Living in Ludza

In Ludza, unemployment is 16.2% (2025).

The nearest airport was PKV, 143.3 km away in June 2026.

Last checked 2026-10-0719 sources

Population7,054people1 Jan 2026Official source · Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia

Median gross salary (region)1,046EUR/month31 Dec 2024Official source · Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia

Unemployment rate16.2%country median 6.0% — 168% aboveOfficial source · CSB Latvia RIG090 — share of unemployed persons among economically active population aged 15-74

Recorded crime2,205incidents per 100,00031 Dec 2025Official source · Recorded crimes and crime rates by State city and municipality (after administrative-territorial reform in 2021) 2021-2025

PM2.5, annual mean14µg/m³country median 9.0 — 56% aboveOfficial source · European Environment Agency

Which Latvia-wide rules apply when you move to Ludza?

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 LatviaNational rates and thresholds that apply in Ludza.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

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

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€7

Mobile plan, 10 GB€7

Net rent across major citiesLudza highlighted among comparable cities

net rent, € / m² / month

Rīga€5.77

Daugavpils€4.50

Liepāja€1.18

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	6.99 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Tele2 Latvia fixed internet¹⁵Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	6.99 EUR/month	31 May 2025	Tele2 Latvia 10GB data plan¹⁴Official · national market
Dwellings	8,846 dwellings	31 Dec 2024	VZD Building register (Būvju kadastrs) + CSP Census 2024 estimate¹⁹Official
Average property price per m²	500 EUR/m²	31 Dec 2025	VZD (Valsts zemes dienests) — Latvijas nekustamā īpašuma tirgus statistika¹⁸Official

Is Ludza 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 employee51%strong on legal route, weak on education · range 41–61%

Student61%strong on cost, weak on education · range 50–72%

Family57%strong on safety, weak on education · range 47–67%

Retirement57%strong on safety, weak on admin · range 46–68%

Work and income

The unemployment rate was 16.2% at the start of 2025.

What is the unemployment rate in Ludza?

The unemployment rate is 16.2 % (January 2025). Source: CSB Latvia RIG090 — share of unemployed persons among economically active population aged 15-74⁷

Unemployment across cities in LatviaUnemployment in Ludza is 16.2%. Of 38 cities with data, 14 have unemployment of 4 to under 6%.

2–44–66–88–1012–1416–18

Ludza 16.2%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Median gross salary (regional)	1,046 EUR/month	31 Dec 2024	Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia²Official · regional context
Unemployment rate	16.2 %country median 6.0%	1 Jan 2025	CSB Latvia RIG090 — share of unemployed persons among economically active population aged 15-74⁷Official

Public employment service

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

Country-level information

State Employment Agency — Public employment service

Nodarbinātības valsts aģentūra (NVA)

Job SearchTraining

Open official service

Open the Latvia service overview

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

Safety

How safe is Ludza?

Police recorded 2,205 incidents per 100,000 (2025). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: Recorded crimes and crime rates by State city and municipality (after administrative-territorial reform in 2021) 2021-2025¹³

Recorded crime across major citiesLudza highlighted among comparable cities

recorded incidents per 100k residents

Daugavpils2,987

Rīga2,760

Liepāja2,071

Jūrmala1,832

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	2,205 incidents per 100,000	31 Dec 2025	Recorded crimes and crime rates by State city and municipality (after administrative-territorial reform in 2021) 2021-2025¹³Official

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Destinations from nearest airport	68 count	3 Aug 2026	OpenFlights¹¹Official
Nearest airport	PKV	13 Jun 2026	OurAirports — airports.csv¹²Official
Distance to nearest airport	143.3 km	13 Jun 2026	OurAirports — airports.csv¹²Official

Language courses and integration

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

Country-level information

2026 Latvian language courses for Ukrainian civilians — State Language Course

Society Integration Foundation

For Ukrainian civilians in Latvia.

LatvianIn PersonFree

Open official information

Open the full Latvia section

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

Find courses near Ludza

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Ludza?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 14 µg/m³ (2021) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³. Source: European Environment Agency⁸

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

PM2.514WHO 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	14 µg/m³country median 9.0	31 Dec 2021	European Environment Agency⁸Official
Average January temperature	-4.5 °C	31 Dec 2020	LVĢMC — Climate normals 1991-2020 (nearest station observation)⁹Official · nearest-station reading
Monthly extreme high temperature	Jan 8.02 · Feb 7.76 · Mar 14.33 · Apr 23.66 · May 28 · Jun 30.6 · Jul 30.55 · Aug 31.25 · Sep 26.1 · Oct 19.23 · Nov 11.04 · Dec 9.29 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹⁰Official
Monthly extreme low temperature	Jan -39.25 · Feb -34.49 · Mar -23.29 · Apr -10.18 · May -4.23 · Jun 2.51 · Jul 6.36 · Aug 5.38 · Sep -1.81 · Oct -8.18 · Nov -19.01 · Dec -26.54 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹⁰Official
Average temperature by month	Jan -7.66 · Feb -7.07 · Mar -2.18 · Apr 5.1 · May 11.71 · Jun 15.42 · Jul 18.03 · Aug 16.7 · Sep 11.78 · Oct 5.15 · Nov 0.33 · Dec -4.53 °C	31 Dec 2001	NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center¹⁰Official

Annual PM2.5 over time7 published observations, 2015–2021

11.4

14.1

16.9

19.6

14.02015201720192021

Annual PM2.5 fell 26.3% between 2015 and 2021, from 19.0 to 14.0.

Population and city profile

Population density was 769.0 people per km² in 2026.

How many people live in Ludza?

The published population was 7,054 people in 2026. Source: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia¹

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport79.4%
Foreign residents20.6%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	9.17 km²	31 Dec 2026	Total and land area of regions, cities, municipalities, towns and rural territories at the beginning of year (km²)¹⁶Official · settlement
Foreign residents	1,451 people	1 Jan 2025	CSB Latvia IRV031 — population by citizenship and sex⁶Official
Population density	769 people/km²	31 Dec 2026	Usually resident population density in regions, cities and towns, municipalities, and rural territories, at the beginning of year¹⁷Official · settlement
Population	7,054 people	1 Jan 2026	Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia¹Official

International community in Ludza

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

Country of birth

Official Latvian register-based population estimate at the beginning of 2026; all ages; total sex · 2026 (beginning of year)

Published group	People	Share
Total	19,659	100.0%
Latvia	18,012	91.6%
Born abroad	1,647	8.4%
Other countries (excluding EU-27 from 2020)	1,565	8.0%
EU-27 from 2020 (excluding Latvia)	82	0.4%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁵

Citizenship

Official Latvian register-based population estimate at the beginning of 2026; all ages; total sex · 2026 (beginning of year)

Published group	People	Share
Total	19,659	100.0%
Citizens of Latvia	18,438	93.8%
Non-citizens of Latvia	908	4.6%
Other citizenship	306	1.6%
Citizens of European Union 27 countries from 2020 (excluding Latvia)	7	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source³

Ancestry or ethnicity

Official Latvian register-based population estimate at the beginning of 2026; all ages; total population · 2026 (beginning of year)

Published group	People	Share
Total	19,659	100.0%
Latvians	11,979	60.9%
Russians	6,102	31.0%
Belarusians	635	3.2%
Other ethnicities, including not selected and not indicated ethnicity	429	2.2%
Ukrainians	279	1.4%
Poles	141	0.7%
Lithuanians	48	0.2%
Roma	25	0.1%
Estonians	13	0.1%
Jews	8	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁴

Alternatives for people set on Ludza

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.

Jūrmala as a Ludza 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.

Unemployment: 4.9% Jūrmala vs 16.2% Ludza−70%
Nearest airport: 13.3 km Jūrmala vs 143.3 km Ludza−91%
Median gross pay, region: €1,272 Jūrmala vs €1,046 Ludza+22%
Recorded crime, per 100k: 1,832 Jūrmala vs 2,205 Ludzano percentage

Full comparison More about Jūrmala

Alternative cities in Latvia

Other cities in Latvia to compare with Ludza, nearest in population first.

All Latvia cities

Baloži6,795 residents Ikšķile7,412 residents Gulbene6,683 residents Krāslava6,678 residents Aizkraukle6,626 residents Līvāni6,626 residents

How does Ludza compare?

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

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Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Ludza 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 5 to 16. Newly arrived pupils get support in the school language: additional support in learning the Latvian language (papildu atbalsts latviešu valodā; regulation for pupils with asylum/alternative status). How to enrol a child (izm.gov.lv).

A country-wide rule for Latvia; Ludza'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 Ludza?

The published population was 7,054 people in 2026. Source: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.

Is the air quality good in Ludza?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 14 µg/m³ (2021) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³. Source: European Environment Agency.

How safe is Ludza?

What is the unemployment rate in Ludza?

The unemployment rate is 16.2 % (January 2025). Source: CSB Latvia RIG090 — share of unemployed persons among economically active population aged 15-74.

What is the typical salary around Ludza?

The median gross salary is 1,046 EUR/month. Source: Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.

How many foreign residents live in Ludza?

1,451 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: CSB Latvia IRV031 — population by citizenship and sex.

Is Ludza a good place to live?

Ludza 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 Latvia live in Ludza?

The official country of birth distribution records 18,012 people (91.6%) in the source-defined population for 2026 (beginning of year). 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). Ludza, Latvia: population, salary, cost of living, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 87139a93f2cee23df449b97e934003f0]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/lv/ludza/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_ludza-latvia-population-salary-cost-of-living-jobs_f424832d4581,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Ludza, Latvia: population, salary, cost of living, jobs},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {87139a93f2cee23df449b97e934003f0},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/lv/ludza/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Ludza, Latvia: population, salary, cost of living, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/lv/ludza/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 87139a93f2cee23df449b97e934003f0; 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

Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-08-05
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-08-07
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-08-30
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia ancestry or ethnicity distribution api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-08-28
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia country of birth distribution api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-08-28
CSB Latvia IRV031 — population by citizenship and sex CSB Latvia IRV031 · api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-07-26
CSB Latvia RIG090 — share of unemployed persons among economically active population aged 15-74 CSB Latvia RIG090 · api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-07-26
European Environment Agency air.discomap.eea.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-03
LVĢMC — Climate normals 1991-2020 (nearest station observation) LVĢMC · data.gov.lv · checked 2026-06-12
NASA POWER / NASA Langley Research Center power.larc.nasa.gov · checked 2026-08-03

Show 9 more sources

OpenFlights raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-08-03
OurAirports — airports.csv OurAirports · davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-07-14
Recorded crimes and crime rates by State city and municipality (after administrative-territorial reform in 2021) 2021-2025 api.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-10-05
Tele2 Latvia 10GB data plan tele2.lv · checked 2026-09-15
Tele2 Latvia fixed internet tele2.lv · checked 2026-09-15
Total and land area of regions, cities, municipalities, towns and rural territories at the beginning of year (km²) data.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-09-25
Usually resident population density in regions, cities and towns, municipalities, and rural territories, at the beginning of year data.stat.gov.lv · checked 2026-09-25
VZD (Valsts zemes dienests) — Latvijas nekustamā īpašuma tirgus statistika VZD (Valsts zemes dienests) · vzd.gov.lv · checked 2026-06-12
VZD Building register (Būvju kadastrs) + CSP Census 2024 estimate vzd.gov.lv · checked 2026-06-12

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