Living in Paris

Paris is the most expensive city in France, but also the city with the best salaries. The city has the largest startup scene in the country and, according to StartupBlink, it ranks second in Western Europe, just after London. There are lots of jobs in business, technology, and the arts, and a lot of offices for international companies.

Public services and healthcare in Paris are well-organised. The city has world-famous museums like the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, along with picturesque parks such as the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Tuileries.

Paris is the priciest city in France, and living comfortably as a single person in the city takes around €3,000 per month. Rent is the main reason for this. In central districts like Le Marais or Saint-Germain-des-Prés, prices are especially high, and everyday costs like groceries or eating out tend to follow the same pattern. At the same time, average salaries in Paris are higher than the national average, which makes the city more accessible to those with local contracts or well-paying jobs.

Still, high costs come with benefits. Paris has a strong public transport network, reliable healthcare, and a cultural life that’s hard to match. Outside the capital, living costs drop quite a bit, and many expats say they’re able to manage well in smaller cities like Nantes or Montpellier.

Paris has the largest startup scene in France, with over 3,000 startups based in the city, in areas like Sentier, République, and Gare Saint-Lazare. The city has strong support for founders through grants, incubators, and public funding. Big banks and insurance companies invest heavily in the scene, though they usually go after startups with fast growth and big markets.

Jobs in Paris are common in fintech, retail tech, and HR platforms. Many startups focus on process design or user-facing tools, though there are teams working on more technical products too—like satellite data at Kayrros or AI for healthcare at Owkin. Salaries in Paris are still behind other major tech hubs, but they’ve been going up, especially in startups backed by the French Tech Next40/120 program.

Rent in Paris is expensive, and long-term leases can be hard to secure, especially if you’re new to France. Landlords often ask for local paperwork like payslips, a French bank account, and a guarantor. That’s why we suggest newcomers start off with a short-term furnished flat while they take care of the paperwork.

A one-bedroom apartment in the city centre can cost around €1,400 per month. You can expect to pay up to €2,000 for a one-bedroom plus a living room (deux-pièces) in the centre. Apartments in Paris tend to be small, even tiny at times, but Parisians have found clever ways to make it work. As long as the home is clean and reasonably maintained, that's usually enough.

Paris has a comprehensive and relatively affordable public transport system. The metro, buses, RER trains, and trams connect the city with the surrounding suburbs, and most people use the same ticketing system (Navigo) across all of them. Commuting times vary, but on average, people in the Paris region spend about 38 minutes getting to work.

Paris is also becoming a bike-first city. The bicycle has clearly established itself in here; in fact, according to the Paris Region Institute, Parisians use bicycles more than cars. The city has close to 1,000 kilometres of bike lanes and a growing number of public and private bike rental options.

Paris has 38 public hospitals grouped under the Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), one of the largest hospital networks in Europe. These hospitals admit around 8 million patients each year. Altogether, the city counts over 13,000 hospital beds across public and private facilities.

Everyone who lives and works in Paris and contributes to the system can access public healthcare. Coverage comes through the national health insurance scheme, which is funded mainly by social security contributions and specific taxes. People usually complement public healthcare with a mutuelle, a type of private complementary insurance that helps cover co-payments and other extra costs. In fact, about 95% of the population in France holds one.