01
Cost of living
$766/mo
GR · THESSALONIKILocal facts
Living in Thessaloniki.
Greece's second city and the hub of the north — a lively, student-heavy port on the Thermaic Gulf, cheaper and more laid-back than Athens with a compact, walkable centre and a growing tech scene. Winters are cooler and more continental than the south. Greek runs daily life; English is common among younger people and in the universities and tech sector.
VerifiedUpdated
Population 319,045
· Europe/Athens· Greece rules apply
ELSTAT — 2021 Population-Housing Census, Municipality of Thessaloniki
Official source
- Data as of
- Oct 22, 2021
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Resident population of the Municipality of Thessaloniki (the central core) at the 2021 census. The Thessaloniki urban agglomeration (Kalamaria, Pavlos Melas, Neapoli-Sykies, etc.) is 802,392, and the wider metropolitan area approaches ~1 million.
GR · THESSALONIKI
01
At a glance
The headline numbers for Thessaloniki — each with its own source and freshness. A live official figure is not the same as a survey estimate or a 30-year climate normal.
8.7/10
02
Rent, 1–3 bed
$388–$1,008
/mo
03
Freelancer tax
30.9%
Safety
9.4/100.78/100k
Air quality
5.6/1016.1 µg/m³
Internet
3.4/1037 Mbps
English
7.0/10High
Private health
7.6/10$1,368/yr
What the tags meanofficial — live figure from a government or authorityopen data — open dataset (Eurostat, EEA, M-Lab, UdSC…)survey — survey or index estimatecurated — SettleMetric-assembled estimate — open the source for the method
02
What it costs you per month
A planning estimate: real asking rent plus a cost-of-living basket scaled to your household. Not a quote.
Household
Lifestyle
Location
Estimated total
$1,153/mo
≈ $13,836 / year
Where it goes
- Rent (1-bed)$388
- Food & non-alcoholic beverages$164
- Transport$104
- Restaurants, cafes & hotels$90
- Utilities, energy, water & home upkeep (excl. rent)$84
- Miscellaneous goods & services$67
- Health (out-of-pocket)$61
- Clothing & footwear$37
- Household durables & equipment$35
- Recreation & culture$35
- Communications$34
- Education$27
- Alcohol & tobacco$27
- Living costs$765
Rent from the asking-rent matrix below. Living costs scale a one-person basket ($765/mo) by household size and lifestyle; the equivalence factors are our assumption. Schooling and one-off setup are excluded.
03
Cost of living
What a single person spends each month — food, utilities, transport, eating out and the rest — excluding rent.
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023, Table 1 (COICOP shares)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023 Table 1 per-household monthly amounts, with €59.5 rent removed from the Housing line, each divided by household size 2.42 and converted at 1.1399. Items sum to ≈$766. Housing here is utilities/energy/water/maintenance only (rent excluded); Greek energy costs are relatively high, keeping that line large.
01Food & non-alcoholic beverages164 USD
02Transport104 USD
03Restaurants, cafes & hotels90 USD
04Utilities, energy, water & home upkeep (excl. rent)84 USD
05Miscellaneous goods & services67 USD
06Health (out-of-pocket)61 USD
07Clothing & footwear37 USD
08Household durables & equipment35 USD
09Recreation & culture35 USD
10Communications34 USD
11Education27 USD
12Alcohol & tobacco27 USD
Greece's household-budget basket for a single person, excluding rent. Non-rent costs vary little between cities — the city-specific part is rent, shown under Housing below.
01Cost of living (single, excl. rent)country-level766USD/month, single person, excluding rent8.7
What this measures
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
Lower is betterUSD/month, single person, excluding rentre-verified every 365 days
Curated by SettleMetric
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023: average annual expenditure per person = €8,358.24 = €696.52/month (monetary purchases, excludes imputed owner rent). Subtracted the actual-rent component (~€24.6/person) → €671.9/person excl. rent × 1.1399 = $766. Same low-reading per-capita HBS basis as peers.
- Notes
- Greek monetary household consumption is genuinely depressed (ELSTAT reports it ~20.5% below 2008), so the per-capita figure lands near Czechia despite Greece feeling pricier in tourist zones. Rent shown separately.
04
Housing
What it costs to rent, by apartment type and location.
Spitogatos Price Index — Thessaloniki asking rents (Q1 2026), municipality/center vs suburban €/m²
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Spitogatos asking €/m²/month × standardized sizes (studio 30, 1br 40, 2br 60, 3br 85 m²) × 1.1399. Center = Thessaloniki municipality/central (Kentro) ~€10.4/m²; outside = suburban (Kalamaria / western suburbs) ~€8.5/m² (derived ~18% below the municipality average). E.g. 1br center = 10.4×40×1.1399 = $474.
- Notes
- DERIVED (€/m² × standardized size). The €10.4/m² center figure is the Thessaloniki-municipality average used as a central proxy (prime Kentro runs higher, ~€15/m²). Materially cheaper than Athens across all cells.
| Apartment | Central | Outside centre |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 356 USD/mo | 291 USD/mo |
| 1-bedroom | 474 USD/mo | 388 USD/mo |
| 2-bedroom | 711 USD/mo | 581 USD/mo |
| 3-bedroom | 1,008 USD/mo | 824 USD/mo |
05
Climate
Temperature and rainfall through the year, plus air quality.
Climates to Travel — Thessaloniki climate (1991–2020 normals, Thessaloniki airport/Mikra, WMO 16622)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- 1991–2020 monthly normals (mean daily min/max, mean monthly precipitation) from the Climates to Travel Greece page tables labelled 'Thessaloniki (1991-2020)', station Thessaloniki airport (Makedonia/Mikra, WMO 16622). Same permitted 1991–2020 fallback as Athens (Greece is absent from the NOAA/WMO CSV set; official HNMS normals use 1959–1997). Annual precipitation ≈ 405 mm.
- Notes
- Aggregator-sourced (display-only), not a primary HNMS file. More continental than Athens: colder winters (Jan max 9.6°C, occasional frost) and a spring/autumn precipitation maximum, but still hot-summer (Jul/Aug max 32.3°C).
Average day/night temperature (lines, left axis) and total rainfall (bars, right axis) for each month — 1991–2020 normals. Hover a month for exact figures.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daytime high °C | 9.6° | 11.4° | 14.9° | 19.4° | 25.0° | 30.0° | 32.3° | 32.3° | 27.3° | 21.6° | 15.8° | 11.0° |
| Nighttime low °C | 1.4° | 2.6° | 5.0° | 8.4° | 13.4° | 18.2° | 20.5° | 20.6° | 16.4° | 12.1° | 7.5° | 3.1° |
| Rainfall mm | 40 | 30 | 25 | 40 | 50 | 20 | 25 | 15 | 25 | 35 | 45 | 50 |
01Climate comfort5pleasant months/year5.0
What this measures
Number of months whose 1991–2020 climate normals satisfy: mean daily maximum between 15°C and 28°C and monthly precipitation under 150mm. Computed from the city's climate-normals indicator; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
Higher is betterpleasant months/yearre-verified every 3650 days
Curated by SettleMetric
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Climates to Travel 1991–2020, Thessaloniki airport)
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C AND precipitation < 150mm: Apr (19.4), May (25.0), Sep (27.3), Oct (21.6), Nov (15.8) = 5. Excluded: Jan/Feb/Dec and Mar (14.9°C, just below 15) for cold; Jun–Aug (30.0–32.3°C) for heat. All months satisfy the precip test (max 50 mm). Thessaloniki's colder winters knock out March, while its milder September qualifies.
02Air quality (PM2.5)16.1µg/m³, annual mean PM2.55.6
What this measures
Annual mean fine-particulate (PM2.5) concentration for the city, latest available year. Anchors follow the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³ → 10) through the EU limit value territory (25 µg/m³ → 2). Preferred source: European Environment Agency city-level air quality data; outside Europe: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database or the national monitoring network.
Lower is betterµg/m³, annual mean PM2.5re-verified every 730 days
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Thessaloniki/GRC, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 16.11 µg/m³ at 96% temporal coverage over 6 stations (four urban traffic, one urban background and one urban industrial), reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 315,196. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. The database also holds a later row for this city — 2025 reads 15.82 µg/m³ but at 81% coverage, below the EU's 90% data-quality objective — so it is reported in notes rather than used. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 0.9 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- Four of the six stations are urban traffic, which biases the mean upward relative to where people live — the comparable cities in this dataset are mostly background-weighted, so Thessaloniki is flattered by nothing here. The direction of travel is clear and steady: 20.43 µg/m³ in 2021 down to 16.11 in 2024. Preceding years in the same series: 2020 19.05 (96%), 2021 20.43 (88%), 2022 18.71 (94%), 2023 17.77 (93%).
06
Safety
How safe daily life is, from official crime statistics.
01Homicide ratecountry-level0.8intentional homicides per 100,000/year9.4
What this measures
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
Lower is betterintentional homicides per 100,000/yearre-verified every 730 days
Open data
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (0.78). Very low by global standards (world average ~5.8) and down over the series (1.29 in 2008 to 0.68–0.88 recently). One of the safer countries in the set.
Eurostat — police-recorded offences by category (crim_off_cat, ICCS, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded offences per 100,000 inhabitants, 2024 (ICCS: theft 0502, drug 0601, burglary 0501, robbery 0401, serious assault 020111, sexual violence 0301). Greece's recorded violent-crime levels are among the EU's lowest; theft dominates. Recording practices differ between countries — read as context, not a league table. Homicide (0.78, same series) is the scored safety headline.
01Theft607per 100k
02Drug offences146per 100k
03Burglary121per 100k
04Robbery27.9per 100k
05Serious assault16.7per 100k
06Sexual violence12.1per 100k
Police-recorded offences per 100,000 inhabitants, 2024 (ICCS: theft 0502, drug 0601, burglary 0501, robbery 0401, serious assault 020111, sexual violence 0301). Greece's recorded violent-crime levels are among the EU's lowest; theft dominates. Recording practices differ between countries — read as context, not a league table. Homicide (0.78, same series) is the scored safety headline.
OSCE ODIHR Hate Crime Reporting — Greece (official police-recorded)
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- OSCE ODIHR 2024: 157 hate crimes recorded by police (111 prosecuted, 23 sentenced); the largest bias category is racist/xenophobic at 75. Caveats: the 157 total includes verbal-insult offences that may fall outside the OSCE definition, and a case can carry multiple biases, so categories do not sum to the total. Recorded-crime counts are not comparable across countries.
157
recorded by police
75
racist / xenophobic
OSCE ODIHR 2024: 157 hate crimes recorded by police (111 prosecuted, 23 sentenced); the largest bias category is racist/xenophobic at 75. Caveats: the 157 total includes verbal-insult offences that may fall outside the OSCE definition, and a case can carry multiple biases, so categories do not sum to the total. Recorded-crime counts are not comparable across countries.
07
Infrastructure
Internet speed and how parcels get to your door.
01Domestic delivery qualitycountry-levelGood7.0
What this measures
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
Rated by category—re-verified every 730 days
Curated by SettleMetric
Greek carrier networks (ELTA, ACS, BoxNow) — composite
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Dense mainland-city coverage: national couriers (ELTA post, ACS, Geniki Taxydromiki, Speedex) plus one of SE Europe's largest parcel-locker networks (BoxNow) and Skroutz Last Mile; cash-on-delivery ('αντικαταβολή') is mainstream. Athens/Thessaloniki are excellent, but ELTA's financial troubles and ferry-dependent island last-mile keep the national rating at 'good' rather than 'excellent'.
02International delivery easecountry-levelSeamless10.0
What this measures
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
Rated by category—re-verified every 365 days
Curated by SettleMetric
EU single market / customs union membership (Greece) + integrator coverage
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Qualitative rating from EU membership: as an EU/Schengen customs-union member, intra-EU parcels move without customs or border VAT, so the bulk of European e-commerce is frictionless, and all major integrators (DHL, FedEx, UPS, ACS/Aramex) operate → 'seamless'. Minor caveats (not enough to downgrade): Greece is geographically peripheral (a day or two longer than core-EU hubs), non-EU imports clear customs normally, and island delivery adds domestic delay.
- Notes
- Intra-EU frictionless; the geographic periphery and islands add some transit time but not customs friction.
03Internet speedcountry-level37.3Mbps, median fixed download3.4
What this measures
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
Higher is betterMbps, median fixed downloadre-verified every 365 days
Open data
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Greece
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for GR in 2023 = 37.3 Mbps (268,076 download tests; daily medians ranged 21.3–47.3). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads below Ookla-style tests — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Greece's fixed broadband is improving as fibre rolls out; the single-stream M-Lab median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
08
Healthcare
What comprehensive private medical cover costs.
01Private healthcare costcountry-level1,368USD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-old7.6
What this measures
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
Lower is betterUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldre-verified every 365 days
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of local comprehensive (inpatient + outpatient) annual premiums for a healthy 35-year-old, €600–1,800 from major Greek insurers (mid-range €100–180/month) → ~€1,200/yr × 1.1399 = $1,368.
- Notes
- Public cover exists via EOPYY (funded through EFKA contributions), but waiting lists and gaps drive a large private market. Local plans run cheaper than international/expat plans ($2,000–4,000+/yr). Greek insurers raised premiums ~14% in 2025 — a rising curated midpoint, not a firm quote.
09
Money & crypto
Crypto rules and how freely personal money moves.
01Crypto regulationcountry-levelLegal regulated8.0
What this measures
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
Rated by category—re-verified every 180 days
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 10, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- EU MiCA applies and was transposed by Law 5193/2025 (10 April 2025), with CASP licensing and EU passporting, supervised by HCMC and the Bank of Greece. Individual crypto capital gains are taxed at a flat 15% (from 1 Jan 2025), with a €500 annual tax-free threshold and 5-year loss carry-forward. Fully legal and now clearly regulated/taxed rather than a grey area.
02Financial control levelcountry-levelModerate7.0
What this measures
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
Rated by category—re-verified every 365 days
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Composite: EUR (eurozone), full EU free movement of capital; the 2015 crisis-era capital controls were fully lifted on 1 September 2019, so funds move abroad without restriction. Offsetting this: Greece has the STRICTEST cash-payment cap in the EU (€500 for consumer transactions; breaches fined at double the amount) plus routine AML/CASP reporting. The open capital account alone reads 'low', but the €500 everyday-cash restriction pulls the composite up to 'moderate'.
- Notes
- A 2025–26 proposal to cut the cap to €200 was withdrawn; the €500 limit remains.
10
Language
How far English gets you in daily life and services.
01English proficiencycountry-levelHigh7.0
What this measures
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
Rated by category—re-verified every 730 days
Research
EF EPI 2025 — Greece (score 592, rank 20/123, High band)
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Greece scores 592, rank 20/123 — top of the 'High' band, just below the 'Very High' threshold (~600); global average 488. English is widely functional in tourism, services and among younger Greeks, though the score slipped 10 points from the prior edition.
11
Education
International schooling options for families.
01International schools2accredited international schools, count4.0
What this measures
Count of international schools in the metro area accredited by or member of IB, CIS, COBIS, or an equivalent national-curriculum-abroad body (verified against the accreditor's public registry, not aggregator sites).
Higher is betteraccredited international schools, countre-verified every 730 days
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: (1) Pinewood — The International School of Thessaloniki (IB World School, PYP/MYP/DP; also Middle States Association-accredited, US State Dept-recognized); (2) Anatolia College (IB DP-authorized since 1997). Pinewood and Anatolia jointly deliver one IBDP but are two distinct IB-authorized institutions = 2.
- Notes
- Verified FLOOR (±1). Greece has 22 IB World Schools nationally, ~14 in Athens. Additional IB or other-accreditor schools may exist in the wider Thessaloniki area; 2 is a conservative floor.
12
Demographics
Who else lives here — the share of foreign residents and the largest national communities, from official statistics.
Openness to foreignerscountry-levelReservedGallup MAI 3.34/9 · 2016
What this measures
How accepting the resident population is of migrants and foreigners — the inverse of xenophobia, a real concern for someone relocating. Our own five-band reading (very-open / open / moderate / reserved / low) informed primarily by the Gallup Migrant Acceptance Index (0–9 scale: three questions on migrants living in the country, becoming neighbours, and marrying into the family; 2019 wave), cross-checked where available with the World Values Survey wave 7 / European Values Study 2017 question on whether people would not want immigrants or foreign workers as neighbours (a higher share = more hostile). Banding guide against the Gallup 0–9 score: ≥7.0 very-open, 5.5–7.0 open, 4.0–5.5 moderate, 2.5–4.0 reserved, below 2.5 low (the 2019 global average of 5.21 sits in 'moderate'). Country level only: no credible city-level survey of attitudes to foreigners exists, so on city pages the country reading is shown as country context. Gallup is a research source cited with attribution, not republished in bulk; the raw index score/year and any cross-check figure are carried inside each value. Value shape: { band, gallupMai?, gallupYear?, unwantedNeighborPct?, unwantedNeighborSource? }. Display-only: attitudinal, survey-based and ~2019 vintage, so it is shown as honest context and never folded into the composite score.
Reference data—re-verified every 1825 days
Research
- Data as of
- Aug 23, 2017
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Gallup MAI 3.34/9 (2016/2017 wave) — below the global average; Greece was a frontline arrival country during the 2015–16 refugee crisis. No exact 2019 per-country figure was published. Band: reserved.
Eurostat — population on 1 January by citizenship (migr_pop1ctz, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Foreign + stateless = 737,061 of a 10,372,335 population (1 Jan 2025) = 7.1% (EU 114,128 + non-EU 622,933). Consistent with the 2021 census (7.27%). The foreign-national total has been declining slowly.
Largest communities of foreign residents761,855 total
ELSTAT — 2021 Population-Housing Census, resident population by citizenship
Open data
- Data as of
- Oct 22, 2021
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- 2021 census counts by citizenship (total 761,855 foreign nationals). Albania is by far the largest at ~49%. Shares = count / 761,855. Basis is the 2021 census (the only source with a current per-nationality split; Eurostat's per-country citizenship for Greece stops at 2001). The headline foreign-population-share uses the newer Eurostat 2025 figure (7.1%), hence the small date/basis difference. Next ranks include Bangladesh, Russia, India and Cyprus.
01Albania49.2%374,926
02Bulgaria4.7%35,444
03Pakistan4.6%35,309
04Romania3.7%28,250
05Georgia3.4%26,083
06Ukraine2.2%16,408
2021 census counts by citizenship (total 761,855 foreign nationals). Albania is by far the largest at ~49%. Shares = count / 761,855. Basis is the 2021 census (the only source with a current per-nationality split; Eurostat's per-country citizenship for Greece stops at 2001). The headline foreign-population-share uses the newer Eurostat 2025 figure (7.1%), hence the small date/basis difference. Next ranks include Bangladesh, Russia, India and Cyprus.
13
How you can stay
How you can legally enter and stay. These apply across Greece.
All requirements & citizenship filter- 01EU/EEA/Swiss citizens — freedom of movement (registration certificate)Special programEU citizensEU/EEA and Swiss nationals may live and work in Greece with no visa or permit5 yrs +→ PR path
- 02Digital nomad visa / residence permitDigital nomad visaAll except EU citizensincome ≥ 3,500 EUR/monthNon-EU remote workers (employees, freelancers or company owners) working for employers/clients OUTSIDE Greece1 yr +→ PR path
- 03Financially Independent Person (FIP) residence permit — no workTemporary residenceAll except EU citizensincome ≥ 2,000 EUR/monthNon-EU nationals with sufficient stable passive income (pension, rents, dividends, savings) who will NOT work in Greece2 yrs +→ PR path
- 04Visa-free short stay (Schengen 90/180)Visa-free stayUS citizens, UK citizens, Ukrainian citizensValid (for Ukraine, biometric) passport of a Schengen visa-exempt country3 mo
- 05Temporary protection for displaced UkrainiansSpecial programUkrainian citizensDisplaced persons from Ukraine covered by the EU Temporary Protection Directive1 yr +
14
What you'd pay in taxes
The tax schemes a freelancer can choose from. Rules are national, the same in Thessaloniki as anywhere in Greece.
Full schemes & calculator- 01New tax resident — 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C) + EFKAfixed 250.53 per month (deductible from profit) + 50% of profit (deductible from profit)13.5%burden at €60k
- 02IKE (private company) — 22% corporate tax + 5% dividend22% of profit (deductible from profit) + 5% of profit25.9%burden at €60k
- 03Freelancer (ελεύθερος επαγγελματίας) — progressive income tax + EFKA classfixed 250.53 per month (deductible from profit) + progressive on profit: 9% up to 10,000, 20% up to 20,000, 26% up to 30,000, 34% up to 40,000, 39% up to 60,000, 44% above30.9%burden at €60k
See what you would keep
Your income against Greece's real tax schemes — the same engine as the full calculator.
- 1 New tax resident — 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C) + EFKA51,884 EURnet/year13.5% burden
- 2 IKE (private company) — 22% corporate tax + 5% dividend44,460 EURnet/year25.9% burden
- 3 Freelancer (ελεύθερος επαγγελματίας) — progressive income tax + EFKA class41,466 EURnet/year30.9% burden
15
Who is Thessaloniki for?
The same place reads differently depending on why you move. Each lens pulls the facts that matter most for that plan — with sources, and the trade-offs stated plainly.
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
Works in your favour
English proficiencyHigh
EF EPI 2025 — Greece (score 592, rank 20/123, High band)
Research
- Data as of
- Nov 1, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Own band informed by EF EPI 2025 (attribution: EF Education First): Greece scores 592, rank 20/123 — top of the 'High' band, just below the 'Very High' threshold (~600); global average 488. English is widely functional in tourism, services and among younger Greeks, though the score slipped 10 points from the prior edition.
Cost of living (single, excl. rent)$766/mo
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023: average annual expenditure per person = €8,358.24 = €696.52/month (monetary purchases, excludes imputed owner rent). Subtracted the actual-rent component (~€24.6/person) → €671.9/person excl. rent × 1.1399 = $766. Same low-reading per-capita HBS basis as peers.
- Notes
- Greek monetary household consumption is genuinely depressed (ELSTAT reports it ~20.5% below 2008), so the per-capita figure lands near Czechia despite Greece feeling pricier in tourist zones. Rent shown separately.
Domestic delivery qualityGood
Greek carrier networks (ELTA, ACS, BoxNow) — composite
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Dense mainland-city coverage: national couriers (ELTA post, ACS, Geniki Taxydromiki, Speedex) plus one of SE Europe's largest parcel-locker networks (BoxNow) and Skroutz Last Mile; cash-on-delivery ('αντικαταβολή') is mainstream. Athens/Thessaloniki are excellent, but ELTA's financial troubles and ferry-dependent island last-mile keep the national rating at 'good' rather than 'excellent'.
Watch-outs
Freelancer tax burden30.9%
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Law 5246/2025 income-tax scale + e-EFKA Class 1)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Standard freelancer scheme at €60,000, single (scheme gr-freelancer-standard): EFKA Class 1 = 3,006/yr (deductible); income tax on 56,994 via the 2026 scale (9/20/26/34/39%) = 15,528. Levies 18,534 → 30.9%. NOTE: a relocating new tax resident gets the 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C, scheme gr-freelancer-newresident-50) for 7 years, cutting this to ≈13.5% — but the 30.9% standard figure is the unconditional, steady-state burden shown as the headline.
Internet speed37 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for Greece
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 343 daily country-median download values for GR in 2023 = 37.3 Mbps (268,076 download tests; daily medians ranged 21.3–47.3). M-Lab NDT is single-stream and reads below Ookla-style tests — comparable only within this criterion. 2023 is the latest full year in M-Lab's public stats API.
- Notes
- Greece's fixed broadband is improving as fibre rolls out; the single-stream M-Lab median is used only for cross-country comparability on one consistent method.
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
Works in your favour
Homicide rate0.78/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (0.78). Very low by global standards (world average ~5.8) and down over the series (1.29 in 2008 to 0.68–0.88 recently). One of the safer countries in the set.
Private healthcare cost$1,368/yr
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Midpoint of local comprehensive (inpatient + outpatient) annual premiums for a healthy 35-year-old, €600–1,800 from major Greek insurers (mid-range €100–180/month) → ~€1,200/yr × 1.1399 = $1,368.
- Notes
- Public cover exists via EOPYY (funded through EFKA contributions), but waiting lists and gaps drive a large private market. Local plans run cheaper than international/expat plans ($2,000–4,000+/yr). Greek insurers raised premiums ~14% in 2025 — a rising curated midpoint, not a firm quote.
Watch-outs
International schools2
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jul 15, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Accreditor-verified: (1) Pinewood — The International School of Thessaloniki (IB World School, PYP/MYP/DP; also Middle States Association-accredited, US State Dept-recognized); (2) Anatolia College (IB DP-authorized since 1997). Pinewood and Anatolia jointly deliver one IBDP but are two distinct IB-authorized institutions = 2.
- Notes
- Verified FLOOR (±1). Greece has 22 IB World Schools nationally, ~14 in Athens. Additional IB or other-accreditor schools may exist in the wider Thessaloniki area; 2 is a conservative floor.
Air quality (PM2.5)16.1 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Thessaloniki/GRC, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 16.11 µg/m³ at 96% temporal coverage over 6 stations (four urban traffic, one urban background and one urban industrial), reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 315,196. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. The database also holds a later row for this city — 2025 reads 15.82 µg/m³ but at 81% coverage, below the EU's 90% data-quality objective — so it is reported in notes rather than used. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 0.9 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- Four of the six stations are urban traffic, which biases the mean upward relative to where people live — the comparable cities in this dataset are mostly background-weighted, so Thessaloniki is flattered by nothing here. The direction of travel is clear and steady: 20.43 µg/m³ in 2021 down to 16.11 in 2024. Preceding years in the same series: 2020 19.05 (96%), 2021 20.43 (88%), 2022 18.71 (94%), 2023 17.77 (93%).
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
Works in your favour
Crypto regulationLegal regulated
Official source
- Data as of
- Apr 10, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- EU MiCA applies and was transposed by Law 5193/2025 (10 April 2025), with CASP licensing and EU passporting, supervised by HCMC and the Bank of Greece. Individual crypto capital gains are taxed at a flat 15% (from 1 Jan 2025), with a €500 annual tax-free threshold and 5-year loss carry-forward. Fully legal and now clearly regulated/taxed rather than a grey area.
Financial control levelModerate
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Composite: EUR (eurozone), full EU free movement of capital; the 2015 crisis-era capital controls were fully lifted on 1 September 2019, so funds move abroad without restriction. Offsetting this: Greece has the STRICTEST cash-payment cap in the EU (€500 for consumer transactions; breaches fined at double the amount) plus routine AML/CASP reporting. The open capital account alone reads 'low', but the €500 everyday-cash restriction pulls the composite up to 'moderate'.
- Notes
- A 2025–26 proposal to cut the cap to €200 was withdrawn; the €500 limit remains.
Watch-outs
Freelancer tax burden30.9%
SettleMetric tax engine over official 2026 rules (Law 5246/2025 income-tax scale + e-EFKA Class 1)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Jan 1, 2026
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Standard freelancer scheme at €60,000, single (scheme gr-freelancer-standard): EFKA Class 1 = 3,006/yr (deductible); income tax on 56,994 via the 2026 scale (9/20/26/34/39%) = 15,528. Levies 18,534 → 30.9%. NOTE: a relocating new tax resident gets the 50% income-tax exemption (Article 5C, scheme gr-freelancer-newresident-50) for 7 years, cutting this to ≈13.5% — but the 30.9% standard figure is the unconditional, steady-state burden shown as the headline.
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Works in your favour
Homicide rate0.78/100k
Eurostat — police-recorded intentional homicide (crim_off_cat, ICCS0101, unit P_HTHAB, geo=EL)
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Notes
- Police-recorded intentional homicide, 2024 (0.78). Very low by global standards (world average ~5.8) and down over the series (1.29 in 2008 to 0.68–0.88 recently). One of the safer countries in the set.
Cost of living (single, excl. rent)$766/mo
ELSTAT — Household Budget Survey 2023
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- ELSTAT HBS 2023: average annual expenditure per person = €8,358.24 = €696.52/month (monetary purchases, excludes imputed owner rent). Subtracted the actual-rent component (~€24.6/person) → €671.9/person excl. rent × 1.1399 = $766. Same low-reading per-capita HBS basis as peers.
- Notes
- Greek monetary household consumption is genuinely depressed (ELSTAT reports it ~20.5% below 2008), so the per-capita figure lands near Czechia despite Greece feeling pricier in tourist zones. Rent shown separately.
Watch-outs
Air quality (PM2.5)16.1 µg/m³
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Aug 28, 2026
- Method
- Row Thessaloniki/GRC, year 2024, of the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), read from the published spreadsheet on 2026-08-28: pm25_concentration = 16.11 µg/m³ at 96% temporal coverage over 6 stations (four urban traffic, one urban background and one urban industrial), reference "European Environmental Agency", WHO footprint population 315,196. Reference year 2024 — the latest year this database carries a full-year PM2.5 figure for this city, and the year already used by the other European cities in this dataset. The database also holds a later row for this city — 2025 reads 15.82 µg/m³ but at 81% coverage, below the EU's 90% data-quality objective — so it is reported in notes rather than used. Identity checked against the row's own station centroid, which lies 0.9 km from this city's recorded coordinates — the file contains near-miss names such as "Playa Del Ingles/ESP" and "Porto Empedocle/ITA", so the check is not a formality.
- Notes
- Four of the six stations are urban traffic, which biases the mean upward relative to where people live — the comparable cities in this dataset are mostly background-weighted, so Thessaloniki is flattered by nothing here. The direction of travel is clear and steady: 20.43 µg/m³ in 2021 down to 16.11 in 2024. Preceding years in the same series: 2020 19.05 (96%), 2021 20.43 (88%), 2022 18.71 (94%), 2023 17.77 (93%).
Climate comfort5/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Climates to Travel 1991–2020, Thessaloniki airport)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Jul 15, 2026
- Method
- Months with mean daily max 15–28°C AND precipitation < 150mm: Apr (19.4), May (25.0), Sep (27.3), Oct (21.6), Nov (15.8) = 5. Excluded: Jan/Feb/Dec and Mar (14.9°C, just below 15) for cold; Jun–Aug (30.0–32.3°C) for heat. All months satisfy the precip test (max 50 mm). Thessaloniki's colder winters knock out March, while its milder September qualifies.
16
Video reviews
Hand-picked YouTube tours and living-here guides — each one checked to still play.
Living like a local in Thessaloniki
The Globo Hobo · A day as a resident, not a tourist
17
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