CITY / CITYVerified city comparison
LyonvsMarseille.
Marseille is stronger on 2 of 8 headline facts; Lyon on 0. Cost of living (single, excl. rent): Lyon $1,816/mo, Marseille $1,816/mo. Freelancer tax burden: Lyon 34.1%, Marseille 34.1%. Climate comfort: Lyon 6/12 mo, Marseille 7/12 mo.
VerifiedUpdated
14 compared criteria · 17 sources · country-level facts are clearly inherited
fr / fr · 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
Marseille leads on 2 of 8
Lyon
0
Marseille
2
01Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Lyon
$1,816/mo
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.
Marseille
$1,816/mo
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.
02Freelancer tax burden
Lyon
34.1%
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%.
Marseille
34.1%
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%.
03Homicide rate
Lyon
1.28/100k
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.
Marseille
1.28/100k
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.
04Climate comfort
Lyon
6/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Lyon-Bron 07480)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Apr (17.4 °C), May (21.5), Jun (25.6), Aug (28.0), Sep (23.1), Oct (17.7) = 6. July (28.2) is excluded as too hot, March (13.8) and November (11.4) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is October at 99.8 mm.
- Notes
- August sits exactly on the 28 °C ceiling and counts; July misses it by 0.2 °C.
Marseillestronger
7/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Marignane 07650)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Mar (16.4 °C), Apr (19.3), May (23.5), Jun (27.9), Sep (25.9), Oct (21.3), Nov (15.7) = 7. July (30.7) and August (30.5) are excluded as too hot, December (12.4), January (11.8) and February (12.8) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is September at 82.0 mm.
- Notes
- June qualifies by 0.1 °C. The count is taken at the airport station, about 20 km from the centre.
05Internet speed
Lyon
51 Mbps
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.
Marseille
51 Mbps
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.
06English proficiency
Lyon
Moderate
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.
Marseille
Moderate
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.
07Private healthcare cost
Lyon
$821/yr
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.
Marseille
$821/yr
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.
08Air quality (PM2.5)
Lyon
10.2 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Lyon that reported a full year, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR20062 "LYON Centre" (urban background, 1.9 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 9.500 µg/m³ at 99.12% coverage; FR20017 "GERLAND" (urban background, 3.6 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.000 µg/m³ at 98.95% coverage; FR20013 "A7 SUD LYONNAIS" (suburban traffic, 5.5 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 11.030 µg/m³ at 95.10% coverage. (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030) / 3 = 10.18.
- Notes
- NOT THE WHO FIGURE. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Lyon 8.942 µg/m³ for 2024 at 74% coverage, because it also averages in FR20046 "VAULX EN VELIN", whose 2024 PM2.5 mean (5.24) rests on 0.9% of the year: (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030 + 5.237) / 4 = 8.942, and the four coverages average 73.5%. Leaving out the station that barely reported gives 10.18. Two of the three are urban background sites in the city; the traffic site stands in the neighbouring commune of La Mulatière. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Lyon, on its own station mix, reads 11.60 (2020), 11.39 (2021), 11.31 (2022) and 9.78 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
Marseillestronger
9.4 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Marseille, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR03043 "MARSEILLE 5 AVENUES" (urban background, 2.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.604 µg/m³ at 96.12% coverage; FR03006 "MARSEILLE RABATAU" (urban traffic, 3.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.496 µg/m³ at 96.79% coverage; FR03014 "MARSEILLE ST LOUIS" (urban background, 5.8 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.969 µg/m³ at 98.93% coverage. (8.604 + 10.496 + 8.969) / 3 = 9.36. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Marseille 9.357 µg/m³ for 2024 at 97% coverage; the three stations' mean is 9.356 and their coverages average 97.3%. The WHO row counts four stations because its count covers all three pollutants it reports — the fourth, a suburban background site, has no 2024 PM2.5 mean in the EEA statistics.
- Notes
- Two background stations and one traffic station, all inside the city. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Marseille reads 9.78 (2020), 10.53 (2021), 11.73 (2022) and 10.93 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just under the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
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
Lyon
34.1%
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%.
Marseille
34.1%
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%.
02Internet speed
Lyon
51 Mbps
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.
Marseille
51 Mbps
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.
03English proficiency
Lyon
Moderate
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.
Marseille
Moderate
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.
04Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Lyon
$1,816/mo
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.
Marseille
$1,816/mo
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.
05Domestic delivery quality
Lyon
Excellent
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'.
Marseille
Excellent
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'.
Family
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
A close call for this plan
01International schools
Lyonstronger
2
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 24, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified floor of 2: (1) International School of Lyon, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, about 4.7 km south-west of the Hôtel de Ville — IB World School, school code 002195, Diploma Programme authorised 7 October 2004 and Primary Years Programme 26 March 2008, per its IB profile as archived on 2025-10-18; the CIS membership directory, read on 2026-09-24, lists it as a member with the status "Registered" rather than "Accredited". (2) OMBROSA, Lycée Multilingue de Lyon, Caluire-et-Cuire, about 4.5 km north — IB World School, code 002258, Diploma Programme authorised 10 March 2005, per its IB profile as archived on 2025-07-11.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR. ibo.org answered our requests with a Cloudflare challenge, so both schools were confirmed on Internet Archive copies of their IB profiles rather than the live pages, and no IB list for the city could be pulled. No other Lyon-area school is in the CIS directory, and the Accredited European Schools list has no Lyon entry. The Cité Scolaire Internationale de Lyon, a state school with international sections, does not appear in any of the registries checked. Cambridge International's school finder renders only in a browser, so Cambridge-registered schools could not be enumerated.
Marseille
1
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 24, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: the International Bilingual School of Provence, 500 route de Bouc-Bel-Air, Luynes (commune of Aix-en-Provence), about 20 km north of the Hôtel de Ville — IB World School, school code 001386, Diploma Programme authorised 4 June 2002, per its IB profile as archived on 2025-10-13. Aix-en-Provence and Marseille both belong to the Aix-Marseille-Provence Métropole.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR, and the one school counted is outside the city. The International School of Marseille, in the 7th arrondissement, is described on school-search sites as offering the IB Diploma within the same school group, but no IB profile of its own could be found in the Internet Archive and ibo.org answered our requests with a Cloudflare challenge, so it is not counted. No Marseille-area school is in the CIS membership directory, and the nearest Accredited European School is in Manosque, outside the metro area. Cambridge International's school finder renders only in a browser, so Cambridge-registered schools could not be enumerated.
02Homicide rate
Lyon
1.28/100k
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.
Marseille
1.28/100k
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.
03Private healthcare cost
Lyon
$821/yr
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.
Marseille
$821/yr
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.
04Air quality (PM2.5)
Lyon
10.2 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Lyon that reported a full year, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR20062 "LYON Centre" (urban background, 1.9 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 9.500 µg/m³ at 99.12% coverage; FR20017 "GERLAND" (urban background, 3.6 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.000 µg/m³ at 98.95% coverage; FR20013 "A7 SUD LYONNAIS" (suburban traffic, 5.5 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 11.030 µg/m³ at 95.10% coverage. (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030) / 3 = 10.18.
- Notes
- NOT THE WHO FIGURE. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Lyon 8.942 µg/m³ for 2024 at 74% coverage, because it also averages in FR20046 "VAULX EN VELIN", whose 2024 PM2.5 mean (5.24) rests on 0.9% of the year: (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030 + 5.237) / 4 = 8.942, and the four coverages average 73.5%. Leaving out the station that barely reported gives 10.18. Two of the three are urban background sites in the city; the traffic site stands in the neighbouring commune of La Mulatière. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Lyon, on its own station mix, reads 11.60 (2020), 11.39 (2021), 11.31 (2022) and 9.78 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
Marseillestronger
9.4 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Marseille, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR03043 "MARSEILLE 5 AVENUES" (urban background, 2.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.604 µg/m³ at 96.12% coverage; FR03006 "MARSEILLE RABATAU" (urban traffic, 3.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.496 µg/m³ at 96.79% coverage; FR03014 "MARSEILLE ST LOUIS" (urban background, 5.8 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.969 µg/m³ at 98.93% coverage. (8.604 + 10.496 + 8.969) / 3 = 9.36. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Marseille 9.357 µg/m³ for 2024 at 97% coverage; the three stations' mean is 9.356 and their coverages average 97.3%. The WHO row counts four stations because its count covers all three pollutants it reports — the fourth, a suburban background site, has no 2024 PM2.5 mean in the EEA statistics.
- Notes
- Two background stations and one traffic station, all inside the city. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Marseille reads 9.78 (2020), 10.53 (2021), 11.73 (2022) and 10.93 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just under the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
05English proficiency
Lyon
Moderate
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.
Marseille
Moderate
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.
Money & crypto
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
A close call for this plan
01Crypto regulation
Lyon
Legal regulated
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.
Marseille
Legal regulated
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.
02Financial control level
Lyon
Low
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'.
Marseille
Low
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'.
03Freelancer tax burden
Lyon
34.1%
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%.
Marseille
34.1%
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%.
Calm lifestyle
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Marseille fits better — 2 of 4
01Homicide rate
Lyon
1.28/100k
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.
Marseille
1.28/100k
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.
02Air quality (PM2.5)
Lyon
10.2 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Lyon that reported a full year, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR20062 "LYON Centre" (urban background, 1.9 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 9.500 µg/m³ at 99.12% coverage; FR20017 "GERLAND" (urban background, 3.6 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.000 µg/m³ at 98.95% coverage; FR20013 "A7 SUD LYONNAIS" (suburban traffic, 5.5 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 11.030 µg/m³ at 95.10% coverage. (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030) / 3 = 10.18.
- Notes
- NOT THE WHO FIGURE. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Lyon 8.942 µg/m³ for 2024 at 74% coverage, because it also averages in FR20046 "VAULX EN VELIN", whose 2024 PM2.5 mean (5.24) rests on 0.9% of the year: (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030 + 5.237) / 4 = 8.942, and the four coverages average 73.5%. Leaving out the station that barely reported gives 10.18. Two of the three are urban background sites in the city; the traffic site stands in the neighbouring commune of La Mulatière. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Lyon, on its own station mix, reads 11.60 (2020), 11.39 (2021), 11.31 (2022) and 9.78 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
Marseillestronger
9.4 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Marseille, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR03043 "MARSEILLE 5 AVENUES" (urban background, 2.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.604 µg/m³ at 96.12% coverage; FR03006 "MARSEILLE RABATAU" (urban traffic, 3.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.496 µg/m³ at 96.79% coverage; FR03014 "MARSEILLE ST LOUIS" (urban background, 5.8 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.969 µg/m³ at 98.93% coverage. (8.604 + 10.496 + 8.969) / 3 = 9.36. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Marseille 9.357 µg/m³ for 2024 at 97% coverage; the three stations' mean is 9.356 and their coverages average 97.3%. The WHO row counts four stations because its count covers all three pollutants it reports — the fourth, a suburban background site, has no 2024 PM2.5 mean in the EEA statistics.
- Notes
- Two background stations and one traffic station, all inside the city. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Marseille reads 9.78 (2020), 10.53 (2021), 11.73 (2022) and 10.93 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just under the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
03Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Lyon
$1,816/mo
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.
Marseille
$1,816/mo
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.
04Climate comfort
Lyon
6/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Lyon-Bron 07480)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Apr (17.4 °C), May (21.5), Jun (25.6), Aug (28.0), Sep (23.1), Oct (17.7) = 6. July (28.2) is excluded as too hot, March (13.8) and November (11.4) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is October at 99.8 mm.
- Notes
- August sits exactly on the 28 °C ceiling and counts; July misses it by 0.2 °C.
Marseillestronger
7/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Marignane 07650)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Mar (16.4 °C), Apr (19.3), May (23.5), Jun (27.9), Sep (25.9), Oct (21.3), Nov (15.7) = 7. July (30.7) and August (30.5) are excluded as too hot, December (12.4), January (11.8) and February (12.8) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is September at 82.0 mm.
- Notes
- June qualifies by 0.1 °C. The count is taken at the airport station, about 20 km from the centre.
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
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileLyon34.1Marseille34.1
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
Lyon
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%.
Marseille
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%.
02
Legalization
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Remote-work legalization easeLyonLong stay pathMarseilleLong stay path
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
Lyon
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 14, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- France has no dedicated digital-nomad or remote-work visa. The long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur) forbids any professional activity, so it does not fit an actively-earning remote worker. Non-EU self-employed freelancers use the 'entrepreneur/profession libérale' long-stay visa or the Passeport Talent (for qualifying founders/investors/highly-skilled). EU/EEA/Swiss citizens work and freelance freely with no permit. Classified 'long-stay-path'.
Marseille
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 14, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Notes
- France has no dedicated digital-nomad or remote-work visa. The long-stay visitor visa (VLS-TS visiteur) forbids any professional activity, so it does not fit an actively-earning remote worker. Non-EU self-employed freelancers use the 'entrepreneur/profession libérale' long-stay visa or the Passeport Talent (for qualifying founders/investors/highly-skilled). EU/EEA/Swiss citizens work and freelance freely with no permit. Classified 'long-stay-path'.
03
Cost of living
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentLyon1,816Marseille1,816
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
Lyon
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.
Marseille
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.
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 $1,816 headline. Health is households' out-of-pocket/non-reimbursed only — France's universal Assurance Maladie plus near-universal mutuelles cover most care, so this line is structurally low.
Transport283 USD
Food & non-alcoholic beverages273 USD
Restaurants & hotels191 USD
Housing (water, energy, maintenance — excl. rent)185 USD
Insurance & financial services182 USD
Recreation, sport & culture158 USD
Other goods & services (personal care, social protection, misc.)138 USD
Health (out-of-pocket & non-reimbursed)85 USD
Furnishings & household equipment84 USD
Information & communication80 USD
Alcoholic beverages & tobacco74 USD
Clothing & footwear65 USD
Education16 USD
04
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
Lyon
Marseille
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 30, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- « Estimations ANIL, à partir des données du Groupe SeLoger et de leboncoin »: the 2025 edition of the ministry's rent map, published on data.gouv.fr on 11 December 2025 and read on 2026-09-24, models for each of Lyon's nine arrondissements the asking rent per m² per month, charges included, of an unfurnished flat let in the third quarter of 2025 — one series for 1–2-room flats (reference 37 m²) and one for flats of 3 rooms or more (72 m²). Centre = the 1st and 2nd arrondissements (the Presqu'île; the Hôtel de Ville is in the 1st); outside = the other seven. Each group is the mean of its arrondissements weighted by the listings behind each estimate: 1–2 rooms €20.066/m² centre (13,555 listings) and €18.950 outside (75,700); 3 rooms or more €16.352 centre (8,674) and €15.125 outside (46,413). Studio and 1br take the 1–2-room rate, 2br and 3br the 3-room-plus rate, times the floor areas used for Paris and Nice (studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m²), converted at the ECB reference rate in data/fx-rates.json (EUR 1 = USD 1.1534, 2026-08-13): studio $694 / $656, 1br $926 / $874, 2br $1,132 / $1,047, 3br $1,603 / $1,483.
- Notes
- MODELLED ASKING RENTS, not signed leases: the map predicts the rent of a reference flat from listings posted in 2019–2025, charges included and unfurnished — the basis Nice uses, while Paris is on furnished asking rents. The per-m² rate is applied flat within each size band, so a 30 m² studio is priced at the rate of a 37 m² 1–2-room flat and reads low. Lyon, with Villeurbanne, is under rent control (encadrement des loyers, per service-public.gouv.fr on 2026-09-24), which caps the rent of a new lease; asking rents are not adjusted for it. The 6th arrondissement, outside the centre as defined here, is as dear as the centre (€20.01/m² for 1–2 rooms).
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 30, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- « Estimations ANIL, à partir des données du Groupe SeLoger et de leboncoin »: the 2025 edition of the ministry's rent map, published on data.gouv.fr on 11 December 2025 and read on 2026-09-24, models for each of Marseille's sixteen arrondissements the asking rent per m² per month, charges included, of an unfurnished flat let in the third quarter of 2025 — one series for 1–2-room flats (reference 37 m²) and one for flats of 3 rooms or more (72 m²). Centre = the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th arrondissements, a judgement (the Hôtel de Ville is in the 2nd); outside = the other twelve. Each group is the mean of its arrondissements weighted by the listings behind each estimate: 1–2 rooms €18.789/m² centre (25,384 listings) and €18.523 outside (60,840); 3 rooms or more €15.532 centre (14,173) and €14.811 outside (47,758). Studio and 1br take the 1–2-room rate, 2br and 3br the 3-room-plus rate, times the floor areas used for Paris and Nice (studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m²), converted at the ECB reference rate in data/fx-rates.json (EUR 1 = USD 1.1534, 2026-08-13): studio $650 / $641, 1br $867 / $855, 2br $1,075 / $1,025, 3br $1,523 / $1,452.
- Notes
- The centre is barely dearer than the rest of Marseille, because the city divides north–south more than centre–edge: among 1–2-room flats the 1st arrondissement (€17.01/m²) is as cheap as the 3rd (€17.02) and cheaper than the northern 14th (€17.40) — only the northern 15th is cheaper still (€16.16) — while the southern 7th, 8th and 9th reach €20.64, €20.38 and €19.95. MODELLED ASKING RENTS, charges included and unfurnished — the basis Nice uses; studios read low because the 1–2-room rate is modelled on a 37 m² flat. Marseille is not on service-public.gouv.fr's list of communes under rent control (encadrement des loyers), read on 2026-09-24.
01Studio
Lyon
$694$656 outside
Marseillecheaper
$650$641 outside
021-bedroom
Lyon
$926$874 outside
Marseillecheaper
$867$855 outside
032-bedroom
Lyon
$1,132$1,047 outside
Marseillecheaper
$1,075$1,025 outside
043-bedroom
Lyon
$1,603$1,483 outside
Marseillecheaper
$1,523$1,452 outside
05
Safety
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearLyon1.3Marseille1.3
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
Lyon
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.
Marseille
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.
06
Climate
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Climate comfortpleasant months/yearLyon6Marseillestronger7
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
Lyon
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Lyon-Bron 07480)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Apr (17.4 °C), May (21.5), Jun (25.6), Aug (28.0), Sep (23.1), Oct (17.7) = 6. July (28.2) is excluded as too hot, March (13.8) and November (11.4) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is October at 99.8 mm.
- Notes
- August sits exactly on the 28 °C ceiling and counts; July misses it by 0.2 °C.
Marseille
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (WMO 1991–2020, Marignane 07650)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Months whose mean daily maximum is between 15 and 28 °C and whose precipitation is under 150 mm: Mar (16.4 °C), Apr (19.3), May (23.5), Jun (27.9), Sep (25.9), Oct (21.3), Nov (15.7) = 7. July (30.7) and August (30.5) are excluded as too hot, December (12.4), January (11.8) and February (12.8) as too cold. The precipitation test excludes nothing: the wettest month is September at 82.0 mm.
- Notes
- June qualifies by 0.1 °C. The count is taken at the airport station, about 20 km from the centre.
02+−Air quality (PM2.5)µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5Lyon10.2Marseillestronger9.4
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
Lyon
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Lyon that reported a full year, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR20062 "LYON Centre" (urban background, 1.9 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 9.500 µg/m³ at 99.12% coverage; FR20017 "GERLAND" (urban background, 3.6 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.000 µg/m³ at 98.95% coverage; FR20013 "A7 SUD LYONNAIS" (suburban traffic, 5.5 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 11.030 µg/m³ at 95.10% coverage. (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030) / 3 = 10.18.
- Notes
- NOT THE WHO FIGURE. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Lyon 8.942 µg/m³ for 2024 at 74% coverage, because it also averages in FR20046 "VAULX EN VELIN", whose 2024 PM2.5 mean (5.24) rests on 0.9% of the year: (9.500 + 10.000 + 11.030 + 5.237) / 4 = 8.942, and the four coverages average 73.5%. Leaving out the station that barely reported gives 10.18. Two of the three are urban background sites in the city; the traffic site stands in the neighbouring commune of La Mulatière. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Lyon, on its own station mix, reads 11.60 (2020), 11.39 (2021), 11.31 (2022) and 9.78 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just above the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
Marseille
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the validated (E1a, verification flag 1) 2024 annual PM2.5 means at the three stations the EEA assigns to Marseille, queried from the EEA statistics service on 2026-09-24: FR03043 "MARSEILLE 5 AVENUES" (urban background, 2.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.604 µg/m³ at 96.12% coverage; FR03006 "MARSEILLE RABATAU" (urban traffic, 3.2 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 10.496 µg/m³ at 96.79% coverage; FR03014 "MARSEILLE ST LOUIS" (urban background, 5.8 km from the Hôtel de Ville) 8.969 µg/m³ at 98.93% coverage. (8.604 + 10.496 + 8.969) / 3 = 9.36. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) gives Marseille 9.357 µg/m³ for 2024 at 97% coverage; the three stations' mean is 9.356 and their coverages average 97.3%. The WHO row counts four stations because its count covers all three pollutants it reports — the fourth, a suburban background site, has no 2024 PM2.5 mean in the EEA statistics.
- Notes
- Two background stations and one traffic station, all inside the city. The EEA held no validated 2025 PM2.5 statistics for France on 2026-09-24. The WHO series for Marseille reads 9.78 (2020), 10.53 (2021), 11.73 (2022) and 10.93 (2023). About twice the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³, and just under the EU limit of 10 that applies from 2030.
07
Healthcare
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldLyon821Marseille821
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
Lyon
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.
Marseille
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.
08
Money & crypto
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Crypto regulationLyonLegal regulatedMarseilleLegal 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
Lyon
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.
Marseille
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.
02+−Financial control levelLyonLowMarseilleLow
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
Lyon
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'.
Marseille
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'.
09
Infrastructure
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−Domestic delivery qualityLyonExcellentMarseilleExcellent
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
Lyon
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'.
Marseille
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'.
02+−International delivery easeLyonMinor frictionMarseilleMinor 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
Lyon
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.
Marseille
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.
03+−Internet speedMbps, median fixed downloadLyon51.4Marseille51.4
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
Lyon
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.
Marseille
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.
10
Language
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−English proficiencyLyonModerateMarseilleModerate
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
Lyon
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.
Marseille
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.
11
Education
CriterionLyonMarseille
01+−International schoolsaccredited international schools, countLyonstronger2Marseille1
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
Lyon
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 24, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified floor of 2: (1) International School of Lyon, Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, about 4.7 km south-west of the Hôtel de Ville — IB World School, school code 002195, Diploma Programme authorised 7 October 2004 and Primary Years Programme 26 March 2008, per its IB profile as archived on 2025-10-18; the CIS membership directory, read on 2026-09-24, lists it as a member with the status "Registered" rather than "Accredited". (2) OMBROSA, Lycée Multilingue de Lyon, Caluire-et-Cuire, about 4.5 km north — IB World School, code 002258, Diploma Programme authorised 10 March 2005, per its IB profile as archived on 2025-07-11.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR. ibo.org answered our requests with a Cloudflare challenge, so both schools were confirmed on Internet Archive copies of their IB profiles rather than the live pages, and no IB list for the city could be pulled. No other Lyon-area school is in the CIS directory, and the Accredited European Schools list has no Lyon entry. The Cité Scolaire Internationale de Lyon, a state school with international sections, does not appear in any of the registries checked. Cambridge International's school finder renders only in a browser, so Cambridge-registered schools could not be enumerated.
Marseille
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 24, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 24, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: the International Bilingual School of Provence, 500 route de Bouc-Bel-Air, Luynes (commune of Aix-en-Provence), about 20 km north of the Hôtel de Ville — IB World School, school code 001386, Diploma Programme authorised 4 June 2002, per its IB profile as archived on 2025-10-13. Aix-en-Provence and Marseille both belong to the Aix-Marseille-Provence Métropole.
- Notes
- VERIFIED FLOOR, and the one school counted is outside the city. The International School of Marseille, in the 7th arrondissement, is described on school-search sites as offering the IB Diploma within the same school group, but no IB profile of its own could be found in the Internet Archive and ibo.org answered our requests with a Cloudflare challenge, so it is not counted. No Marseille-area school is in the CIS membership directory, and the nearest Accredited European School is in Manosque, outside the metro area. Cambridge International's school finder renders only in a browser, so Cambridge-registered schools could not be enumerated.