CITY / CITYVerified city comparison
MonacovsNice.
Monaco is stronger on 2 of 8 headline facts; Nice on 0. Freelancer tax burden: Monaco 14.7%, Nice 34.1%. Climate comfort: Monaco 9/12 mo, Nice 9/12 mo.
VerifiedUpdated
14 compared criteria · 27 sources · country-level facts are clearly inherited
mc / 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
Monaco leads on 2 of 8
Monaco
2
Nice
0
01Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
$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
Monacostronger
14.7%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
Nice
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
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
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
Monaco
9/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, Nice WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28 °C and precipitation < 150 mm: March (15.4 °C, 51.0 mm), April (17.4 °C, 68.8 mm), May (21.0 °C, 40.3 mm), June (24.7 °C, 35.7 mm), July (27.5 °C, 13.6 mm), August (27.9 °C, 17.2 mm), September (24.8 °C, 81.0 mm), October (21.0 °C, 127.9 mm), November (17.0 °C, 138.4 mm) = 9. January (13.3), February (13.5) and December (14.1) miss on the 15 °C floor; no month exceeds 28 °C or 150 mm.
- Notes
- Computed on Nice's normals. Météo-France's Monaco station, over the shorter period it covers, also gives nine months: its March mean maximum, 15.1 °C, clears the floor as Nice's does.
Nice
9/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precipitation < 150mm: Mar (15.4), Apr (17.4), May (21.0), Jun (24.7), Jul (27.5), Aug (27.9), Sep (24.8), Oct (21.0), Nov (17.0) = 9. Jan (13.3), Feb (13.5) and Dec (14.1) miss on the 15°C floor; no month exceeds the 28°C ceiling (Aug peaks 27.9) or the 150mm rain cap (wettest Nov 138.4). Nice scores high thanks to a long, maritime-moderated warm season.
05Internet speed
Monacostronger
84 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Monaco
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 342 daily country-median download values for MC in 2023 (4,102 download tests; daily medians ranged 7.8-261.0 Mbps). 2023 is the year used for 25 of the dataset's countries; M-Lab's 2024 file for Monaco covers only 86 days and 975 tests.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. A small country with few tests per day gives a noisy daily series, which is why the median of daily medians is used.
Nice
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
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
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
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
$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)
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
9.2 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Nice/FRA, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 9.177 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage, reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 670,215. The row lists four stations (two urban background, one suburban background and one urban traffic), but that count covers all three pollutants the row reports: the EEA's validated 2024 PM2.5 statistics, queried on 2026-09-24, hold three stations assigned to Nice — FR24036 "NICE ARSON" (urban background, 9.257 µg/m³ at 97.67% coverage) and FR24035 "NICE PROMENADE" (urban traffic, 9.348 at 95.80%) in Nice itself, and FR24009 "CANNES BROUSSAILLES" (urban background, 8.916 at 99.08%) in Cannes, 26.6 km from this city's recorded coordinates. Their mean is 9.174, 0.003 below the WHO value, and their coverages average 97.5%; the EEA statistics served on 2026-09-24 carry a calculation date of 2026-09-22, later than the WHO file's sheet date of 2026-06-28. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 11.7 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- WHO gives the footprint population as 670,215 against the 357,737 commune figure recorded on this page, and the station centroid sits 11.7 km from the city coordinates, so the row describes the agglomeration rather than the commune. Coverage is good (98%) and the station mix is background-weighted, so the figure should read close to general urban exposure. Preceding years in the same series: 2020 9.63 (97%), 2021 9.96 (99%), 2022 10.56 (98%), 2023 9.45 (97%).
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.
Monaco fits better — 2 of 5
01Freelancer tax burden
Monacostronger
14.7%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
Nice
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
Monacostronger
84 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Monaco
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 342 daily country-median download values for MC in 2023 (4,102 download tests; daily medians ranged 7.8-261.0 Mbps). 2023 is the year used for 25 of the dataset's countries; M-Lab's 2024 file for Monaco covers only 86 days and 975 tests.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. A small country with few tests per day gives a noisy daily series, which is why the median of daily medians is used.
Nice
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
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
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)
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
$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
Monaco
Good
La Poste Monaco — post offices and parcel services
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 2, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Classified from La Poste Monaco's own pages, read on 2026-10-02: seven post offices (Monte-Carlo, Condamine, Fontvieille, Moulins, Monaco-Ville, Herculis, Grimaldi Forum) and a multi-parcel platform in Jardin Exotique, all within the 2 km² of the Principality; Colissimo home delivery with or without signature at D+2 across France, and Chronopost express. Monaco's postal service is provided by France, and the Franco-Monegasque convention of 18 May 1963 governs postal relations (La Poste Monaco's own history page). No source for parcel lockers in Monaco was found, so the top band is not given → 'good'.
Nicestronger
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.
Nice fits better — 1 of 5
01International schools
Monaco
1
Council of International Schools — membership directory (accredited schools, country = Monaco)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 2, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- The CIS membership directory, queried on 2026-10-02 the way its own map does (record type School, country Monaco, active membership), returns one school: The International School of Monaco, 10-12-16 Quai Antoine 1er, Monte-Carlo, status Accredited, offering the IB Diploma and IGCSE. The school is also listed by the IB as IB World School 001265; ibo.org answers our requests with 403 and the Internet Archive was refusing requests, so that page could not be re-read today.
- Notes
- No other school in the Principality appears in the CIS directory; schools in the neighbouring French communes are not counted.
Nicestronger
3
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 14, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Verified floor of 3, each tied to a named accreditor: (1) International School of Nice (Nice) — IB World School (full continuum), CIS + MSA accredited, the flagship English-medium IB school in Nice itself; (2) ICS Côte d'Azur (Sophia Antipolis / Valbonne, ~20 km SW) — IB World School, PYP since 2018, IB school code 049702; (3) Mougins British International School (Mougins, ~30 km SW) — British curriculum to IGCSE/A-Level via Cambridge International + Pearson Edexcel, COBIS member.
- Notes
- Conservative accreditor-verified floor. The Antibes/Mougins/Sophia-Antipolis/Valbonne cluster IS included (2 of the 3). Excluded: schools in Monaco (a separate sovereign state) and several Nice-area bilingual FR/EN private schools whose international accreditation could not be confirmed. Counting those would push the total well above 3.
02Homicide rate
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
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
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
$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)
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
9.2 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Nice/FRA, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 9.177 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage, reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 670,215. The row lists four stations (two urban background, one suburban background and one urban traffic), but that count covers all three pollutants the row reports: the EEA's validated 2024 PM2.5 statistics, queried on 2026-09-24, hold three stations assigned to Nice — FR24036 "NICE ARSON" (urban background, 9.257 µg/m³ at 97.67% coverage) and FR24035 "NICE PROMENADE" (urban traffic, 9.348 at 95.80%) in Nice itself, and FR24009 "CANNES BROUSSAILLES" (urban background, 8.916 at 99.08%) in Cannes, 26.6 km from this city's recorded coordinates. Their mean is 9.174, 0.003 below the WHO value, and their coverages average 97.5%; the EEA statistics served on 2026-09-24 carry a calculation date of 2026-09-22, later than the WHO file's sheet date of 2026-06-28. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 11.7 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- WHO gives the footprint population as 670,215 against the 357,737 commune figure recorded on this page, and the station centroid sits 11.7 km from the city coordinates, so the row describes the agglomeration rather than the commune. Coverage is good (98%) and the station mix is background-weighted, so the figure should read close to general urban exposure. Preceding years in the same series: 2020 9.63 (97%), 2021 9.96 (99%), 2022 10.56 (98%), 2023 9.45 (97%).
05English proficiency
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
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
Monaco
Legal regulated
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2022
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and licensed. Act 1.528 (Journal de Monaco, 22 July 2022) lists the services on digital assets and crypto-assets — exchange, trading platforms, issuance, custody, order execution, advice — and makes their provision in Monaco subject to prior approval by the Minister of State after a consultative commission, or to authorisation by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières for services on financial tokens. Nothing restricts individuals holding or trading crypto-assets. There is no tax on an individual's gains because residents pay no personal income tax, French nationals excepted.
Nice
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
Monaco
Moderate
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 5, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Composite of three inputs, each read at its source on 2026-10-02. (1) The European Commission's page (last updated 9 January 2026) lists Monaco among the high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money-laundering regimes, in force from 5 August 2025 and still listed after the December 2025 amendments (Delegated Regulations 2026/46 and 2026/83); EU banks and other gatekeepers must apply enhanced checks to business relationships and transactions involving such countries (Article 18a of Directive 2015/849 as amended by Directive 2018/843). (2) Monaco's own cash rule is loose: professionals may not make or receive cash payments of €30,000 or more for goods or services, with customer due diligence from €10,000 (Act 1.362, art. 35, as replaced by Act 1.503 of 23 December 2020). (3) A residence permit for anyone not living on a salary or business income needs a reference from a Monaco bank attesting sufficient funds. The euro is Monaco's currency. The listing is what lifts the level: every relationship between a Monaco resident or company and an EU bank now carries enhanced due diligence → 'moderate'.
- Notes
- The listing is a consequence of the FATF's increased-monitoring process and should lift when that ends; re-check after each FATF plenary and EU amendment. It does not restrict a resident's own transfers, but it slows account opening and payments with EU institutions.
Nicestronger
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
Monacostronger
14.7%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
Nice
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.
A close call for this plan
01Homicide rate
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
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)
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
9.2 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Nice/FRA, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 9.177 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage, reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 670,215. The row lists four stations (two urban background, one suburban background and one urban traffic), but that count covers all three pollutants the row reports: the EEA's validated 2024 PM2.5 statistics, queried on 2026-09-24, hold three stations assigned to Nice — FR24036 "NICE ARSON" (urban background, 9.257 µg/m³ at 97.67% coverage) and FR24035 "NICE PROMENADE" (urban traffic, 9.348 at 95.80%) in Nice itself, and FR24009 "CANNES BROUSSAILLES" (urban background, 8.916 at 99.08%) in Cannes, 26.6 km from this city's recorded coordinates. Their mean is 9.174, 0.003 below the WHO value, and their coverages average 97.5%; the EEA statistics served on 2026-09-24 carry a calculation date of 2026-09-22, later than the WHO file's sheet date of 2026-06-28. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 11.7 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- WHO gives the footprint population as 670,215 against the 357,737 commune figure recorded on this page, and the station centroid sits 11.7 km from the city coordinates, so the row describes the agglomeration rather than the commune. Coverage is good (98%) and the station mix is background-weighted, so the figure should read close to general urban exposure. Preceding years in the same series: 2020 9.63 (97%), 2021 9.96 (99%), 2022 10.56 (98%), 2023 9.45 (97%).
03Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Monaco
no verified data
Nice
$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
Monaco
9/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, Nice WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28 °C and precipitation < 150 mm: March (15.4 °C, 51.0 mm), April (17.4 °C, 68.8 mm), May (21.0 °C, 40.3 mm), June (24.7 °C, 35.7 mm), July (27.5 °C, 13.6 mm), August (27.9 °C, 17.2 mm), September (24.8 °C, 81.0 mm), October (21.0 °C, 127.9 mm), November (17.0 °C, 138.4 mm) = 9. January (13.3), February (13.5) and December (14.1) miss on the 15 °C floor; no month exceeds 28 °C or 150 mm.
- Notes
- Computed on Nice's normals. Météo-France's Monaco station, over the shorter period it covers, also gives nine months: its March mean maximum, 15.1 °C, clears the floor as Nice's does.
Nice
9/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precipitation < 150mm: Mar (15.4), Apr (17.4), May (21.0), Jun (24.7), Jul (27.5), Aug (27.9), Sep (24.8), Oct (21.0), Nov (17.0) = 9. Jan (13.3), Feb (13.5) and Dec (14.1) miss on the 15°C floor; no month exceeds the 28°C ceiling (Aug peaks 27.9) or the 150mm rain cap (wettest Nov 138.4). Nice scores high thanks to a long, maritime-moderated warm season.
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileMonacostronger14.7Nice34.1
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
Monaco
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 1, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Best eligible scheme at €60,000 revenue and no expenses = mc-sole-trader-civil, an advisory activity outside the profit tax: no income tax; CAMTI 4 × €1,101 = €4,404; CARTI class 2, the lowest class open without an income test, 4 × €1,100.16 = €4,400.64. Levies €8,804.64 → 14.67%. The commercial route (mc-sole-trader-commercial) gives the same figure at this income, because the operator's deductible remuneration (€77,832 at turnover up to €125,000) exceeds the profit. The contributions are flat, so the rate falls as income rises.
- Notes
- Social contributions, not tax: Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents. French nationals are the exception — they are taxed by France under the 1963 convention — and are not covered by this figure.
Nice
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Remote-work legalization easeMonacostrongerFreelance permitNiceLong 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
Monaco
MonEntreprise.mc — How to set up a business as a sole trader (business permit for foreign nationals)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 5, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Monaco has no digital-nomad visa. A foreign national may apply for a sole-trader business permit for any activity, an advisory one included, and register it at home; the Business Development Agency's admissibility receipt then opens a residence permit. The permit is discretionary and comes with the residence conditions — housing in Monaco, a Monaco bank's reference of sufficient means, and for non-EEA nationals a French type D long-stay visa — which are what most applicants cannot meet. Classified 'freelance-permit'.
Nice
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentMonacono verified dataNice1,816
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
Monaco
No official measure exists. Monaco runs no household budget survey and has no consumer price index of its own — its statistics office republishes INSEE's index for France as the reference — and no Monaco retailer publishes shelf prices online from which a basket could be priced. Monaco shares France's VAT, excise duties and customs territory, but France's spending figure describes French households, and using it here would present a French number as a Monaco one.
Nice
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.
Monthly spending by category (excl. rent)
Monaco
Nice
IMSEE — Monaco en Chiffres 2026 (no household budget survey published)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- No category breakdown can be built for the same reasons as cost-of-living-single: no household budget survey, no national price index and no published retail prices.
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.
01Transport
Monaco
—
Nice
$283
02Food & non-alcoholic beverages
Monaco
—
Nice
$273
03Restaurants & hotels
Monaco
—
Nice
$191
04Housing (water, energy, maintenance — excl. rent)
Monaco
—
Nice
$185
05Insurance & financial services
Monaco
—
Nice
$182
06Recreation, sport & culture
Monaco
—
Nice
$158
07Other goods & services (personal care, social protection, misc.)
Monaco
—
Nice
$138
08Health (out-of-pocket & non-reimbursed)
Monaco
—
Nice
$85
09Furnishings & household equipment
Monaco
—
Nice
$84
10Information & communication
Monaco
—
Nice
$80
11Alcoholic beverages & tobacco
Monaco
—
Nice
$74
12Clothing & footwear
Monaco
—
Nice
$65
13Education
Monaco
—
Nice
$16
Total (excl. rent)
Monaco$0/mo
Nice$1,814/mo
04
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
Monaco
Nice
IMSEE — Observatoire de l'immobilier 2025 (February 2026): sale prices only
Official source
- Data as of
- Oct 2, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- No matrix can be built for the reasons given under rent-1br-center: no official rent statistics, and the one portal that aggregates the agencies' listings forbids extraction.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Sep 30, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Official anchor: Carte des loyers 2025 (asking rents / 'loyers d'annonce', charges comprises) gives Nice apartments 20.43 €/m²/month commune-wide. No official source publishes an intra-Nice center/outside asking grid, so a curated ±~10% split is applied: center (Carré d'Or / centre-ville / Promenade) = 22 €/m², outer districts = 18 €/m² — informed by the Observatoire des Loyers 06 zone spread and SeLoger's Nice asking range (15–28 €/m², avg ~20). Cells = €/m² × typical surface (studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m²) × 1.1399 USD/EUR. The 20.43 figure is the 2025 edition's (published 11 December 2025, lettings of the third quarter of 2025); until 2026-09-24 this fact was labelled with the 2024 edition, which gives Nice 19.50 €/m².
- Notes
- DERIVED matrix. The directly-sourced input is the commune-wide 20.43 €/m² asking figure (charges comprises); the center/outside split and the per-type cells are curated using typical French apartment surfaces and a documented zone premium/discount. A flat €/m² per location is applied — small units (studios) really command a higher €/m² than large ones, so studio cells are conservative and 3br cells slightly high. Charges-comprises asking rents sit above observatoire observed (net-of-charges) medians.
01Studio
Monaco
—
Nice
$752$616 outside
021-bedroom
Monaco
—
Nice
$1,003$821 outside
032-bedroom
Monaco
—
Nice
$1,505$1,231 outside
043-bedroom
Monaco
—
Nice
$2,132$1,744 outside
05
Safety
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearMonacono verified dataNice1.3
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
Monaco
No current figure. UNODC's file, read on 2026-10-02, holds Monaco victim counts for 2007 and 2008 only, both zero, and conviction counts to 2015; the World Bank series it feeds has a single value, for 2001. Monaco's own statistics (Monaco en Chiffres 2026) publish the police's total of recorded offences — 888 in 2024 and 1,055 in 2025, the latter on a new recording tool and not comparable — but no homicide count. With some 38,900 residents a single case would move the rate by 2.6 per 100,000, so an old zero would read as a precise result it is not.
Nice
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Climate comfortpleasant months/yearMonaco9Nice9
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
Monaco
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, Nice WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28 °C and precipitation < 150 mm: March (15.4 °C, 51.0 mm), April (17.4 °C, 68.8 mm), May (21.0 °C, 40.3 mm), June (24.7 °C, 35.7 mm), July (27.5 °C, 13.6 mm), August (27.9 °C, 17.2 mm), September (24.8 °C, 81.0 mm), October (21.0 °C, 127.9 mm), November (17.0 °C, 138.4 mm) = 9. January (13.3), February (13.5) and December (14.1) miss on the 15 °C floor; no month exceeds 28 °C or 150 mm.
- Notes
- Computed on Nice's normals. Météo-France's Monaco station, over the shorter period it covers, also gives nine months: its March mean maximum, 15.1 °C, clears the floor as Nice's does.
Nice
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (NOAA/WMO 1991–2020, WMO 07690)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C and precipitation < 150mm: Mar (15.4), Apr (17.4), May (21.0), Jun (24.7), Jul (27.5), Aug (27.9), Sep (24.8), Oct (21.0), Nov (17.0) = 9. Jan (13.3), Feb (13.5) and Dec (14.1) miss on the 15°C floor; no month exceeds the 28°C ceiling (Aug peaks 27.9) or the 150mm rain cap (wettest Nov 138.4). Nice scores high thanks to a long, maritime-moderated warm season.
02+−Air quality (PM2.5)µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5Monacono verified dataNice9.2
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
Monaco
No published figure. Monaco measures PM2.5 at two urban-background stations, Quai Antoine Ier and Fontvieille, and the 2026 yearbook plots their 2022-2025 annual means against the limit value and the 2030 objective — but as a chart only, with no numbers in the publication. Monaco reports no PM2.5 to the EEA's air-quality statistics (a query for Monaco, 2023-2025, returns no rows), and the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026) holds only PM10 for Monaco, for 2013, 2016 and 2017. Reading values off the chart would be an estimate, not a measurement.
Nice
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Nice/FRA, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 9.177 µg/m³ at 98% temporal coverage, reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 670,215. The row lists four stations (two urban background, one suburban background and one urban traffic), but that count covers all three pollutants the row reports: the EEA's validated 2024 PM2.5 statistics, queried on 2026-09-24, hold three stations assigned to Nice — FR24036 "NICE ARSON" (urban background, 9.257 µg/m³ at 97.67% coverage) and FR24035 "NICE PROMENADE" (urban traffic, 9.348 at 95.80%) in Nice itself, and FR24009 "CANNES BROUSSAILLES" (urban background, 8.916 at 99.08%) in Cannes, 26.6 km from this city's recorded coordinates. Their mean is 9.174, 0.003 below the WHO value, and their coverages average 97.5%; the EEA statistics served on 2026-09-24 carry a calculation date of 2026-09-22, later than the WHO file's sheet date of 2026-06-28. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 11.7 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- WHO gives the footprint population as 670,215 against the 357,737 commune figure recorded on this page, and the station centroid sits 11.7 km from the city coordinates, so the row describes the agglomeration rather than the commune. Coverage is good (98%) and the station mix is background-weighted, so the figure should read close to general urban exposure. Preceding years in the same series: 2020 9.63 (97%), 2021 9.96 (99%), 2022 10.56 (98%), 2023 9.45 (97%).
07
Healthcare
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldMonacono verified dataNice821
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
Monaco
Not priced. No insurer publishes a Monaco rate card for a comprehensive private policy, and the price is quote-only. For the self-employed the compulsory public cover is CAMTI, a flat €1,101 a quarter (€4,404 a year) in 2025-2026.
Nice
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Crypto regulationMonacoLegal regulatedNiceLegal 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
Monaco
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2022
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Legal and licensed. Act 1.528 (Journal de Monaco, 22 July 2022) lists the services on digital assets and crypto-assets — exchange, trading platforms, issuance, custody, order execution, advice — and makes their provision in Monaco subject to prior approval by the Minister of State after a consultative commission, or to authorisation by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières for services on financial tokens. Nothing restricts individuals holding or trading crypto-assets. There is no tax on an individual's gains because residents pay no personal income tax, French nationals excepted.
Nice
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 levelMonacoModerateNicestrongerLow
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
Monaco
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 5, 2025
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Composite of three inputs, each read at its source on 2026-10-02. (1) The European Commission's page (last updated 9 January 2026) lists Monaco among the high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money-laundering regimes, in force from 5 August 2025 and still listed after the December 2025 amendments (Delegated Regulations 2026/46 and 2026/83); EU banks and other gatekeepers must apply enhanced checks to business relationships and transactions involving such countries (Article 18a of Directive 2015/849 as amended by Directive 2018/843). (2) Monaco's own cash rule is loose: professionals may not make or receive cash payments of €30,000 or more for goods or services, with customer due diligence from €10,000 (Act 1.362, art. 35, as replaced by Act 1.503 of 23 December 2020). (3) A residence permit for anyone not living on a salary or business income needs a reference from a Monaco bank attesting sufficient funds. The euro is Monaco's currency. The listing is what lifts the level: every relationship between a Monaco resident or company and an EU bank now carries enhanced due diligence → 'moderate'.
- Notes
- The listing is a consequence of the FATF's increased-monitoring process and should lift when that ends; re-check after each FATF plenary and EU amendment. It does not restrict a resident's own transfers, but it slows account opening and payments with EU institutions.
Nice
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−Domestic delivery qualityMonacoGoodNicestrongerExcellent
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
Monaco
La Poste Monaco — post offices and parcel services
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 2, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Classified from La Poste Monaco's own pages, read on 2026-10-02: seven post offices (Monte-Carlo, Condamine, Fontvieille, Moulins, Monaco-Ville, Herculis, Grimaldi Forum) and a multi-parcel platform in Jardin Exotique, all within the 2 km² of the Principality; Colissimo home delivery with or without signature at D+2 across France, and Chronopost express. Monaco's postal service is provided by France, and the Franco-Monegasque convention of 18 May 1963 governs postal relations (La Poste Monaco's own history page). No source for parcel lockers in Monaco was found, so the top band is not given → 'good'.
Nice
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 easeMonacoMinor frictionNiceMinor 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
Monaco
MonEntreprise.mc — Tax in Monaco (customs union with France; Monaco inside the EU customs territory)
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 1, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Notes
- Monaco and France form a customs union under the Customs Convention of 18 May 1963, the French Customs Code applies in Monaco, and Monaco is part of the EU customs territory although it is not an EU member, so goods arrive on EU terms. Parcels from the EU single market arrive like domestic ones; for non-EU imports the EU removed the €150 duty-free threshold and since 1 July 2026 charges a temporary flat customs duty per item on consignments up to €150, collected through La Poste for postal items.
Nice
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 downloadMonacostronger84Nice51.4
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
Monaco
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Monaco
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 342 daily country-median download values for MC in 2023 (4,102 download tests; daily medians ranged 7.8-261.0 Mbps). 2023 is the year used for 25 of the dataset's countries; M-Lab's 2024 file for Monaco covers only 86 days and 975 tests.
- Notes
- M-Lab NDT is a single-stream test and reads well below advertised fibre speeds; it is comparable only within this criterion. A small country with few tests per day gives a noisy daily series, which is why the median of daily medians is used.
Nice
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−English proficiencyMonacono verified dataNiceModerate
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
Monaco
Not banded. EF does not rank Monaco, and French is the only official language. With three-quarters of residents foreign — the British are the third-largest community after the French and Italians — English is widely heard, but no measurement supports a band, so none is given.
Nice
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
CriterionMonacoNice
01+−International schoolsaccredited international schools, countMonaco1Nicestronger3
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
Monaco
Council of International Schools — membership directory (accredited schools, country = Monaco)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Oct 2, 2026
- Verified
- Oct 2, 2026
- Method
- The CIS membership directory, queried on 2026-10-02 the way its own map does (record type School, country Monaco, active membership), returns one school: The International School of Monaco, 10-12-16 Quai Antoine 1er, Monte-Carlo, status Accredited, offering the IB Diploma and IGCSE. The school is also listed by the IB as IB World School 001265; ibo.org answers our requests with 403 and the Internet Archive was refusing requests, so that page could not be re-read today.
- Notes
- No other school in the Principality appears in the CIS directory; schools in the neighbouring French communes are not counted.
Nice
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 14, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 14, 2026
- Method
- Verified floor of 3, each tied to a named accreditor: (1) International School of Nice (Nice) — IB World School (full continuum), CIS + MSA accredited, the flagship English-medium IB school in Nice itself; (2) ICS Côte d'Azur (Sophia Antipolis / Valbonne, ~20 km SW) — IB World School, PYP since 2018, IB school code 049702; (3) Mougins British International School (Mougins, ~30 km SW) — British curriculum to IGCSE/A-Level via Cambridge International + Pearson Edexcel, COBIS member.
- Notes
- Conservative accreditor-verified floor. The Antibes/Mougins/Sophia-Antipolis/Valbonne cluster IS included (2 of the 3). Excluded: schools in Monaco (a separate sovereign state) and several Nice-area bilingual FR/EN private schools whose international accreditation could not be confirmed. Counting those would push the total well above 3.