Spain
Alicante makes sense if
- Access to stronger healthcare matters most to you.
Alicante vs Bilbao
Alicante puts Postiguet beach and the Explanada promenade beside everyday city life, with lower rents. Bilbao offers more manufacturing, energy and engineering work, a stronger food scene and public space along the Nervión. Its beaches lie beyond the centre, making the choice partly about a beachside routine versus a more substantial industrial job market.
The grey shape is all 283 cities; each row says whether lower or higher is better. Ratings out of 10 are our reviewed estimates; the rest is published data. How we measure
The choice in one minute
Bilbao makes sense if
- You want the easier housing and budget equation in this comparison.
- A calmer day-to-day safety profile matters most to you.
- You want the broader career options in this comparison.
What matters to you
Set how much each area counts. The ranking updates as you go. Climate and values are left out because there is no better or worse there, only your taste.
Money
Nature & outdoors
City life
Safety & health
Work & family
Moving & settling in
- 1Bilbao69
Leads on nature & outdoors, city life and work & family; stands out for forests and job market.
- 2Alicante66
Leads on moving & settling in; stands out for bright days and winter comfort.
Scores out of 100, averaged from the areas you weighted. For a ranking built around your own situation, take the quiz.
Side by side
Money
Rent on a new lease, everyday prices and tax.
Section score out of 100
Bilbao72Alicante71
One-bedroom rent
Per month, new lease, citywide
€118/mo€2,140/mo
- €635/mo
- €723/mo
Rent as share of local pay
One-bedroom rent vs. typical net local pay
21%120%
- ~35%
- ~29%, leads
Everyday prices
Excluding rent · United States = 100
25131
- 75
- 75
Income tax + social contributions
Range: average-wage rate to top marginal rate; the dot marks its midpoint
0%46%
- 24–49%
- 24–49%
Climate
The year month by month. Whether it suits you is yours to judge.
Solid line: average daytime high. Dashed: night-time low. Point at the chart for any month; point at a city name to shade its range.
Bright days
Under 80% cloud and under 1 mm rain
30 days347 days
- 297 days, leads
- 154 days
Muggy days
Days that feel sticky (dew point)
0 days365 days
- 134 days
- 54 days, leads
Air pollution
Annual mean fine particles (PM2.5)
4.6 µg/m³84 µg/m³
- 10.7 µg/m³
- 9.1 µg/m³
Nature & outdoors
How easily you get to water, mountains and green space.
Section score out of 100
Bilbao68Alicante57
Beach & sea
110
- 9/10, leads
- 7/10
Mountains
110
- 5/10
- 7/10, leads
City parks
110
- 6/10
- 7/10, leads
Weekend escapes
110
- 8/10
- 9/10, leads
City life
Getting around on foot, food, culture and the feel of the streets.
Section score out of 100
Bilbao80Alicante70
Walkability
110
- 7/10
- 8/10, leads
Public transport
110
- 6/10
- 7/10, leads
Restaurants
110
- 7/10
- 9/10, leads
Public spaces
110
- 9/10
- 9/10
Safety & health
Crime, how safe people feel, and the care you would get.
Section score out of 100
Bilbao73Alicante72
Homicide rate
Per 100,000 residents per year
0.247
- 0.7
- 0.7
Feels safe day to day
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
Healthcare quality
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
English-speaking care
110
- 8/10, leads
- 7/10
Work & family
Jobs, working culture, schools and raising kids.
Section score out of 100
Bilbao65Alicante59
Job market
110
- 4/10
- 6/10, leads
Jobs in English
110
- 6/10
- 6/10
Work–life balance
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
Schools
110
- 7/10
- 7/10
Moving & settling in
Visas, language, paperwork and staying connected.
Section score out of 100
Alicante64Bilbao57
Visa & residence difficulty
Typical case; your passport changes this
110
- 4/10
- 4/10
Language barrier
For an English speaker
110
- 5/10
- 5/10
Openness to newcomers
110
- 8/10, leads
- 6/10
Flight connections
110
- 8/10, leads
- 7/10
Society & values
Where each city sits. There is no right end of these scales.
Social attitudes
ConservativeLiberal
- 8/10
- 9/10
LGBTQ+ acceptance
LowHigh
- 9/10
- 9/10
Diversity
HomogeneousDiverse
- 7/10
- 5/10
Religion in public life
ReligiousSecular
- 8/10
- 8/10
Life in each city
Daily life
Alicante
A compact, walkable city where most errands happen on foot and car-dependency stays low. It sprawls little and feels human-scaled rather than dense.
Bilbao
Compact, dense, and easy to cross on foot, Bilbao rewards living without a car. Neighbourhoods feel coherent and well kept, the riverfront regeneration gave the centre a confident shape, and daily errands stay close to home.
Safety
Alicante
Among the safer places to land. Violent crime is rare, the homicide rate is very low, and walking around after dark feels comfortable in most areas.
Bilbao
Violent crime is rare, streets feel calm after dark and road safety is solid. Theft is more common than the city's quiet reputation suggests, higher per resident than in Madrid, so ordinary care with bags and bikes is worth keeping.
Work and healthcare
Alicante
Alicante is better suited to remote work than to building a local career. Solid public healthcare backed by Spain's national system, with good hospital access and reliable emergency care.
Bilbao
Bilbao has credible local work options, but the market is not frictionless. Healthcare is reliable and well regarded, with good hospital access and dependable emergency care backed by Spain's public system.
Culture and public life
Alicante
Decent food and a likeable everyday culture, with good restaurants, plenty of cafés, and a lively enough night out, though all of it stays provincial next to Valencia or Madrid. Alicante keeps its seafront tidy and its old town well-swept, a notch cleaner than the bigger Spanish capitals.
Bilbao
Food is the headline. The Guggenheim's riverbank, the revived plazas and the walkable core make fine shared space.
Summary
Bilbao's industrial employers and Nervión riverfront offer a different working week from Alicante's tourism-led coast. Bilbao's rents are higher, but Basque pay is higher still, so a local salary carries its housing more easily, with Basque food and the Guggenheim adding reasons to stay. For an income that travels with you, Alicante puts city beaches and lower rents together.
Read on
Which of these fits you?
These numbers treat everyone the same. The quiz weighs them by your budget, climate taste, family and work, and ranks all 283 cities for you.