France
Lyon makes sense if
- You want the broader career options in this comparison.
Lyon vs Strasbourg
Lyon is a serious food city with walkable streets and a strong local career base. Strasbourg is smaller and calm, with a walkable core and an easier everyday rhythm, but a more modest job market and a long grey season.
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
Strasbourg 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 value stronger public spaces and everyday city life.
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
- 1Strasbourg67
Leads on city life, safety & health and moving & settling in; stands out for digital government and vegetarian & vegan.
- 2Lyon66
Leads on nature & outdoors; stands out for hiking and mountains.
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
Strasbourg70Lyon69
One-bedroom rent
Per month, new lease, citywide
€118/mo€2,140/mo
- €670/mo
- €575/mo
Rent as share of local pay
One-bedroom rent vs. typical net local pay
21%120%
- ~24%
- ~24%
Everyday prices
Excluding rent · United States = 100
25131
- 85
- 85
Income tax + social contributions
Range: average-wage rate to top marginal rate; the dot marks its midpoint
0%46%
- 28–55%
- 28–55%
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
- 190 days, leads
- 167 days
Muggy days
Days that feel sticky (dew point)
0 days365 days
- 25 days
- 28 days
Air pollution
Annual mean fine particles (PM2.5)
4.6 µg/m³84 µg/m³
- 10.3 µg/m³
- 10 µg/m³
Nature & outdoors
How easily you get to water, mountains and green space.
Section score out of 100
Lyon69Strasbourg57
Beach & sea
110
- 1/10
- 2/10, leads
Mountains
110
- 8/10, leads
- 5/10
City parks
110
- 7/10
- 7/10
Weekend escapes
110
- 9/10, leads
- 8/10
City life
Getting around on foot, food, culture and the feel of the streets.
Section score out of 100
Strasbourg73Lyon68
Walkability
110
- 9/10
- 9/10
Public transport
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
Restaurants
110
- 9/10, leads
- 8/10
Public spaces
110
- 8/10
- 9/10, leads
Safety & health
Crime, how safe people feel, and the care you would get.
Section score out of 100
Strasbourg73Lyon68
Homicide rate
Per 100,000 residents per year
0.247
- 1.3
- 1.3
Feels safe day to day
110
- 6/10
- 8/10, leads
Healthcare quality
110
- 9/10
- 9/10
English-speaking care
110
- 5/10
- 6/10, leads
Work & family
Jobs, working culture, schools and raising kids.
Section score out of 100
Strasbourg66Lyon65
Job market
110
- 7/10, leads
- 6/10
Jobs in English
110
- 5/10
- 6/10, leads
Work–life balance
110
- 9/10
- 9/10
Schools
110
- 7/10
- 7/10
Moving & settling in
Visas, language, paperwork and staying connected.
Section score out of 100
Strasbourg61Lyon55
Visa & residence difficulty
Typical case; your passport changes this
110
- 5/10
- 5/10
Language barrier
For an English speaker
110
- 6/10
- 6/10
Openness to newcomers
110
- 5/10
- 6/10, leads
Flight connections
110
- 6/10, leads
- 5/10
Society & values
Where each city sits. There is no right end of these scales.
Social attitudes
ConservativeLiberal
- 7/10
- 8/10
LGBTQ+ acceptance
LowHigh
- 8/10
- 8/10
Diversity
HomogeneousDiverse
- 6/10
- 7/10
Religion in public life
ReligiousSecular
- 9/10
- 8/10
Life in each city
Daily life
Lyon
Lyon is compact and built for walking, with districts such as Vieux Lyon and the Presqu'île mixing homes, shops and cafes at street level. It carries the texture of a major city at a more human scale than Paris, though flats tend to be small and the overall pace is calmer than the capital.
Strasbourg
That scale keeps daily life manageable: the dense, mixed-use centre is very walkable and car dependence is low. Homes are not especially spacious, and the overall tempo is calm rather than metropolitan.
Safety
Lyon
Broadly safe by big-city standards, with low serious violence and reassuring road safety. Pickpocketing and the usual urban petty crime exist around busy quarters and transit, and perceptions of night-time safety land middling rather than excellent.
Strasbourg
A reassuringly safe place to live. Serious violent crime is rare, traffic is well managed, and the city feels secure day and night for most residents.
Work and healthcare
Lyon
Lyon has a substantial local job market with good industry fit and professional networks, particularly in established sectors. Care quality is high and out-of-pocket exposure stays low once a resident is inside the French system, with strong hospitals and dependable emergency cover.
Strasbourg
The career market is limited in depth. Backed by France's strong public system, so quality of care and protection from out-of-pocket costs are both excellent.
Culture and public life
Lyon
Nightlife and the music scene are good without rivalling Paris or Berlin, and English-only options thin out fast outside the centre. Lyon keeps its centre tidy, though grime creeps into the older corners.
Strasbourg
The Alsatian table is one of France's most distinctive, a French and German blend you find nowhere else, and the restaurant and café culture is excellent. Strasbourg is clean and orderly, its French-German fabric carefully kept.
Summary
Lyon is the more practical option if career growth and food culture are priorities. Strasbourg offers a calmer, easy-to-navigate daily life, particularly for someone with work arranged before moving.
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.