Living in Arouca

In Arouca, average gross earnings are €1,264 a month (2024), rents in new contracts average €5.21 per m² a month (2026) and unemployment is 1.5% (2026).

The unemployment rate was 1.51% in June 2026. The nearest airport was VSE, 38.2 km away in June 2026. In 2021, Arouca had a population of 22,359.

Last checked 2026-09-2325 sources

Population22,359people2021Official source · INE — Portal municipal (quadro)

Average gross salary1,264EUR/month31 Dec 2024Official source · INE — Ganho médio mensal (€), indicator 0012649 (Quadros de Pessoal)

Average net rent5.21EUR/m²/monthcountry median €6.20 — 16% belowOfficial source · www.ine.pt

Unemployment rate1.51%country median 2.3% — 35% belowIndependent source · IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 2026

Recorded crime2,000incidents per 100kcountry median 2,730 — 27% belowOfficial source · INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 2022

PM2.5, annual mean8µg/m³country median 6.2 — 30% aboveOfficial source · European Environment Agency

Cheaper rent than 68% of Portuguese cities that publish it, lower unemployment than 89% of Portuguese cities that publish it and less recorded crime than 89% of Portuguese cities that publish it.

Which Portugal-wide rules apply when you move to Arouca?

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 PortugalNational rates and thresholds that apply in Arouca.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

How much does it cost to rent in Arouca?

Average net cold rent is 5.21 EUR/m² per month (2026-Q1), excluding heating and operating charges.

Published average over existing tenancies; a specific flat can sit either side of it. Asking-rent series, where present, are separate rows in the table.

Average net rent (nettokalt): 5.21 EUR/m²/month · www.ine.pt¹⁴

What recurs every month3 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Transport pass€40

Internet, 60 Mbps€30

Mobile plan, 10 GB€15

Net rent across major citiesArouca highlighted among comparable cities

net rent, € / m² / month

Lisbon€17.42

Cascais€16.50

Oeiras€15.42

Almada€13.43

Braga€8.57

Arouca€5.21

Show the other 6 cities

Amadora€13.00

Matosinhos€11.98

Loures€11.73

Sintra€11.24

Vila Nova de Gaia€10.61

Porto€10.15

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	29.99 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	MEO fixed fibre⁹Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	15 EUR/month	30 Sept 2026	Vodafone Portugal mobile plan¹³Official · national market
Monthly transport pass	40 EUR/month	31 Dec 2026	Andante / Transportes Metropolitanos do Porto¹Official
Average net rent (nettokalt)	5.21 EUR/m²/monthcountry median €6.20	26 Aug 2026	www.ine.pt¹⁴Official

Is Arouca 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 worker63%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 55–71%

Skilled employee69%strong on work, weak on education · range 61–77%

Student62%strong on legal route, weak on education · range 53–71%

Family71%strong on family, weak on education · range 63–79%

Retirement63%strong on safety, weak on admin · range 54–72%

Worked out from these numbers

What does a 60 m² flat cost?

About 313 EUR a month in cold rent at the published average of 5.21 EUR/m² per month, before heating and operating charges.

Heating, water and operating charges come on top, and a specific flat can sit either side of an average.

Source period: 2026-Q1

Work and income

What is the unemployment rate in Arouca?

The unemployment rate is about 1.5 % (June 2026).

Unemployment rate: 1.51 % · IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 2026²⁵

Unemployment across cities in PortugalUnemployment in Arouca is 1.5%. Of 279 cities with data, 131 have unemployment of 2 to under 3%.

131

0–11–22–33–44–55–66–77–89–1012–13

Arouca 1.5%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Average gross earnings	1,264 EUR/month	31 Dec 2024	INE — Ganho médio mensal (€), indicator 0012649 (Quadros de Pessoal)³Official
Unemployment rate	1.51 %country median 2.3%	30 Jun 2026	IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 2026²⁵Independent

What does a salary buy in Arouca?

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

Left over each month€522of €920 take-home

Rent
Transport
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.	€920
Rent, 60 m²€5.21/m² · official · ine.pt · 2026-08-26	− €313
Public transport pass€40 · official · Andante / Transportes Metropolitanos do Porto · 2026-12-31	− €40
Utilities, 85 m²not published for this city	—
Internet€30 · official · MEO fixed fibre · 2026-09-30	− €30
Mobile plan€15 · official · Vodafone Portugal mobile plan · 2026-09-30	− €15
Left overbefore the bill this city does not publish	€522

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Arouca Salary needed to live in Arouca

Public employment service

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

Country-level information

Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional — Public employment service

Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP)

Job SearchRegistrationTraining

Open the Portugal service overview

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

Healthcare

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Physicians per 100,000 residents	200 per 100,000	2024	Official INE Statistics of Health Personnel indicator 0012837: physicians per 1,000 inhabitants by municipality of residence. Exact municipality row selected by INE DICO geocod; value converted to the requested per-100k unit.¹⁰Official

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Arouca 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.

Safety

How safe is Arouca?

Police recorded 2,000 incidents per 100,000 (2022). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source.

Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents: 2,000 incidents per 100k · INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 2022⁵

Recorded crime across major citiesArouca highlighted among comparable cities

recorded incidents per 100k residents

Porto5,240

Lisbon5,090

Almada3,580

Amadora3,330

Matosinhos2,910

Loures2,800

Cascais2,700

Sintra2,640

Vila Nova de Gaia2,570

Braga2,440

Oeiras2,380

Arouca2,000

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents	2,000 incidents per 100kcountry median 2,730	31 Dec 2022	INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 2022⁵Official

Mobility and administration

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Nearest airport	VSE	13 Jun 2026	OurAirports — airports.csv¹¹Official
Distance to nearest airport	38.2 km	13 Jun 2026	OurAirports — airports.csv¹¹Official

Language courses and integration

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

Country-level information

PLA search route through Portal da Oferta Formativa — State Language Course

AIMA / Portal da Oferta Formativa

For migrants seeking Portuguese as a non-native language.

PortugueseCost varies

Open official information

Português Língua de Acolhimento (PLA) — State Language Course

AIMA / DGEstE public-school network / IEFP / Centros Qualifica

For migrants aged 16 or older whose mother tongue is not Portuguese, residence-permit holders, people with pending residence/protection/NISS evidence.

PortugueseCEFR A1–B2Cost varies

Open official information

Open the full Portugal section

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

Find courses near Arouca

Climate and air quality

Is the air quality good in Arouca?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 8 µg/m³ (2023) — above the WHO 2021 guideline of 5 µg/m³ but within the EU limit of 25 µg/m³. Source: European Environment Agency²

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

Temperature through the yearAverage daytime high and night-time low, °C

11°4°

13°4°

16°6°

17°8°

21°10°

24°13°

27°14°

27°15°

25°13°

20°10°

14°6°

12°5°

JFMAMJJASOND

Night-time low to daytime high

Rainfall through the yearAverage monthly precipitation, mm

196

129

133

134

163

183

194

JFMAMJJASOND

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

PM2.58WHO 5 · EU 25

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

PM2.5 across cities in PortugalAnnual PM2.5 in Arouca is 8.0 µg/m³. Of 72 cities with data, 27 have annual PM2.5 of 8 to under 9 µg/m³.

1–22–33–44–55–66–77–88–99–10

Arouca 8.0

Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
PM2.5 — annual mean	8 µg/m³country median 6.2	31 Dec 2023	European Environment Agency²Official
Average daytime high by month	Jan 11 · Feb 12.8 · Mar 15.7 · Apr 17.3 · May 20.5 · Jun 24.1 · Jul 26.7 · Aug 27 · Sep 24.6 · Oct 19.7 · Nov 14.2 · Dec 11.6 °C	31 Dec 1991	IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação LUZIM (nº 657)⁸Official · nearest-station reading
Average night-time low by month	Jan 3.6 · Feb 4.1 · Mar 6.3 · Apr 7.6 · May 10.1 · Jun 12.6 · Jul 14.1 · Aug 14.5 · Sep 12.8 · Oct 10.3 · Nov 6.5 · Dec 4.5 °C	31 Dec 1991	IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação LUZIM (nº 657)⁸Official · nearest-station reading
Average temperature by month	Jan 7.3 · Feb 8.5 · Mar 11 · Apr 12.4 · May 15.3 · Jun 18.3 · Jul 20.4 · Aug 20.7 · Sep 18.7 · Oct 15 · Nov 10.3 · Dec 8 °C	31 Dec 1991	IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação LUZIM (nº 657)⁸Official · nearest-station reading
Average precipitation by month	Jan 196 · Feb 129.3 · Mar 133.2 · Apr 134.2 · May 93.5 · Jun 37.6 · Jul 15.3 · Aug 29.7 · Sep 72.6 · Oct 162.6 · Nov 183.4 · Dec 194.2 mm	31 Dec 1991	IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação LUZIM (nº 657)⁸Official · nearest-station reading

Annual PM2.5 over time6 published observations, 2015–2023

7.4

10.1

12.9

15.6

8.02015202020222023

Annual PM2.5 fell 46.7% between 2015 and 2023, from 15.0 to 8.0.

Similar climate. In Portugal: Barcelos ±1.4 °C. Elsewhere: Saanich (Canada) ±2.9 °C, Reims (France) ±2.9 °C, Ventura (United States) ±2.9 °C, Werl (Germany) ±3.3 °C, Santiago de Compostela (Spain) ±1.0 °C. Twenty closest, compared month by month

Monthly highs and lows against the 1991–2020 station normals of the nearest station; ± is the average monthly difference.

Population and city profile

The city covered 329.1 km² in 2021. Population density was 67.9 people per km² in 2021.

How many people live in Arouca?

The published population was 22,359 people in 2021. Source: INE — Portal municipal (quadro)⁴

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport98.9%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	329.1 km²	2021	INE — Portal municipal (quadro)⁴Official
Foreign residents	249 people	2023	Foreign population with legal resident status at 31 December; Total Nacionalidade; annual municipality value.²⁴Independent
Population density	67.94 people/km²	2021	Reproducible derived density from the same-period INE populationTotal divided by areaKm2; no external density number was substituted.¹²Official
Population	22,359 people	2021	INE — Portal municipal (quadro)⁴Official

International community in Arouca

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

Country of birth

Resident population at the 19 April 2021 Census reference date; total sex (HM) and total age; source-native indicator universe · 2021-04-19

Published group	People	Share
Total	21,146	100.0%
Portuguesa	20,250	95.8%
Estrangeira	896	4.2%
Europa	396	1.9%
América	317	1.5%
União Europeia 27 (s/ PT - a partir de 2020)	264	1.2%
Brasil	261	1.2%
França	196	0.9%
África	170	0.8%
Outros países - Europa	132	0.6%
Angola	112	0.5%

Show 32 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Suíça	99	0.5%
Venezuela	43	0.2%
Moçambique	38	0.2%
Alemanha	31	0.1%
Espanha	22	0.1%
Reino Unido	15	0.1%
Ásia	12	0.1%
Ucrânia	12	0.1%
Outros países - América	7	0.0%
Guiné-Bissau	7	0.0%
África do Sul	7	0.0%
China	6	0.0%
Outros países - Ásia	5	0.0%
Outros países - África	4	0.0%
Canadá	4	0.0%
Itália	3	0.0%
Federação da Rússia	3	0.0%
Outros	3	0.0%
Bélgica	2	0.0%
Bulgária	2	0.0%
Irlanda	2	0.0%
Roménia	2	0.0%
Estados Unidos da América	2	0.0%
Oceânia	1	0.0%
Outros países - Oceânia	1	0.0%
Cabo Verde	1	0.0%
Índia	1	0.0%
Luxemburgo	1	0.0%
Países Baixos (Reino dos)	1	0.0%
Polónia	1	0.0%
Eslováquia	1	0.0%
São Tomé e Príncipe	1	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁷

Citizenship

Resident population at the 19 April 2021 Census reference date; total sex (HM) and total age; source-native indicator universe · 2021-04-19

Published group	People	Share
Total	21,146	100.0%
Portuguesa	20,886	98.8%
Estrangeira	260	1.2%
América	154	0.7%
Brasil	132	0.6%
Europa	74	0.3%
União Europeia 27 (s/ PT - a partir de 2020)	43	0.2%
Outros países - Europa	31	0.1%
África	24	0.1%
Venezuela	17	0.1%
Alemanha	13	0.1%

Show 22 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Espanha	13	0.1%
Angola	12	0.1%
Reino Unido	10	0.0%
França	9	0.0%
Ucrânia	9	0.0%
Ásia	8	0.0%
Suíça	8	0.0%
China	6	0.0%
Guiné-Bissau	5	0.0%
Outros países - América	4	0.0%
Itália	4	0.0%
Outros países - África	3	0.0%
Moçambique	3	0.0%
Outros	3	0.0%
Outros países - Ásia	2	0.0%
Bélgica	1	0.0%
Canadá	1	0.0%
Países Baixos (Reino dos)	1	0.0%
Polónia	1	0.0%
Roménia	1	0.0%
Federação da Rússia	1	0.0%
São Tomé e Príncipe	1	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source⁶

Alternatives for people set on Arouca

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

Cities near Arouca

Published cities within 25 km, nearest first. Distances are straight-line.

Castelo de Paiva 11.2 km away

Rent: 4.13 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26

Macieira de Cambra 13.2 km away

Rent: 5.59 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26

Vale de Cambra 15.6 km away

Rent: 5.72 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26

Moreira 18.0 km away

Rent: 9.48 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26

São Roque 19.8 km away

Rent: 5.58 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26

Cinfães 20.4 km away

Rent: 4.13 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26

Lobão 20.6 km away

Rent: 6.25 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26

Alternative cities in Portugal

Other cities in Portugal to compare with Arouca, nearest in population first.

All Portugal cities

Fânzeres22,556 residents Salvaterra de Magos22,159 residents Mem Martins22,769 residents Póvoa de Lanhoso21,886 residents São Mamede de Infesta22,844 residents Arcos de Valdevez22,847 residents

How does Arouca compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Arouca in rankings

#7 of 30 in Cities with lowest unemployment in Portugal #20 of 30 in Cheapest cities to rent in Portugal

School for children who move here. School is compulsory from age 6 to 18, and public school is free. Newly arrived pupils get support in the school language: PLNM (Português Língua Não Materna). How to enrol a child (gov.pt).

A country-wide rule for Portugal; Arouca's school authority applies it locally.

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

Put Arouca's key facts on your site — a card with this page's figures and a link back, free under CC BY 4.0.

Common questions

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

How many people live in Arouca?

The published population was 22,359 people in 2021. Source: INE — Portal municipal (quadro).

How much does it cost to rent in Arouca?

Average net cold rent is 5.21 EUR/m² per month (2026-Q1), excluding heating and operating charges. For a 70 m² flat that is about 365 EUR a month before utilities. Source: www.ine.pt.

Is the air quality good in Arouca?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 8 µg/m³ (2023) — 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 Arouca?

Police recorded 2,000 incidents per 100,000 (2022). This counts all offences, so it is not comparable with a violent-crime-only rate from another source. Source: INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 2022.

What is the unemployment rate in Arouca?

The unemployment rate is about 1.5 % (June 2026). Source: IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 2026.

How many foreign residents live in Arouca?

249 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Foreign population with legal resident status at 31 December; Total Nacionalidade; annual municipality value..

Is Arouca a good place to live?

Arouca 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.

Which cities are near Arouca?

Castelo de Paiva, Macieira de Cambra, Vale de Cambra, Moreira, Melres are near Arouca. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

How many people born in Portuguesa live in Arouca?

The official country of birth distribution records 20,250 people (95.8%) in the source-defined population for 2021-04-19. 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). Arouca, Portugal: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version 839fccb715c9cfdac9c2c1555e1bfd92]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/pt/arouca/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_arouca-portugal-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_6689c1e1738e,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Arouca, Portugal: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {839fccb715c9cfdac9c2c1555e1bfd92},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/pt/arouca/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Arouca, Portugal: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/pt/arouca/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version 839fccb715c9cfdac9c2c1555e1bfd92; 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

Andante / Transportes Metropolitanos do Porto andante.pt · checked 2026-09-13
European Environment Agency air.discomap.eea.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-03
INE — Ganho médio mensal (€), indicator 0012649 (Quadros de Pessoal) INE · ine.pt · checked 2026-09-23
INE — Portal municipal (quadro) INE · ine.pt · checked 2026-07-14
INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 2022 INE · ine.pt · checked 2026-07-31
Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal Censos 2021 indicator 0014632 nationality ine.pt · checked 2026-09-01
Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal Censos 2021 indicator 0014633 country of birth ine.pt · checked 2026-09-01
IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação LUZIM (nº 657) IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 · ipma.pt · checked 2026-07-31
MEO fixed fibre meo.pt · checked 2026-09-15
Official INE Statistics of Health Personnel indicator 0012837: physicians per 1,000 inhabitants by municipality of residence. Exact municipality row selected by INE DICO geocod; value converted to the requested per-100k unit. ine.pt · checked 2026-07-15

Show 15 more sources

OurAirports — airports.csv OurAirports · davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-07-14
Reproducible derived density from the same-period INE populationTotal divided by areaKm2; no external density number was substituted. ine.pt · checked 2026-07-15
Vodafone Portugal mobile plan vodafone.pt · checked 2026-09-15
www.ine.pt ine.pt · checked 2026-08-26
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
Foreign population with legal resident status at 31 December; Total Nacionalidade; annual municipality value. pordata.pt · checked 2026-07-15
IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 2026 IEFP · iefp.pt · checked 2026-07-26

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.