Living in France

The Costs of living in France in terms of university tuition

Of course, a large part of the cost of living in France for a student can be the university tuition fees. As mentioned earlier, if the applicant is fluent in French, he / she can study for free in the public universities of this country. Keep in mind that the tuition fees for public universities is not the same for EU and non-EU students, and you will have to pay more as a non-EU student. Tuition fees can vary depending on the degree and the rank or the university. For example, engineering disciplines will usually be more expensive. Tuition fees for students outside of the EU who study at the Undergraduate level can range from € 500 to € 600. Of course, if the university you are admitted to is a private and international institution, tuition fees can be more than the cost of living in France for you.

It will usually be from 10 to 30 thousand euros per year, so if you want to reduce the cost of living in France, you can start with a French language college in this country and improve your French language level in an environment where everyone speaks French and then apply for your desired field and university.

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Topics reviewed in this article:

• Cost of living in France in terms of housing
• Cost of living in France in terms of food
• The costs of living in France and other expenses
• The costs of living in France and the amount of income in France
• The Costs of living in France and major cities in France
• The cost of living in France and the level of people’s satisfaction with living in France

Cost of living in France in terms of housing

One of the most basic living expenses in France is housing. The fact that which city you live in or which area of a city you choose as a place to live in can affect the costs of living in France. Certainly Paris and other major cities of France will have higher costs. In this section, we generally check the costs of living in France in terms of housing. These costs can be from 150 to 800 euros per month. Renting a place in Paris is the most expensive with an average of 806 euros. In Paris, the prices of a dormitory and different types of accommodations are different. Renting can start from 400 euros to 1100 euros. Lyon is the second largest city of France, where on average for renting a place you need € 511.

In other expensive cities the prices are; Nice € 570, Provence € 532, Bordeaux and Marseille € 482. The cheapest prices for renting are in Angers which is 357 euros. You can use the CAF housing allowance to reduce your rent. These allowances can be up to € 350, which is quite impressive. In addition to the city and urban area for getting accommodated, the cost of living in France for housing depends on the type of housing you choose. Rooms at public accommodations cost between € 150 to € 250 per month. In a shared apartment, neighbors pay an average of 421 euros for a 3-bedroom and 2-bedroom apartment. The price of renting a house in Paris is around 400 euros and in smaller cities is 250 to 350 euros. In the private accommodations, the rent is about the same as a studio, ranging from € 500 to € 950.

But you pay for a convenient location and extra services. Renting includes expenses such as water, electricity, internet, furniture and in some cases you may have free access to laundry, parking and gym.

Cost of living in France in terms of food

Many factors affect the cost of living in France for food. Shopping at specialty stores instead of larger chain stores or French supermarkets increases the cost of living in France. As a general rule, however, you should spend at least € 220 to € 290 per month on food in France.

The costs of living in France and other expenses

In this section, we will refer to other living expenses in France.

The costs of living in France and the amount of income in France

A person who works in France usually earns around € 60,800 a year. The minimum income is € 8,240 and the maximum income is € 269,000. This average annual salary includes housing, transportation and other benefits. Incomes/Salaries vary greatly between jobs. Income can depend on the type of the job, city where you are located, level of education, work experience and your gender. If you are interested to know about the incomes of a particular job, take a look at the income for each of these specific jobs:

The Costs of living in France and major cities in France

In this part of the article, we will introduce the important cities of France.

The cost of living in France and the level of people’s satisfaction with living in France

France performs well in many measures of well-being relative to most other countries in the Better Life Index. France ranks above the average in income and wealth, housing, health status, civic engagement, social connections, work-life balance and personal security. It ranks below average in subjective well-being, environmental quality, education and skills, and jobs and earnings. These rankings are based on available selected data. Money, while it cannot buy happiness, is an important means to achieving higher living standards. In France, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 31 304 a year, lower than the OECD average of USD 33 604 a year. But there is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest – the top 20% of the population earn around four times as much as the bottom 20%. In terms of employment, about 65% of people aged 15 to 64 in France have a paid job, below the OECD employment average of 68%. Some 69% of men are in paid work, compared with 62% of women. Good training and skills are important requirements for finding a job. In France, 78% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education, in line with the OECD average of 78%. This is slightly truer of men than women, as 79% of men have successfully completed high school compared with 78% of women. In terms of the quality of the education system, the average student scored 496 in reading literacy, math and science in the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). This score is higher than the OECD average of 486. In terms of health, life expectancy at birth in France is a little over 82 years, two years higher than the OECD average of 80 years. The level of atmospheric PM2.5 – tiny air pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause damage to the lungs – is 13.4 micrograms per cubic meter, almost in line with the OECD average of 13.9 micrograms per cubic meter. France also performs well in terms of water quality, as 82% of people say they are satisfied with the quality of their water, broadly in line with the OECD average of 81%. Concerning the public sphere, there is a strong sense of community and high levels of civic participation in France. In general, French people are less satisfied with their lives than the OECD average. When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, French people gave it a 6.5 grade on average, in line with the OECD average.