Moving to France
France country facts, largest cities, hub labels and reports.
Across 199 passports, 94 passports enter visa-free and 105 passports need a visa for France. Check your passport below.
- Visa-free
- 94
- Visa required
- 105
Visa and entry rules
Sources checked through 28 Aug 2026.
Work and income
What is the unemployment rate in France?
The national unemployment rate was 7.7 % in 2025. Source: Eurostat — Unemployment by sex and age — annual data (une_rt_a)13
This is the Eurostat labour-force survey series used as the canonical national answer. Other published definitions exist and are shown in the table below.
What is the median gross salary in France?
The median gross salary was 2,531 EUR/month in 2022.
Half of employees earn less than this. Mean gross and national-accounts averages use different definitions and are shown in the table below. national-accounts average — shown in the table below.
What is the minimum wage in France?
The statutory minimum wage is 11.88 EUR/hour, gross (as of 2025). Source: OECD25
National statutory floor, gross, before tax and social contributions.
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median gross salary, monthly | 2,531 EUR/month | 31 Dec 2022 | Eurostat (Structure of Earnings Survey, earn_ses_monthly)14Official · national figure |
| National unemployment rate | 7.7 % | 31 Dec 2025 | Eurostat — Unemployment by sex and age — annual data (une_rt_a)13Official · national figure |
| Minimum gross hourly wage | 11.88 EUR/hour | 31 Dec 2025 | OECD25Official · national figure |
Typical city (median): about 11.0%
Unemployment rate (%)
Typical city (median): about €10.70
Net rent (€/m²/month)
Typical city (median): about 8.5 µg/m³
Annual PM2.5 (µg/m³)
Public employment service in France
Official job-search, registration, counselling and training routes. Private recruitment agencies are not included.
France Travail — Public employment service
A national service does not prove that an office exists in every city. City pages show an office only after an exact address is linked to that city. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.
Taxes in France
National rates and comparable published scenarios. Personal tax depends on income, household and residence circumstances.
What does an average earner take home in France?
A single person on an average wage keeps about 33,104 EUR/year of about 45,964 EUR/year gross per year — 72% of pay.
Standardized OECD Taxing Wages (standardized scenario): single person, no children, earning the average wage. The same scenario is published for every covered country, so take-home shares compare directly.
| Component | Amount / year |
|---|---|
| Net wage earnings, kept | 33,104 |
| Income taxes | −7,662 |
| Employee social contributions | −5,198 |
| Gross wage earnings | 45,964 |
- Gross-to-net pay for a sample household: single person no children — 45,964 gross → 33,104 net a year (2025, national currency) · Taxing Wages 2026 — labour taxation decomposition
Benefits newcomers may qualify for in France
Public schemes where an official source defines an eligible migration or residence status. Amounts and conditions are kept in their native terms.
| Programme | Published amount | Source and application |
|---|---|---|
Aides personnelles au logement (APL/ALF/ALS) — Housing support | Amount set per household by formula / Monthly | |
Eligibility and amount detailsThe amount is calculated by CAF or MSA from household resources, rent or residence charge, household composition and housing conditions; Service Public does not publish one universal national amount. The official page is verified 1 July 2026, retained as the current-state locator. The current Service-Public APL page states: ‘Vous pouvez bénéficier de l’APL même si vous êtes étranger à condition d’avoir un titre de séjour en cours de validité.’ This is the bounded profile of a foreign national with a valid French residence permit for housing support. The tenant or facility-resident, decent-housing, resource, household and current student-specific rules also apply; the source page records the extra-EU student restriction effective from 2026-07-01. | ||
Allocation d'aide au retour à l'emploi (ARE) — Unemployment support | 13.18 EUR / Daily | |
Eligibility and amount detailsFixed component of ARE: EUR 13.18 per compensated day. France Travail states: ‘Pour les travailleurs étrangers : être titulaire d’un titre de séjour permettant de travailler en France et de s’inscrire à France Travail.’ Its foreign-worker guidance explains that the valid French residence title must be one of the legally listed titles and that registration can lead to indemnification when the entitlement conditions are met. This is the bounded profile of a foreign worker with a French residence title permitting work and France Travail registration; the ARE work, involuntary-loss, residence and affiliation conditions still apply. | ||
Allocation pour demandeur d'asile (Ada) — Arrival and reception support | 6.8–44.8 EUR / Daily | |
Eligibility and amount detailsService-Public's current Ada table verified 1 April 2026 gives EUR 6.80 to EUR 37.40 per day by family size for the base daily lump sum, plus an additional EUR 7.40 per day where accommodation was requested but not provided free of charge, producing EUR 14.20 to EUR 44.80 per day including the supplement. The official Service-Public page says that an adult asylum seeker in France with an asylum seeker's certificate who accepted the material reception conditions offered by OFII may be entitled to the Ada, provided the published asylum-filing and means conditions are also met. bounded profile; it does not turn generic foreign residence or refugee status after a final decision into an Ada status. | ||
Prestations familiales (allocations familiales / PAJE) — Family and child support | 478.16 EUR / Monthly | |
Eligibility and amount detailsThe monthly basis for calculating family allowances (BMAF) is EUR 478.16 from 1 April 2026; this is not a universal payment amount, and individual benefits depend on the relevant scheme and conditions. The current Service-Public page separates foreign applicants into four source-defined categories. For an EEA or Swiss national: ‘EEA or Swiss national with a right to stay, resident in France, with a child in their care residing in France’; for an Algerian national: ‘Algerian national in regular stay, resident in France, with a child in their care residing in France’; for a refugee or stateless person: ‘refugee or stateless person in regular stay, resident in France, with a child in their care residing in France’; and for another foreign-national situation: ‘another foreign-national situation in regular stay, resident in France, with a child in their care residing in France’. The source also requires the published child-entry-document condition unless the work-authorising document exception applies, plus the benefit-specific and income conditions. | ||
Revenu de solidarité active (RSA) — Minimum-income support | Amount set per household by formula / Monthly | |
Eligibility and amount detailsRSA is calculated from household resources and the household composition; the official 2026 revaluation is 0.8%. No representative household amount inferred. The current Service-Public RSA page for applicants aged 25 and over states that a foreign national from another country may apply when stably and effectively resident in France and one of the listed stay conditions is met: ‘Avoir depuis au moins 5 ans un titre de séjour permettant de travailler en France’; ‘Avoir la carte de résident ou un titre de séjour équivalent’; ‘Avoir le statut de réfugié’; ‘Être reconnu apatride’; or ‘Être bénéficiaire de la protection subsidiaire’. These are the five bounded public profiles; the age, resources, household and stable-residence conditions also apply. | ||
ImmigrationDB shows published rules; it does not decide personal eligibility. Confirm your status, contribution record and household circumstances with the responsible authority before applying. Sources checked through 12 Aug 2026.
Can migrants receive medical care in France?
Yes — migrants can receive medical care in France when the official insurance or residence conditions are met.
Language courses and integration in France
Government programmes, public integration services and exact provider records. The section expands only from fields present in the source; missing prices, refunds or contacts are not replaced with estimates.
Contrat d’intégration républicaine (CIR) — Integration course
État français and OFII
For eligible non-EU foreign residents.
DIAN language-training offer finder — Other
Réseau des Carif-Oref and DIAN
For people seeking French-language training.
Qualité FLE labelled-centre network — Other
France Éducation international
For French-language learners.
MilleMots Toulouse French FLE and literacy courses — Municipal language course
MilleMots Toulouse
For adult newly arrived residents.
Paris municipal adult French courses — Municipal language course
Ville de Paris / Service des Cours d'Adultes de Paris
For adults over 18, non-French-speaking adults, adults with limited schooling.
Living and moving context for France
France had GDP per capita of US$48,986 in 2025 and life expectancy of 83.0 years in 2024. The national unemployment rate was 7.7% in 2025. In 2024, the groceries price level index was 106.5 on an EU27=100 basis. Monthly estimates were €341 for groceries and €109 for utilities; household electricity was €0.301/kWh and gas was €0.098/kWh. Average gross salary was €3,028 per month and national median net income was €1,886 per month in 2024. Estimated monthly net income was €2,650 for one person, €3,159 for a couple and €3,638 for a family. There were 3.281 doctors per 1,000 people in France in 2022. For 2024, estimated employee amounts were €12,962 a year in income tax and €10,606 in social contributions.
France cities by population
The largest published cities appear first. Population is taken from the reusable official city layer; hub labels come from the existing city taxonomy.
All published cities in France
Reports with this country
Accepted report pages with a row for this country.
France facts
Current source-backed observations, grouped the way the city pages are, with geographic scope and observation periods.
Population and profile
How many people live in France?
The published population was 68,551,653 people in 2024. Source: World Bank39
National, resident population scope. Foreign-resident and migration-background figures are separate metrics in the table below.
How many foreign residents live in France?
The foreign-resident population was 6,468,206 people in 2025. Source: Eurostat5
Residents without France citizenship. The migration-background population is a broader measure and appears in the table below.
Legal, tax and other context
| Metric | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public healthcare access for foreign residents | Conditional | 3 Aug 2026 | ameli.fr — Assurance Maladie (CNAM)1Official · national figure |
| Area | 606,410 km² | 31 Dec 2023 | World Bank40Official · national figure |
| Cost level against the capital | 106.5 index (EU27=100) | 31 Dec 2024 | Eurostat — Comparative price levels and HICP (prc_ppp_ind, prc_hicp_midx)9Official · national |
| Gross-to-net pay for a sample household | single person no children — 45,964 gross → 33,104 net a year (2025, national currency) | 31 Dec 2025 | Taxing Wages 2026 — labour taxation decomposition36Official · country household scenario |
| Population by year | 67,026,224 people (2018) | 1 Jan 2018 | Population on 1 January by age and sex (DEMO_PJAN)35Official · country annual series |
| Salary by profession | Service and sales workers — 2,188 EUR/month (2022) | 31 Dec 2022 | Mean monthly earnings by sex, occupation and size class of the enterprise (2022)23Official · country occupation |
| Doctors per 1,000 residents | 3.28 per 1,000 | 31 Dec 2022 | World Bank indicator SH.MED.PHYS.ZS43Official · national figure |
| Household electricity price | 0.301 EUR/kWh | 31 Dec 2024 | Eurostat — Household energy prices (nrg_pc_204 electricity, nrg_pc_202 gas)11Official · national |
| People employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing | 690,500 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in mining and quarrying | 15,200 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in manufacturing | 2,799,100 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning | 134,000 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in water supply, sewerage and waste management | 158,400 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in construction | 2,005,100 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in wholesale and retail trade; motor vehicle and motorcycle repair | 3,713,500 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in transportation and storage | 1,549,000 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in accommodation and food services | 1,479,700 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in information and communication | 1,144,200 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in finance and insurance | 839,100 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in real estate | 403,400 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in professional, scientific and technical services | 2,344,600 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in administrative and support services | 2,533,000 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in public administration, defence and compulsory social security | 2,531,100 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
| People employed in education | 2,080,500 people | 2025 | ec.europa.eu2Official · national figure |
Common questions
Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.
What is the unemployment rate in France?
The national unemployment rate was 7.7 % in 2025. Source: Eurostat — Unemployment by sex and age — annual data (une_rt_a).
How many people live in France?
The published population was 68,551,653 people in 2024. Source: World Bank.
What is the median gross salary in France?
The median gross salary was 2,531 EUR/month in 2022. Source: Eurostat (Structure of Earnings Survey, earn_ses_monthly).
What is the minimum wage in France?
The statutory minimum wage is 11.88 EUR/hour, gross (as of 2025). Source: OECD.
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, September 12). Moving to France: salary, cost of living [ImmigrationDB compilation; snapshot approved-static-d7ed373c115d60d0; version approved-static-d7ed373c115d60d0]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/countries/france/ Retrieved 2026-09-12. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/BibTeX citation
@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_moving-to-france-salary-cost-of-living_84bef84b6d96,
author = {ImmigrationDB},
title = {Moving to France: salary, cost of living},
publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-09-12},
version = {approved-static-d7ed373c115d60d0},
snapshot = {approved-static-d7ed373c115d60d0},
url = {https://immigrationdb.com/countries/france/},
note = {Retrieved 2026-09-12. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}Markdown citation
[Moving to France: salary, cost of living](https://immigrationdb.com/countries/france/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; snapshot approved-static-d7ed373c115d60d0; version approved-static-d7ed373c115d60d0; retrieved 2026-09-12; built 2026-09-12.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
Every number above comes from one of these records. Open the original source for its geographic scope and publication date.
- ameli.fr — Assurance Maladie (CNAM) ameli.fr · ameli.fr · checked 2026-08-03
- ec.europa.eu ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-12
- EF EPI ef.com · checked 2026-08-03
- European Medicines Agency ema.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-03
- Eurostat ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-20
- Eurostat ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-07
- Eurostat ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-05
- Eurostat ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-05
- Eurostat — Comparative price levels and HICP (prc_ppp_ind, prc_hicp_midx) Eurostat · ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-14
- Eurostat — Distribution of income by household composition (ilc_di04) Eurostat · ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-26
Show 38 more sources
- Eurostat — Household energy prices (nrg_pc_204 electricity, nrg_pc_202 gas) Eurostat · ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-14
- Eurostat — National accounts aggregates (nama_10_a10) and employment (nama_10_a10_e) Eurostat · ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-26
- Eurostat — Unemployment by sex and age — annual data (une_rt_a) Eurostat · ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-26
- Eurostat (Structure of Earnings Survey, earn_ses_monthly) ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-08-03
- Eurostat crim_off_cat (ICCS0101, NR) ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-09-05
- Eurostat demo_pjan ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-09-05
- Eurostat earn_mw_cur ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-09-06
- Eurostat hbs_exp_t121 ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-09-06
- Eurostat ilc_di03 ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-09-06
- French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (Anses) anses.fr · checked 2026-08-03
- Globalization and World Cities (GaWC), Loughborough University gawc.lboro.ac.uk · checked 2026-08-03
- Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) data.worldbank.org · checked 2026-08-13
- Mean monthly earnings by sex, occupation and size class of the enterprise (2022) ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-30
- MIPEX mirovni-institut.si · checked 2026-08-03
- OECD sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-07
- OECD oecd.org · checked 2026-08-03
- OECD sdmx-pp.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-03
- OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-03
- OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-07
- OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-07
- OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-07
- OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-07
- OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-08-05
- Physicians (per 1,000 people) data.worldbank.org · checked 2026-08-13
- Population on 1 January by age and sex (DEMO_PJAN) ec.europa.eu · checked 2026-07-29
- Taxing Wages 2026 — labour taxation decomposition Taxing Wages 2026 · sdmx.oecd.org · checked 2026-07-29
- WHO GHO RS_196/RS_198 ghoapi.azureedge.net · checked 2026-09-05
- WHO GHO RS_196/RS_198 ghoapi.azureedge.net · checked 2026-09-05
- World Bank api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-08-02
- World Bank api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-08-02
- World Bank api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-08-02
- World Bank indicator NY.GDP.PCAP.CD api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-07-14
- World Bank indicator SH.MED.PHYS.ZS api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-07-14
- World Bank indicator SP.DYN.LE00.IN api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-07-14
- World Bank Open Data api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-08-07
- World Bank Open Data api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-08-07
- World Bank SP.POP.TOTL api.worldbank.org · checked 2026-09-05
- OECD — Taxing Wages (DF_TAXINGWAGES) tax wedge and net income OECD · oecd.org · checked 2026-07-14