Is the cost of living high or low in France?

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patrice

For example: me.
I'm working in a ingenering office, i'm an drawing technician. I'm 36 years old. I earn average 2000â‚¬ per month (2900$US). I'm single man.
I've bought an house in 2005, the square meter of the house is 110m, this house costed me 105.000â‚¬ (150.000$us). the loan for this house costs me about 600â‚¬ (875$) each month during 24 years.
in france, I'm living in a midly large city (400.000 inhabitants).
I'm paying taxes for the fonctionning of the city and the district which are represents 900â‚¬ (1300$) each year. I'm also paying salary taxes which are represents 1900â‚¬ (2800$) by year.
the insurances for my house and may car cost me each year about 800â‚¬ (1160$)
the health insurance complement costs 42â‚¬ each month (61$)
I pay electricity about 80â‚¬ each month (44$)
I pay phone call about 30â‚¬ each month (36$)
I've bought in 2004 a second hand car 8300â‚¬ (12000$).
for example: A menu in a Mc Donald costs 6.5â‚¬ (9.5$). A menu in a midly good restaurant costs about 20â‚¬ (29$).
a litter bottle of milk costs 0.80â‚¬ (1.15$)
A good pair of pants costs 50â‚¬ ( 73$)
a good pair of shoes: 70â‚¬ (100$)

Matt Q

i lived in nice, marseille and bordeaux. they are midly large cities
the cost of living was affordable
but it depends if you live inner city or suburbia
suburbia's pretty cheap
inner city its sorta expensive but its worth it

mmspitfire79

HIGH. Compared to the U.S. the cost of living in France is very high; however, if you are living over there you are getting paid comparatively so then it is not that bad. Also, France has many social programs which aid in expenses (Health Insurance, Education, etc.)

Rillifane

Cost of living questions are always difficult because there is a real danger of doing apples to oranges type comparisons.

Health care in France is cheap compared to the USA even before you take into account the system of health insurance.

Housing is more expensive and very much more so when you realize that French homes are very much smaller than American ones and have far fewer amenities.

Food in France is slightly more expensive than in the USA but the quality tends to be so much better that, measured in terms of value for money, its really less expensive.

Energy costs are much higher in France. Americans had fits when the price of gasoline rose to $4.00 a gallon but the French pay the equivalent of $7.00 a gallon. Electricity is also more expensive in France.

Clothing would be roughly the same cost except for the enormous VAT tax which, at 19% is much higher than sales taxes in most of the USA.

The cost of going out for evenings entertainment can be very high in France. A single mixed drink can cost the equivalent of $12-15 and a bottle of beer can cost $7-8.

Also, despite what a previous answerer suggested, French salaries are actually lower than American salaries both before taxes and especially after taxes (the French are some of the most highly taxed people in Europe.)

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