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Living in Chaves

In Chaves, average gross earnings are €1,250 a month (2024), rents in new contracts average €5.30 per m² a month (2026) and unemployment is 3.1% (2026).

Chaves had 41,243 residents in 2021 and is a city in Portugal. In June 2026, the unemployment rate was 3.1%.

Last checked 2026-09-2321 sources

Population41,243people2021Official source · INE — Portal municipal (quadro)
Average gross salary1,250EUR/month31 Dec 2024Official source · INE — Ganho médio mensal (€), indicator 0012649 (Quadros de Pessoal)
Average net rent5.3EUR/m²/monthcountry median €6.20 — 15% belowOfficial source · www.ine.pt
Unemployment rate3.1%country median 2.3% — 33% aboveIndependent source · IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 2026
Recorded crime2,840incidents per 100kcountry median 2,730 — 4% aboveOfficial source · INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 2022

Cheaper rent than 67% of Portuguese cities that publish it and higher unemployment than 81% of Portuguese cities that publish it.

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

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 Chaves.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

How much does it cost to rent in Chaves?

Average net cold rent is 5.3 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): 5.3 EUR/m²/month · www.ine.pt14
What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month
Chaves recurring monthly costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€30
Mobile plan, 10 GB€15
Net rent across major citiesChaves highlighted among comparable cities
Net rent across major cities with Chaves highlighted

net rent, € / m² / month

Lisbon€17.42
Cascais€16.50
Oeiras€15.42
Almada€13.43
Braga€8.57
Chaves€5.30
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
MetricValuePeriodSource
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited29.99 EUR/month30 Sept 2026MEO fixed fibre8Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB15 EUR/month30 Sept 2026Vodafone Portugal mobile plan13Official · national market
Average net rent (nettokalt)5.3 EUR/m²/monthcountry median €6.2026 Aug 2026www.ine.pt14Official

Is Chaves 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 worker60%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 51–69%
Skilled employee66%strong on work, weak on education · range 58–74%
Student59%strong on legal route, weak on education · range 50–68%
Family59%strong on family, weak on education · range 51–67%
Retirement59%strong on legal route, weak on admin · range 49–69%

Worked out from these numbers

What does a 60 m² flat cost?

About 318 EUR a month in cold rent at the published average of 5.3 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 Chaves?

The unemployment rate is 3.1 % (June 2026). Source: IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 202621

Unemployment across cities in PortugalUnemployment in Chaves is 3.1%. Of 279 cities with data, 131 have unemployment of 2 to under 3%.

Unemployment rate (%)

MetricValuePeriodSource
Average gross earnings1,250 EUR/month31 Dec 2024INE — Ganho médio mensal (€), indicator 0012649 (Quadros de Pessoal)2Official
Unemployment rate3.1 %country median 2.3%30 Jun 2026IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 202621Independent

What does a salary buy in Chaves?

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

Portugal median gross pay: €1,099 (2022-12-31).
Left over each month€557of €920 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.€920
Rent, 60 m²€5.30/m² · official · ine.pt · 2026-08-26− €318
Internet€30 · official · MEO fixed fibre · 2026-09-30− €30
Mobile plan€15 · official · Vodafone Portugal mobile plan · 2026-09-30− €15
Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities—
Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish€557
Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Chaves Salary needed to live in Chaves

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Chaves. 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
Register Search jobs
Open the Portugal service overview

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

Healthcare

MetricValuePeriodSource
Physicians per 100,000 residents670 per 100,0002024Official 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.9Official

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Chaves 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 Chaves?

Police recorded 2,840 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: 2,840 incidents per 100k · INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 20224
Recorded crime across major citiesChaves highlighted among comparable cities
Recorded crime across major cities with Chaves highlighted

recorded incidents per 100k residents

Porto5,240
Lisbon5,090
Almada3,580
Amadora3,330
Matosinhos2,910
Chaves2,840
Loures2,800
Cascais2,700
Sintra2,640
Vila Nova de Gaia2,570
Braga2,440
Oeiras2,380
MetricValuePeriodSource
Recorded incidents per 100,000 residents2,840 incidents per 100kcountry median 2,73031 Dec 2022INE — Taxa de criminalidade (‰) por Localização geográfica (NUTS 2013) e Categoria de crime; Anual, indicador 0008074, categoria Total, ano 20224Official

Mobility and administration

The nearest airport was VRL, 55.8 km away in June 2026.

MetricValuePeriodSource
Nearest airportVRL13 Jun 2026OurAirports — airports.csv10Official
Distance to nearest airport55.8 km13 Jun 2026OurAirports — airports.csv10Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Chaves. 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 Chaves.

Find courses near Chaves

Climate and air quality

Temperature through the yearAverage daytime high and night-time low, °C
Rainfall through the yearAverage monthly precipitation, mm
MetricValuePeriodSource
Average daytime high by monthJan 11.1 · Feb 13.7 · Mar 17.3 · Apr 19.1 · May 22.9 · Jun 27.5 · Jul 30.8 · Aug 30.9 · Sep 27 · Oct 20.9 · Nov 14.6 · Dec 11.4 °C31 Dec 1991IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação CHAVES (Aeródromo) (nº 616)7Official · nearest-station reading
Average night-time low by monthJan 1.4 · Feb 1.3 · Mar 3.6 · Apr 6 · May 8.7 · Jun 11.8 · Jul 13.5 · Aug 13.1 · Sep 10.9 · Oct 8.2 · Nov 4.4 · Dec 2.3 °C31 Dec 1991IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação CHAVES (Aeródromo) (nº 616)7Official · nearest-station reading
Average temperature by monthJan 6.2 · Feb 7.5 · Mar 10.4 · Apr 12.6 · May 15.8 · Jun 19.6 · Jul 22.1 · Aug 22 · Sep 19 · Oct 14.5 · Nov 9.5 · Dec 6.8 °C31 Dec 1991IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação CHAVES (Aeródromo) (nº 616)7Official · nearest-station reading
Average precipitation by monthJan 85.1 · Feb 49.5 · Mar 63.9 · Apr 58.7 · May 63.8 · Jun 25 · Jul 15.1 · Aug 17.8 · Sep 36.9 · Oct 91.3 · Nov 86.7 · Dec 92.7 mm31 Dec 1991IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação CHAVES (Aeródromo) (nº 616)7Official · nearest-station reading

Similar climate. In Portugal: Vila Franca de Xira ±2.8 °C. Elsewhere: Murfreesboro (United States) ±2.6 °C, Reims (France) ±2.9 °C, Oklahoma City (United States) ±3.1 °C, Little Rock (United States) ±3.1 °C, Saanich (Canada) ±3.3 °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 591.2 km² in 2021. Population density was 69.8 people per km² in 2021.

How many people live in Chaves?

The published population was 41,243 people in 2021. Source: INE — Portal municipal (quadro)3

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

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

MetricValuePeriodSource
City area591.2 km²2021INE — Portal municipal (quadro)3Official
Foreign residents1,314 people2023Foreign population with legal resident status at 31 December; Total Nacionalidade; annual municipality value.20Independent
Population density69.76 people/km²2021Reproducible derived density from the same-period INE populationTotal divided by areaKm2; no external density number was substituted.11Official
Population41,243 people2021INE — Portal municipal (quadro)3Official

International community in Chaves

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 groupPeopleShare
Total37,590100.0%
Portuguesa34,48891.7%
Estrangeira3,1028.3%
Europa1,6014.3%
União Europeia 27 (s/ PT - a partir de 2020)1,2123.2%
França8442.2%
África8292.2%
América6101.6%
Angola5721.5%
Brasil4321.1%
Outros países - Europa3891.0%
Show 33 more groups
Published groupPeopleShare
Suíça2720.7%
Espanha1990.5%
Moçambique1950.5%
Estados Unidos da América1260.3%
Alemanha810.2%
Ásia600.2%
Outros520.1%
Luxemburgo390.1%
China380.1%
Ucrânia370.1%
Outros países - África270.1%
Outros países - América270.1%
Reino Unido240.1%
Roménia220.1%
Outros países - Ásia210.1%
África do Sul150.0%
Bélgica140.0%
Canadá130.0%
Venezuela110.0%
Cabo Verde90.0%
Guiné-Bissau60.0%
Itália60.0%
São Tomé e Príncipe50.0%
Federação da Rússia40.0%
Oceânia20.0%
Austrália20.0%
Países Baixos (Reino dos)20.0%
Polónia20.0%
Argentina10.0%
Áustria10.0%
Grécia10.0%
Índia10.0%
Lituânia10.0%

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

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 groupPeopleShare
Total37,590100.0%
Portuguesa36,95798.3%
Estrangeira6331.7%
América2790.7%
Europa2420.6%
Brasil2310.6%
União Europeia 27 (s/ PT - a partir de 2020)1920.5%
Espanha790.2%
África570.2%
França560.1%
Ásia540.1%
Show 30 more groups
Published groupPeopleShare
Outros países - Europa500.1%
China460.1%
Angola400.1%
Suíça230.1%
Roménia230.1%
Estados Unidos da América220.1%
Outros países - América200.1%
Ucrânia160.0%
Alemanha150.0%
Outros países - África90.0%
Outros países - Ásia80.0%
Itália80.0%
Outros70.0%
Luxemburgo40.0%
Canadá30.0%
Cabo Verde30.0%
Reino Unido30.0%
Bélgica20.0%
Guiné-Bissau20.0%
Moçambique20.0%
Polónia20.0%
Venezuela20.0%
Oceânia10.0%
Outros países - Oceânia10.0%
Argentina10.0%
Grécia10.0%
Lituânia10.0%
Países Baixos (Reino dos)10.0%
Federação da Rússia10.0%
África do Sul10.0%

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

Alternatives for people set on Chaves

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.

Cities near Chaves

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

Vidago 14.0 km away
Rent
5.3 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-03-31
Valpaços 20.1 km away
Rent
3.63 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2026-08-26
Verín Spain · 22.5 km away
Rent
3.2 EUR/m²/monthAverage net rent (nettokalt) · 2022-12-31

Alternative cities in Portugal

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

All Portugal cities
Albufeira40,828 residentsGuarda42,541 residentsSanta Cruz43,005 residentsTomar43,007 residentsAbrantes39,325 residentsAlenquer43,267 residents

How does Chaves compare?

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

Open the full comparison

Chaves in rankings

#21 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; Chaves's school authority applies it locally.

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

Put Chaves'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 Chaves?

The published population was 41,243 people in 2021. Source: INE — Portal municipal (quadro).

How much does it cost to rent in Chaves?

Average net cold rent is 5.3 EUR/m² per month (2026-Q1), excluding heating and operating charges. For a 70 m² flat that is about 371 EUR a month before utilities. Source: www.ine.pt.

How safe is Chaves?

Police recorded 2,840 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 Chaves?

The unemployment rate is 3.1 % (June 2026). Source: IEFP — registered unemployment by municipality, June 2026.

How many foreign residents live in Chaves?

1,314 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Foreign population with legal resident status at 31 December; Total Nacionalidade; annual municipality value..

Is Chaves a good place to live?

Chaves 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 Chaves?

Vidago, Boticas, Valpaços, Verín are near Chaves. Typed relationship labels are shown where published; other rows use straight-line distance from admitted coordinates.

How many people born in Portuguesa live in Chaves?

The official country of birth distribution records 34,488 people (91.7%) 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). Chaves, Portugal: population, rent, salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; version f7341ebeb3f490b868465637490748fb]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/pt/chaves/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
BibTeX citation
@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_chaves-portugal-population-rent-salary-cost-of-living_a1a52131b346,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Chaves, Portugal: population, rent, salary, cost of living},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {f7341ebeb3f490b868465637490748fb},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/pt/chaves/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}
Markdown citation
[Chaves, Portugal: population, rent, salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/pt/chaves/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version f7341ebeb3f490b868465637490748fb; 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. cdn.mivau.gob.es cdn.mivau.gob.es · checked 2026-08-26
  2. INE — Ganho médio mensal (€), indicator 0012649 (Quadros de Pessoal) INE · ine.pt · checked 2026-09-23
  3. INE — Portal municipal (quadro) INE · ine.pt · checked 2026-07-14
  4. 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
  5. Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal Censos 2021 indicator 0014632 nationality ine.pt · checked 2026-09-01
  6. Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal Censos 2021 indicator 0014633 country of birth ine.pt · checked 2026-09-01
  7. IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 — IPMA estação CHAVES (Aeródromo) (nº 616) IPMA Normais Climatológicas 1991-2020 · ipma.pt · checked 2026-07-31
  8. MEO fixed fibre meo.pt · checked 2026-09-15
  9. 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
  10. OurAirports — airports.csv OurAirports · davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-07-14
Show 11 more sources
  1. Reproducible derived density from the same-period INE populationTotal divided by areaKm2; no external density number was substituted. ine.pt · checked 2026-07-15
  2. Valor mediano das rendas de novos contratos de arrendamento de alojamentos familiares nos últimos 12 meses (Metodologia 2026 - €/ m²) por Localização geográfica (NUTS - 2024 - geografia 2025); Trimestral - INE, Estatísticas de Rendas da Habitação ao nível local ine.pt · checked 2026-09-23
  3. Vodafone Portugal mobile plan vodafone.pt · checked 2026-09-15
  4. www.ine.pt ine.pt · checked 2026-08-26
  5. Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
  6. Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
  7. Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
  8. Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
  9. Coordinate identity evidence wikidata.org · checked 2026-09-06
  10. Foreign population with legal resident status at 31 December; Total Nacionalidade; annual municipality value. pordata.pt · checked 2026-07-15
  11. 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.