BRT, GLS, SDA, DHL, UPS and InPost Italia. Home delivery is nationwide with next-day options in the north and centre. Rated 'good' rather than 'excellent': locker density is far below Poland's or France's (Poste's own locker estate is in the low thousands, against ~26,000 InPost lockers in Poland), and delivery reliability is noticeably weaker in the south and on the islands.
- Notes
- Cash on delivery (contrassegno) is still a mainstream consumer option in Italy, unlike in France — a legacy of lower card penetration that remains useful for anyone without an Italian bank card yet.
Florence
Poste Italiane — Rete Punto Poste (punti di ritiro e Locker)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 28, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Poste Italiane's Punto Poste network lists over 18,000 pickup points and lockers, and more than 30,000 proximity points counting post offices, alongside private networks — BRT, GLS, SDA, DHL, UPS and InPost Italia. Home delivery is nationwide with next-day options in the north and centre. Rated 'good' rather than 'excellent': locker density is far below Poland's or France's (Poste's own locker estate is in the low thousands, against ~26,000 InPost lockers in Poland), and delivery reliability is noticeably weaker in the south and on the islands.
- Notes
- Cash on delivery (contrassegno) is still a mainstream consumer option in Italy, unlike in France — a legacy of lower card penetration that remains useful for anyone without an Italian bank card yet.
02+−International delivery easeBolognaMinor frictionFlorenceMinor friction
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.
Rated by category· re-verified every 365 days
Bologna
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Intra-EU shipping is frictionless under the single market — a parcel from Germany or Spain arrives like a domestic one. 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 consignments up to €150, with VAT already collected at checkout through IOSS. The same EU-wide regime as every member state; Italian customs handling of non-EU parcels is slower than northern Europe's, which is the 'minor friction' in practice.
Florence
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Intra-EU shipping is frictionless under the single market — a parcel from Germany or Spain arrives like a domestic one. 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 consignments up to €150, with VAT already collected at checkout through IOSS. The same EU-wide regime as every member state; Italian customs handling of non-EU parcels is slower than northern Europe's, which is the 'minor friction' in practice.
03+−Internet speedMbps, median fixed downloadBologna27.4Florence27.4
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.
Higher is better· Mbps, median fixed download· re-verified every 365 days
Bologna
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
Florence
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Italy
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 344 daily country-median download values for IT in 2023 (17.42M download tests; daily medians ranged 8.6–29.9 Mbps). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads well below advertised or Ookla-style figures — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Low by Western European standards on this metric: Italy's copper legacy is long and FTTH rollout, while accelerating under the national broadband plan, still lags France and Spain. Fibre is available in the three modelled cities; rural and southern coverage is where the national median is lost.
10
Language
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−English proficiencyBolognaModerateFlorenceModerate
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.
Rated by category· re-verified every 730 days
Bologna
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
Florence
EF EPI 2025 — Italy (score 513, rank 59/123, Moderate band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 28, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Italy score 513, global rank 59, 'Moderate' band (EF cutoffs: Moderate 500–549), down 15 points on the previous edition. Reading scores highest (534) and speaking lowest (417), which matches the lived experience: written and technical English is workable in Milan's professional world, but Italian is required for administration, healthcare and most daily life, and proficiency falls sharply from north to south.
11
Education
CriterionBolognaFlorence
01+−International schoolsaccredited international schools, countBologna2Florencestronger5
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).
Higher is better· accredited international schools, count· re-verified every 730 days
Bologna
International Schools Database — International schools in Bologna (2 schools listed)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Aug 28, 2026
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- The directory's headline count and its list agree at two: International School of Bologna and Kinder International School Bologna. The same directory and the same counting rule were used for Rome, Milan, Genoa and Florence in this dataset. The nearest alternatives the directory lists are single schools in Modena and Ferrara, both about 45 km away.
- Notes
- The thinnest international-school provision of the six Italian cities here — two schools for 391,000 residents, against five in Florence, a city of almost exactly the same size. For a household relocating with school-age children this is the sharpest practical drawback of Bologna, and it sits oddly beside the city's reputation as a university town: the higher-education depth does not extend downward to schooling in English. A directory count rather than an accreditor-by-accreditor tally, because the IB World School registry answers automated requests with a bot challenge that we do not bypass.
Florence
International Schools Database — International schools in Florence (5 schools listed)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Aug 28, 2026
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- The directory's headline count and its list agree at five: International School of Florence (British and Italian curricula), Canadian School of Florence, Bilingual International School Borgo San Lorenzo, Lycée Victor Hugo (French), and Florence Bilingual School. The same directory and the same counting rule were used for Rome, Milan and Genoa in this dataset.
- Notes
- Five schools for 362,000 residents is better provision per head than Rome's 29 for 2.7 million, and two and a half times what Bologna offers at almost exactly the same city size. The curricula are British/Italian, Canadian, French and bilingual; Milan is the only other city in this dataset with a Canadian school. A directory count rather than an accreditor-by-accreditor tally: the IB World School registry answers automated requests with a bot challenge that we do not bypass.