The price of Paris: What does it cost to live in the French capital? • FRANCE 24 English

[Music] It’s time now for French Connections, our weekly look at the intricacies of life here in France with Florence Vilman. Hi Flo. Hey Genie. So this week you are focusing on the French capital, Paris. It’s a popular tourist destination. Of course, many people dream of making the big move and living in Paris. But a big question is is cost. How much does it cost to live in the French capital? Well, arguably you have to put up with Parisians, so it cost you your soul genie. But I’m just kidding. Parisians are lovely too. Um, but the truth is Paris is a very expensive city. It’s uh up there with a lot of expensive cities uh in the world and countless studies prove this. For instance, if you look at the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Worldwide Cost of Living Index from 2023, Paris ranks as the seventh uh most expensive uh city to live in in the world after Zurich, Singapore, New York City, Geneva, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. Interestingly, Paris is uh more expensive than uh Tokyo also and London in the study which are also very expensive cities. Often it’s kind of a you know in that order but Paris is up there. And it’ll come as no surprise as well that uh if you look at France, Paris is the most expensive place to live as well, right? So why is it so expensive to live in Paris? Well, it’s due to a combination of factors. Uh mainly Paris is a very attractive place. You know, there are very highpaying jobs here. You’ve also got the way of life. You’ve got the fashion. You’ve got the culture. You’ve got the gastronomy, you’ve got good education as well. And all this adds up to a premium uh to living in Paris. They call it the cap the cultural capital premium. These kind of premiums exist in New York City and London as well for instance. And all this means that the cost of living is higher in Paris. Uh whether it’s a you know food, entertainment, healthcare, transport, all these things are more expensive in Paris. And perhaps most importantly, housing is most imper expensive in Paris. And with inflation, it’s gotten worse. And there are a lot of fears that Paris could actually turn into a ghetto for rich people. All right, let’s zoom in a little bit more on the housing. I mean, again, why is it so expensive? Whether you’re buying or renting, both are very expensive here. It’s pretty simple. Uh there is a very high demand for a limited space. And remember, Paris is actually quite small geographically. It’s about 100 square kilometers. And because of the ring road around it, it can’t expand like uh London for instance. And so it’s it’s it’s contained. Uh and on top of this there are very strict uh historical preservation laws and height restrictions which means that you won’t see the uh vertical development you see for instance in New York City. And so all this means that there is a chronic housing shortage and uh property prices are really through the roof in Paris. You’ll pay for instance double what you’ll pay in Leon which is another big city uh in France. And because it’s expensive to buy an apartment or a house in Paris, it’s also uh this means that owners actually push up the rent as well, sometimes to dizzying and almost grotesque levels. rents. The Paris city hall actually put in rent control limitations in 2019. It’s called Lad and in theory there are ceilings as to how much rent uh you can pay. City Hall even set up this website you can see here to help people see if they’re paying too much rent. But the truth is there are loopholes. It’s not really totally enforced yet. And so about four and 10 listings for apartments to rent. Well, the rent is just too high. All right. Now, for people who have limited means, obviously finding a suitable place to live is very difficult and not to mention very stressful. But there is one option available for people who have lower income, and that’s social housing. That’s right. Now, Paris counts about 2 million inhabitants, and there are over 260,000 social housing units. So, that’s about 25% of primary residences in the capital. Depending on how much uh you know, you earn and your family situation, you can apply for this social housing. and a lot of people can actually apply for it, but there’s a long waiting list. It can take several years to actually uh get an apartment and you have to go through this special committee. Uh now, the vast majority of these social housing uh situations are located in the east of of the of the capital, but each aundismo has to provide a social housing in the name of what they call mixitial social mixing. And this means that social housing can actually pop up in surprising places. Uh for instance, Lasaren, which you can see right here. This is an iconic department store located along the Sen. Uh you’re going to see a couple they managed to land an 80 square meter apartment for 1,400 all included, which is very cheap in Paris and it changed their life. [Music] Yeah, 80 square meters. That’s like a good two to threebedroom apartment. It’s a good size. But many people when they think about living in Paris, they think of those tiny cramped uh little studios, maids rooms up at the top of of apartment buildings. Absolutely. It’s our word dour. It’s a shamro deun. So this is the expression that you use for these little rooms that are at the top of buildings. Uh so it translates as maid quarters because this is actually traditionally where domestic servants lived in these Osman buildings under the eaves on the sixth or the seventh floor all the way up there. Now uh they’re very small. They typically range between 9 and 15 square meters. Some are even smaller than that but to be able to rent a space in Paris it uh the minimum size is 9 square meters which is 97 uh square feet. Um and the ceiling has to be 2.2 meters. So there are some laws, but it’s really fascinating how much you can fit into these very cramped spaces. People get very creative. I have definitely taken a shower in someone’s kitchen. You might be familiar with the Sham Deun if you watched Emily in Paris. People said that it was way too big. But it’s interesting because people do have a lot of fascination about these rooms and nostalgia as well for their Sham Deun and there’s something charming about those Sham Debun years too for sure. Flo, thank you so much for that. Fans Vilmanau with French Connections. Don’t forget if you want to take a closer look or take a look at any of the other French connections that we’ve done recently, be sure to check out the website franc224.com.

Paris is a popular tourist destination and many people dream about moving to the City of Light permanently. But how much does it actually cost to live in the French capital? Paris is not only the most expensive place to live in France, it’s one of the world’s priciest cities to reside in. Whether it’s food, entertainment, healthcare, transport or most importantly housing, the cost of living is high. Why is it so pricey? And what are public officials doing to try to stop the city from turning into a ghetto for the wealthy? We take a closer look in this edition of French Connections.
#paris #cost of living #housing

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49 comments

  1. Lol. I'm trying to rent a 1 bedroom apartment in Cambridge and I'm not able to find anything below £1300. Rents in UK is skyrocketing even though the property is so trashy.

  3. Would never want to live in Paris. Its a big ghetto with Lots of crime and filth in the streets

  5. Paris isn't comfortable to live, anti car policy is contradictory for a capital city , he atmosphere the people aren't cool , I was born there but travelled a lot , and I will leave this place soon when I don't have anything to do here .

  8. Nope.. chambre de bonne is not charming at all.. this is like a cell, you cannot live there your whole life unless you want to end up depressed..

  14. I love Paris for long weekend breaks however my home is in London – The cost of living for both cities is pretty compatible – I paid off my mortgage 20 years ago and going rent free saves you a lot of money – I would not like to live in a tiny studio apartment

  15. Something has got to give. I get the height restrictions in specific locations of historical importance but why limit construction across the city? France made Paris into an incredibly popular place and then said "no you can't actually live here"

  16. High paid job it’s not really true. There a also many illegal immigrants from Africa and North Africa. Insecurity increases.

  18. When I first moved to Paris, I lived on Île Saint-Louis, and I almost never saw my neighbors. Then, I finally met my upstairs neighbor who told me he bought his apartment for the few times he went out at night and didn’t want to go back to his home in the suburbs. An American actress had a big apartment on the quai. I never saw her.

  19. I am god blessing

    Nature has its own rules. When something ends, it begins again, nature does not wait more than a second.

    Some people are fortunate , some people are not fortunate , this is how God made the difference.

  20. Ha…… Bonjour! ….Hello from Hong Kong👋🏻 the top ranked of the smallest busiest high-cost-living, high-density population of the world!

  22. The Euro currency devalues and as a consequence property values and rental rates rise by the level of devaluation of the Euro currency + inflation + growing government debt.

    Expenditures are higher than revenues, they are forced to print money, unsecured pieces of paper.
    Look, the cost of property has risen in all countries of the union, not because of high demand, but because of the devaluation of national currencies and the euro currency.

  27. No way it’s more expensive than San Francisco, San Jose, and most Bay Area cities. I lived there for 3 years and it was cheaper than San Jose.

  28. If you reduced the perimeter of London from city center to the size of paris, i Guess London is >> what paris costs

  29. Compared to American cities it’s really cheap. You can’t pretend to have the right to live cheaply in the most expensive city in the world. If it’s too expensive just go to the suburbs.

  31. Didn't french people vanished?? LOL most of the footages of france only have immigrants walking around it there are no french people anymore there lols

  32. Me from Hong Kong and relocated in London ….. why I found Paris cheaper than ours place . I’d say 20years ago Paris it’s expensive than UK or HKg. But in 2025 Paris is cheaper one we love. Try to compare with 1.5L water with the UK . And Eggs ! You will know which is cheap living cost 😂😂😂

  33. It’s so expensive, even with money you can’t even find a plumber if the water in your toilet breaks, because no one is working. In Paris you can’t buy service, the server chose to serve you when they are available

  36. If you're french, it's ok, if you're not, it's gonna be expensive.
    The girl asks why is Paris expensive?😂😂😂 The best is always expensive baby!!

  37. Living for Flo! She said dealing with Parisians will cost you your soul and I fell out 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Immediately trust her opinion.

  42. 2:57, 820 euros for a small studio! In San Francisco you'd pay almost 3 times that. I was there just a couple weeks ago, $10 for a croissant and cappuccino, in a non tourist area!

  43. Yes Paris is very expensive but on the other hand truly beautiful and yet amazingly vibrant with multicultural atmosphere. Visited 2 weeks ago and still missing it's vibes. Ja'i adore Paris.

  44. promoting travel thru empty villages where people can move to in cheaper houses and farms use sites like air bnbs can solve problem . but seems most don't like to touch dirt these day cuz its dirty ?

  48. Damn!

    Im my city, here in Kolkata, I live in 950 sq.ft apartment towards the suburban rgion.

    I pay 9000 INR in rent.

    That would be 87.5 EUR !!

  49. Why would anyone invest their hard earned money into a French based company? There are more business friendly countries where you can get a much better return on your investment.

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