Living in Saaremaa vald

In Saaremaa vald, the median gross salary is €1,400 a month (2026) and unemployment is 3.1% (2025).

Saaremaa vald's population was 13,390 at the start of 2024. The unemployment rate was 3.1% at the end of 2025. The nearest airport was TKD, 579 km away, with 1 listed destinations in June 2026. For Saaremaa vald, the foreign population was 1,198 at the start of 2025.

Last checked 2026-10-0716 sources

Population13,390people1 Jan 2024Official source · Estonian EHAK official classification

Median gross salary1,400EUR/month4 Aug 2026Official source · Statistics Estonia

Unemployment rate3.1%country median 2.9% — 6% aboveOfficial source · Statistics Estonia TT065 + RV0240 — registered unemployment share

Recorded crime1,230incidents per 100,00031 Dec 2025District figureOfficial source · Crimes per 10 000 people in counties

PM2.5, annual mean4µg/m³31 Dec 2024Official source · air.discomap.eea.europa.eu

Which Estonia-wide rules apply when you move to Saaremaa vald?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in EstoniaNational rates and thresholds that apply in Saaremaa vald.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Saaremaa vald. The available city-level cost figures remain below.

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€28

Mobile plan, 10 GB€20

Net rent across major citiesSaaremaa vald highlighted among comparable cities

net rent, € / m² / month

Tallinn€7.33

Tartu linn€6.42

Pärnu€2.24

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	27.9 EUR/month	31 Jul 2026	Telia Estonia 100 Mbps internet¹⁵Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	20.32 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Telia Estonia 16GB plan¹⁶Official · national market

Is Saaremaa vald a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile

Remote worker48%strong on work, weak on housing · range 38–58%

Skilled employee56%strong on legal route, weak on education · range 46–66%

Student48%strong on legal route, weak on education · range 36–60%

Family60%strong on family, weak on education · range 48–72%

Retirement58%strong on safety, weak on admin · range 46–70%

Work and income

What is the typical salary in Saaremaa vald?

The median gross salary is 1,400 EUR/month (2026). The regional series (home-region basis, 2026Q1) is a separate labelled row in the table.

City-scope median, gross, before tax and social contributions.

Median gross salary: 1,400 EUR/month · Statistics Estonia⁸
Median gross salary (regional): 1,400 EUR/month · 2026-08-26 · andmed.stat.ee⁸

What is the unemployment rate in Saaremaa vald?

The unemployment rate is about 3.1 % (2025). Source: Statistics Estonia TT065 + RV0240 — registered unemployment share¹⁴

Unemployment across cities in EstoniaUnemployment in Saaremaa vald is 3.1%. Of 47 cities with data, 35 have unemployment of 2 to under 4%.

0–22–44–66–88–1010–1216–18

Saaremaa vald 3.1%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary	1,400 EUR/month	4 Aug 2026	Statistics Estonia⁸Official
Median gross salary (regional)	1,400 EUR/month	26 Aug 2026	andmed.stat.ee⁸Official
Unemployment rate	3.1 %country median 2.9%	31 Dec 2025	Statistics Estonia TT065 + RV0240 — registered unemployment share¹⁴Official

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Saaremaa vald. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

Eesti Töötukassa — Public employment service

Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund

Job Search

Search jobs

Open the Estonia service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Saaremaa vald. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Safety

How safe is Saaremaa vald?

Police recorded 1,230 incidents per 100,000 (2025). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: Crimes per 10 000 people in counties²

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	1,230 incidents per 100,000	31 Dec 2025	Crimes per 10 000 people in counties²Official · county

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Destinations from nearest airport	1 count	13 Jun 2026	OpenFlights — routes.dat⁶Official
Nearest airport	TKD	13 Jun 2026	OurAirports — airports.csv⁷Official
Distance to nearest airport	579 km	13 Jun 2026	OurAirports — airports.csv⁷Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Saaremaa vald. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

2026 free Estonian language courses with named regional locations — State Language Course

Integration Foundation and named language schools

For permanent residents, returnees.

EstonianIn Person, OnlineFree

Open official information

Estonian language courses for newcomers and residents — State Language Course

Integration Foundation

For newly arrived residents, permanent residents, returnees.

EstonianIn Person, OnlineFree

Open official information

Open the full Estonia section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Saaremaa vald.

Find courses near Saaremaa vald

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Saaremaa vald?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 4 µg/m³ (2024) — within the WHO 2021 guideline. Source: air.discomap.eea.europa.eu¹

Annual mean at the measuring site(s) serving the city; current-day readings differ.

Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

Within WHO 2021 guidelineAbove WHO, within EU limitAbove EU legal limitCity annual mean · µg/m³

PM2.54WHO 5 · EU 25

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	4 µg/m³	31 Dec 2024	air.discomap.eea.europa.eu¹Official
Average January temperature	-6 °C	28 Aug 2026	Keskkonnaagentuur (KAUR) / ilmateenistus.ee⁴Official

Population and city profile

How many people live in Saaremaa vald?

The published population was 13,390 people in January 2024. Source: Estonian EHAK official classification³

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport91.1%

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Area	953 km²	27 Aug 2026	Maa- ja Ruumiamet (Land and Spatial Development Board)⁵Official
Foreign residents	1,198 people	1 Jan 2025	Statistics Estonia RV068 — population by citizenship and place of residence¹³Official
Population density	10.7 people/km²	27 Aug 2026	Statistics Estonia⁹Official
Population	13,390 people	1 Jan 2024	Estonian EHAK official classification³Official

International community in Saaremaa vald

Named groups from exact city-grain official distributions. Citizenship, birthplace, language and ancestry answer different questions and stay separate.

Country of birth

Population in the 2021 Population and Housing Census; total age group and total sex · 2021 Census (31 December 2021)

Published group	People	Share
Country of birth total	29,557	100.0%
Estonia	28,685	97.0%
Russian Federation	286	1.0%
Finland	179	0.6%
Other foreign country	158	0.5%
Ukraine	105	0.4%
Germany	36	0.1%
Latvia	33	0.1%
Lithuania	23	0.1%
United Kingdom	15	0.1%

Show 5 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Belarus	12	0.0%
Azerbaidjan	8	0.0%
Kazakhstan	8	0.0%
Georgia	4	0.0%
Uzbekistan	3	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹²

Citizenship

Population in the 2021 Population and Housing Census; total age group and total sex · 2021 Census (31 December 2021)

Published group	People	Share
Citizenship total	29,557	100.0%
Estonian citizenship	29,113	98.5%
Citizenship of another country	344	1.2%
Russian citizenship	54	0.2%
Citizenship undetermined	44	0.1%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹¹

Ancestry or ethnicity

Population in the 2021 Population and Housing Census; total age group and total sex · 2021 Census (31 December 2021)

Published group	People	Share
Ethnic nationalities total	29,557	100.0%
Estonian	28,896	97.8%
Russian	203	0.7%
Finn	132	0.4%
Other ethnic nationalities	112	0.4%
Ukrainian	84	0.3%
Ethnic nationality unknown	39	0.1%
German	31	0.1%
Lithuanian	19	0.1%
Latvian	16	0.1%

Show 3 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Pole	10	0.0%
Belarusian	10	0.0%
Tatar	3	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹⁰

Alternatives for people set on Saaremaa vald

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

Tartu linn as a Saaremaa vald alternative in the same country

Better on 3 of 3 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0. Recorded crime, per 100k cannot be compared like for like.

Median gross pay, city: €1,924 Tartu linn vs €1,400 Saaremaa vald+37%
Median gross pay, region: €1,924 Tartu linn vs €1,400 Saaremaa vald+37%
Nearest airport: 8.3 km Tartu linn vs 579.0 km Saaremaa vald−99%
Recorded crime, per 100k: 2,370 Tartu linn vs 1,230 Saaremaa valdno percentage

Full comparison More about Tartu linn

Alternative cities in Estonia

Other cities in Estonia to compare with Saaremaa vald, nearest in population first.

All Estonia cities

Rapla vald13,373 residents Tartu vald13,256 residents Põlva vald13,049 residents Lääne-Harju vald13,754 residents Haapsalu13,033 residents Viljandi vald13,900 residents

How does Saaremaa vald compare?

Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Saaremaa vald's.

Open the full comparison

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Saaremaa vald when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

School for children who move here. School is compulsory from age 7 to 17, and public school is free. Newly arrived pupils get support in the school language: eesti keel teise keelena (Estonian as a second language remedial teaching + individual-curriculum support measures). How to enrol a child (hm.ee).

A country-wide rule for Estonia; Saaremaa vald's school authority applies it locally.

Sources: eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu · 2025–2026.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

How many people live in Saaremaa vald?

The published population was 13,390 people in January 2024. Source: Estonian EHAK official classification.

Is the air quality good in Saaremaa vald?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 4 µg/m³ (2024) — within the WHO 2021 guideline. Source: air.discomap.eea.europa.eu.

How safe is Saaremaa vald?

Police recorded 1,230 incidents per 100,000 (2025). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: Crimes per 10 000 people in counties.

What is the typical salary in Saaremaa vald?

The median gross salary is 1,400 EUR/month (2026). The regional series (home-region basis, 2026Q1) is a separate labelled row in the table. Source: Statistics Estonia.

What is the unemployment rate in Saaremaa vald?

The unemployment rate is about 3.1 % (2025). Source: Statistics Estonia TT065 + RV0240 — registered unemployment share.

What is the typical salary around Saaremaa vald?

The median gross salary is 1,400 EUR/month. Source: andmed.stat.ee.

Is Saaremaa vald a good place to live?

Saaremaa vald may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

How many people born in Country of birth total live in Saaremaa vald?

The official country of birth distribution records 29,557 people (100.0%) in the source-defined population for 2021 Census (31 December 2021). This is a country of birth measure, not a general estimate of ethnicity or migration status.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation

ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Saaremaa vald, Estonia: population, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 24c33e92ecaccc87f37072ccdf06fbc7]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ee/saaremaa-vald/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_saaremaa-vald-estonia-population-salary-cost-of-living_eca241b5628e,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Saaremaa vald, Estonia: population, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {24c33e92ecaccc87f37072ccdf06fbc7},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ee/saaremaa-vald/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Saaremaa vald, Estonia: population, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ee/saaremaa-vald/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 24c33e92ecaccc87f37072ccdf06fbc7; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown

air.discomap.eea.europa.eu air.discomap.eea.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-26
Crimes per 10 000 people in counties statistika.justdigi.ee · checked 2026-10-05
Estonian EHAK official classification klassifikaatorid.stat.ee · checked 2026-07-12
Keskkonnaagentuur (KAUR) / ilmateenistus.ee ilmateenistus.ee · checked 2026-06-12
Maa- ja Ruumiamet (Land and Spatial Development Board) geoportaal.maaamet.ee · checked 2026-06-12
OpenFlights — routes.dat OpenFlights · raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-07-14
OurAirports — airports.csv OurAirports · davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-07-14
Statistics Estonia andmed.stat.ee · checked 2026-08-04
Statistics Estonia andmed.stat.ee · checked 2026-06-12
Statistics Estonia (Statistical database) ancestry or ethnicity distribution andmed.stat.ee · checked 2026-08-28

Show 6 more sources

Statistics Estonia (Statistical database) citizenship distribution andmed.stat.ee · checked 2026-08-28
Statistics Estonia (Statistical database) country of birth distribution andmed.stat.ee · checked 2026-08-28
Statistics Estonia RV068 — population by citizenship and place of residence Statistics Estonia RV068 · andmed.stat.ee · checked 2026-07-26
Statistics Estonia TT065 + RV0240 — registered unemployment share Statistics Estonia TT065 + RV0240 · andmed.stat.ee · checked 2026-07-26
Telia Estonia 100 Mbps internet telia.ee · checked 2026-09-15
Telia Estonia 16GB plan telia.ee · checked 2026-09-15

Spotted a number that looks wrong? Every value here carries its source and date — tell us what you found and we will re-check it against the source.