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Living in Selfoss

In Selfoss, unemployment is 4.8% (2021).

Selfoss is one of the cities recorded in Iceland.

Last checked 2026-10-0716 sources

Population12,671people5 Aug 2026Official source · Statistics Iceland
Average gross salary5,434EUR/month31 Jul 2026Municipality figureOfficial source · Statistics Iceland TEK02003 — Taxable wages by economic activity and residence
Median rent1,475EUR/month31 Dec 2023Municipality figureOfficial source · Leiguskrá þinglýstra leigusamninga 2011–2023
Unemployment rate4.79%country median 4.8% — about the sameOfficial source · px.hagstofa.is

Which Iceland-wide rules apply when you move to Selfoss?

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 IcelandNational rates and thresholds that apply in Selfoss.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month
Selfoss recurring monthly costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€57
Mobile plan, 10 GB€36
MetricValuePeriodSource
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited57.23 EUR/month30 Sept 2026SÍMINN fixed internet11Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB35.74 EUR/month30 Sept 2026Síminn mobile plan12Official · national market
Average monthly rent (whole dwelling)1,448 EUR/month31 Dec 2023Leiguskrá þinglýstra leigusamninga 2011–20235Official · parent municipality
Median monthly rent (whole dwelling)1,475 EUR/month31 Dec 2023Leiguskrá þinglýstra leigusamninga 2011–20235Official · parent municipality

Is Selfoss 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 worker34%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 23–45%
Skilled employee60%strong on work, weak on safety · range 50–70%
Student38%strong on legal route, weak on safety · range 26–50%
Family55%strong on family, weak on safety · range 43–67%
Retirement36%strong on legal route, weak on admin · range 22–50%

Worked out from these numbers

How international is the population?

11.2% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 1,418 of 12,671 people. This counts nationality, not place of birth, so long-settled residents who naturalised are not in it.

Work and income

Unemployment across cities in IcelandUnemployment in Selfoss is 4.8%. Of 14 cities with data, 7 have unemployment of 4 to under 6%.

Unemployment rate (%)

MetricValuePeriodSource
Average gross earnings5,434 EUR/month31 Jul 2026Statistics Iceland TEK02003 — Taxable wages by economic activity and residence16Official · parent municipality
Unemployment rate4.79 %country median 4.8% — about the same31 Dec 2021px.hagstofa.is9Official

What does a salary buy in Selfoss?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Iceland median gross pay: €4,965 (2022-12-31).
Left over each month€2,296of €3,838 take-home
  • Rent
  • Internet
  • Mobile
  • Left over
Line-by-line breakdown and sources
Each month€
Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08.€3,838
Rentaverage rent of a whole dwelling · official · Leiguskrá þinglýstra leigusamninga 2011–2023 · 2023-12-31− €1,448
Internet€57 · official · SÍMINN fixed internet · 2026-09-30− €57
Mobile plan€36 · official · Síminn mobile plan · 2026-09-30− €36
Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities—
Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish€2,296
Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Selfoss Salary needed to live in Selfoss

Public employment service

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

Country-level information
Open the Iceland service overview

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

Mobility and administration

Selfoss's nearest airport was RKV, 51 km away and offered 5 direct destinations.

MetricValuePeriodSource
Direct destinations from the nearest major airport5 count3 Aug 2026OpenFlights7Official
Distance to the nearest major airport51 km3 Aug 2026OurAirports8Official
Nearest major airport (IATA code)RKV3 Aug 2026OurAirports8Official

Language courses and integration

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

Country-level information

Directorate of Labour Icelandic courses for registered foreign jobseekers — State Language Course

Directorate of Labour

For foreign jobseekers registered for unemployment benefits.

IcelandicIn PersonFree
Open official information

Recognised Icelandic teaching provider grant route — Other

Rannís and the Icelandic authorities

For recognised providers teaching Icelandic to foreigners.

Icelandic
Open official information
Open the full Iceland section
National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Selfoss.

Find courses near Selfoss

Climate and air quality

Monthly mean temperatures were −1.1°C in January and 11.2°C in July.

MetricValuePeriodSource
Monthly extreme high temperatureJan 7.8 · Feb 7.68 · Mar 8.51 · Apr 11.59 · May 17.72 · Jun 18.79 · Jul 23.03 · Aug 23.48 · Sep 16.1 · Oct 12.37 · Nov 9.37 · Dec 9.07 °C31 Dec 2001NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center6Official · coordinate grid
Monthly extreme low temperatureJan -13.96 · Feb -17.42 · Mar -13.59 · Apr -11.64 · May -5.13 · Jun 0.21 · Jul 3.22 · Aug 1.8 · Sep -2.05 · Oct -10.96 · Nov -13.01 · Dec -16.21 °C31 Dec 2001NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center6Official · coordinate grid
Average temperature by monthJan -1.05 · Feb -0.91 · Mar 0.01 · Apr 2.7 · May 5.67 · Jun 9.41 · Jul 11.2 · Aug 10.41 · Sep 7.48 · Oct 3.55 · Nov 0.67 · Dec -0.92 °C31 Dec 2001NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center6Official · coordinate grid

Population and city profile

The female population of Selfoss was 6,226. The male population of Selfoss was 6,437.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

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

MetricValuePeriodSource
Foreign residents1,418 people7 Aug 2026Statistics Iceland13Official
Female residents6,226 people7 Aug 2026Statistics Iceland15Official
Male residents6,437 people7 Aug 2026Statistics Iceland15Official
Population12,671 people5 Aug 2026Statistics Iceland14Official

Alternatives for people set on Selfoss

Nothing here reaches an argued comparison yet: no other published city shares enough metrics with Selfoss from the same source, period and grain. What is collected is below.

Alternative cities in Iceland

Other cities in Iceland to compare with Selfoss, nearest in population first.

All Iceland cities
Sveitarfelagid Arborg12,671 residentsMosfellsbaer13,772 residentsAkranes8,440 residentsAkureyrarbaer20,284 residentsAkureyri20,284 residentsGardabaer20,724 residents

How does Selfoss compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Selfoss 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 6 to 16. Newly arrived pupils get support in the school language: íslenska sem annað tungumál (Icelandic as a second language instruction). How to enrol a child (menntamalaraduneyti.is).

A country-wide rule for Iceland; Selfoss's school authority applies it locally.

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

Is Selfoss part of Reykjavík?

Selfoss is near Reykjavík, but the collected evidence does not establish that it is administratively part of the hub or an official satellite. It is about 46.1 km away by straight-line distance. Reykjavík city profile

Relationship type: Nearby Independent Place. Source3

Which comparable places record less crime than Selfoss?

1 place has a lower recorded total crime rate than Selfoss in this strictly source-matched cohort.

Selfoss: 3,515.6 offences/100k (2022).

Akranes — 1,583.6 offences/100k2022

Only the same source family, offence definition, period, grain and denominator method are compared. This is recorded crime, not a claim about personal safety. Official source1

Common questions

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

What is the unemployment rate in Selfoss?

The unemployment rate is 4.79 %. Source: px.hagstofa.is.

How many people live in Selfoss?

The published population is 12,671 people. Source: Statistics Iceland.

How many foreign residents live in Selfoss?

1,418 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Statistics Iceland.

Is Selfoss a good place to live?

Selfoss 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.

Is Selfoss part of Reykjavík?

Selfoss is near Reykjavík, but the collected evidence does not establish that it is administratively part of the hub or an official satellite. It is about 46.1 km away by straight-line distance.

Which comparable places record less crime than Selfoss?

1 place has a lower recorded total crime rate than Selfoss in this strictly source-matched cohort. The comparison uses Iceland Lögreglan recorded-crime dashboard 2018-2022 Svaedi scope + Statistics Iceland MAN030102 localities 1 January 2022, period 2022, and does not compare across incompatible police definitions.

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). Selfoss, Iceland: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 4eb61c237e00e40c024b39a878e69aa7]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/is/selfoss/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
BibTeX citation
@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_selfoss-iceland-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_a0d4d40b4561,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Selfoss, Iceland: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {4eb61c237e00e40c024b39a878e69aa7},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/is/selfoss/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}
Markdown citation
[Selfoss, Iceland: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/is/selfoss/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 4eb61c237e00e40c024b39a878e69aa7; 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
  1. app.powerbi.com recorded crime data app.powerbi.com · checked 2026-08-28
  2. assets.ctfassets.net recorded crime data assets.ctfassets.net · checked 2026-08-28
  3. gisco-services.ec.europa.eu place coordinates gisco-services.ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-28
  4. island.is recorded crime data island.is · checked 2026-08-28
  5. Leiguskrá þinglýstra leigusamninga 2011–2023 frs3o1zldvgn.objectstorage.eu-frankfurt-1.oci.customer-oci.com · checked 2026-10-06
  6. NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center power.larc.nasa.gov · checked 2026-08-05
  7. OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
  8. OurAirports davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-08-03
  9. px.hagstofa.is px.hagstofa.is · checked 2026-08-26
  10. px.hagstofa.is recorded crime data px.hagstofa.is · checked 2026-08-28
Show 6 more sources
  1. SÍMINN fixed internet sidan.is · checked 2026-09-15
  2. Síminn mobile plan siminn.is · checked 2026-09-15
  3. Statistics Iceland px.hagstofa.is · checked 2026-08-07
  4. Statistics Iceland px.hagstofa.is · checked 2026-08-05
  5. Statistics Iceland px.hagstofa.is · checked 2026-08-07
  6. Statistics Iceland TEK02003 — Taxable wages by economic activity and residence Statistics Iceland TEK02003 · px.hagstofa.is · checked 2026-09-23

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.