Düsseldorf is the biggest international village you can live in. The city itself has, even though it is the state capital, only 640.000 citizens. It’s neighbor Cologne has over a million.
However, it has an international airport with direct flights to LA, Chicago, Boston, Moscow, Abu Dabi, etc. It has one of the biggest Japanese enclaves outside Japan, international schools, English as an official language in the administration… So if you are from abroad, chances are high that you will find it easier to live in Düsseldorf than other German cities as the population is very diverse and you get along easy with English.
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Shopping and eating is awesome because of the international influx. It will be very difficult to find better sushi in Germany or shopping strip than the “Kö”. You can live in the vibrant center, the Altstadt or in one of the quieter suburbs like Benrath with a castle and park.
The most expensive thing about Düsseldorf is the rents. Once you have that accounted for most other things are
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If you can spend only HALF of your salary for rental, and save other HALF for transportation, groceries, recreation, apparel and utilities then it’s likely you can live comfortably.
Cost of living in Düsseldorf, Germany
| Restaurants | |
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 10.00 € |
| Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course | 50.00 € |
| McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) | 7.00 € |
| Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught) | 3.00 € |
| Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) | 3.00 € |
| Cappuccino (regular) | 2.72 € |
| Coke/Pepsi (0.33 liter bottle) | 1.99 € |
| Water (0.33 liter bottle) | 1.55 € |
| Market | |
| Basic lunchtime menu (including a drink) in the business district | €13 |
| 1 liter (1 qt.) of whole fat milk | €0.93 |
| 12 eggs, large | €2.79 |
| 1 bottle of red table wine, good quality | €8 |
| 2 liters of Coca-Cola | €2.04 |
| Milk (regular), (1 liter) | 0.69 € |
| Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g) | 1.26 € |
| Rice (white), (1kg) | 2.17 € |
| Local Cheese (1kg) | 7.87 € |
| Chicken Breasts (Boneless, Skinless), (1kg) | 7.46 € |
| Beef Round (1kg) (or Equivalent Back Leg Red Meat) | 11.36 € |
| Apples (1kg) | 2.21 € |
| Banana (1kg) | 1.53 € |
| Oranges (1kg) | 2.34 € |
| Tomato (1kg) | 2.56 € |
| Potato (1kg) | 0.90 € |
| Onion (1kg) | 1.05 € |
| Lettuce (1 head) | 0.91 € |
| Water (1.5 liter bottle) | 0.32 € |
| Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range) | 4.99 € |
| Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro) | 6.40 € |
| Transportation | |
| One-way Ticket (Local Transport) | 2.80 € |
| Monthly Pass (Regular Price) | 75.00 € |
| Taxi Start (Normal Tariff) | 5.00 € |
| Taxi 1km (Normal Tariff) | 2.20 € |
| Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff) | 35.00 € |
| Gasoline (1 liter) | 1.36 € |
| Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) | 20,000.00 € |
| Toyota Corolla 1.6l 97kW Comfort (Or Equivalent New Car) | 20,260.00 € |
| Utilities (Monthly) | |
| Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 85m2 Apartment | 219.50 € |
| 1 min. of Prepaid Mobile Tariff Local (No Discounts or Plans) | 0.09 € |
| Internet (60 Mbps or More, Unlimited Data, Cable/ADSL) | 30.38 € |
| 40” flat screen TV | €391 |
| Microwave 800/900 Watt (Bosch, Panasonic, LG, Sharp, or equivalent brands) | €127 |
| Laundry detergent (3 l. ~ 100 oz.) | €6 |
| Hourly rate for cleaning help | €14 |
| Sports And Leisure | |
| Fitness Club, Monthly Fee for 1 Adult | 30.67 € |
| Tennis Court Rent (1 Hour on Weekend) | 20.83 € |
| Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat | 12.00 € |
| Childcare | |
| Preschool (or Kindergarten), Full Day, Private, Monthly for 1 Child | 393.75 € |
| International Primary School, Yearly for 1 Child | 18,500.00 € |
| Clothing And Shoes | |
| 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar) | 80.29 € |
| 1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, …) | 34.40 € |
| 1 Pair of Nike Running Shoes (Mid-Range) | 78.45 € |
| 1 Pair of Men Leather Business Shoes | 114.44 € |
| Rent Per Month | |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre | 705.56 € |
| Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre | 545.00 € |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre | 1,473.08 € |
| Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre | 1,070.00 € |
| Buy Apartment Price | |
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment in City Centre | 6,600.00 € |
| Price per Square Meter to Buy Apartment Outside of Centre | 3,900.00 € |
| Personal Care | |
| Cold medicine for 6 days (Tylenol, Frenadol, Coldrex, or equivalent brands) | €7 |
| 1 box of antibiotics (12 doses) | €10 |
| Short visit to private Doctor (15 minutes) | €63 |
| 1 box of 32 tampons (Tampax, OB, …) | €3.39 |
| Deodorant, roll-on (50ml ~ 1.5 oz.) | €2.39 |
| Hair shampoo 2-in-1 (400 ml ~ 12 oz.) | €2.37 |
| 4 rolls of toilet paper | €1.34 |
| Tube of toothpaste | €1.33 |
| Standard men’s haircut in expat area of the city | €22 |
| Entertainment | |
| Basic dinner out for two in neighborhood pub | €35 |
| 2 tickets to the movies | €23 |
| 2 tickets to the theater (best available seats) | €121 |
| Dinner for two at an Italian restaurant in the expat area including appetisers, main course, wine and dessert | €47 |
| 1 cocktail drink in downtown club | €10 |
| Cappuccino in expat area of the city | €2.71 |
| 1 beer in neighbourhood pub (500ml or 1pt.) | €3.49 |
| iPad Wi-Fi 128GB | €511 |
| 1 min. of prepaid mobile tariff (no discounts or plans) | €0.14 |
| 1 month of gym membership in business district | €40 |
| 1 package of Marlboro cigarettes | €5.59 |
| Salaries And Financing | |
| Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax) | 2,394.12 € |
| Mortgage Interest Rate in Percentages (%), Yearly, for 20 Years Fixed-Rate | 1.88 |
Summary about cost of living in Düsseldorf:
- Four-person family monthly costs: 206,154.61Rs (2,651.71€) without rent (using our estimator).
- A single person monthly costs: 59,898.19Rs (770.45€) without rent.
- Cost of living index in Düsseldorf is 143.40% higher than in Delhi.
Now that you know in detail what to expect when moving to Düsseldorf it is only simple maths to add up all expenses.
In our opinion you can live happily in Düsseldorf with a monthly budget of 770€.
If you want to enjoy some more Luxus you should be able to do so with a monthly budget of 2.500€.
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