Locals Talk About The Cost Of Living In Berlin In 2022 – It seems that just about everyone wants to move to Berlin these days. People come for all sorts of reasons, like working at a startup, experiencing the epic party scene, or joining the thriving creative community. Berlin’s especially welcoming to newcomers from any background, with demographics telling us that almost half a million non-Germans from approximately 180 countries live in the city.

The hype is real and the current population of 3.5 million people has grown by 0.31% annually since 2015. While immigration has obviously slowed down during the pandemic, Berlin continues to remain popular, and is one of Europe’s most affordable cities when compared to the likes of London or Paris.

Recommended reading: How Much Does It Cost To Move To Germany? Use Our Calculator!

Locals Talk About The Cost Of Living In Berlin In 2022

This report is a personal account of my cost of living in Berlin. By no means, am I attempting to depict my situation as typical. I’m simply hoping this glimpse into my expenses will help you figure out how much it might cost for you to live in Berlin as well. 

To put things into perspective before we get started:

• I’m unmarried and have no children (but I do embrace clichés and live with a very cute cat)
• I live on my own
• All expenses listed are assumed by me
• I’ve a full time job and receive additional income from this site and my travel blog

In November 2021, we informally surveyed about 60 Berliners about their costs of living. To make the data featured here more real, I’ve included the anecdotal results of the survey for each section as an additional reference point beyond my own.

We learned some interesting insights from the start:

Cost Of Living In Berlin: Fixed Monthly Expenses

1) Rent: €1000 per month (warm)

I recently moved to Mitte and now occupy a newly renovated, 70 square meter apartment in a sixth story Plattenbau. In addition to the central location, the apartment comes with hardwood floors, two bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, a laundry room, and bathroom with bathtub. While the second bedroom currently doubles as an office and guest room, there’s always an option to rent it out to a new roommate. This is my first unfurnished flat in Berlin and I’ve been having a lot of fun decorating.  

Some information we learned from our survey participants:

• The smallest flat size reported was 20 square meters and the largest flat size reported was a whopping 180 square meters! The average flat size was 69 square meters.
• Our results revealed that some lucky people were only paying €250 a month for cold rent while the richer among us were paying up to €2,200. On average, people were paying €664 per month for cold rent in different parts of the city.

For cold hard data, view the Miet-Map which shows the average cold rent for different areas across Berlin. 

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2) Health Insurance: €400 per month

Healthcare’s a significant expense for all of us, but well worth it considering it covers so many things like sick days, doctor’s visits, surgeries, basic dental, etc. The amount you contribute to healthcare depends on your income level – expect to pay out 14.6% to 15.6% of your gross monthly income whether you’re employed full time or a freelancer. For those employed full time, your employer will cover half  the costs, leaving you to pay about 7%. Worth noting – if you make more than €54,450 per year, the cost of health insurance is capped and stops rising. For full time employees, this works out to be about €400 per month and for freelancers, this works out to be €800 per month. 

I have public insurance with TK and pay around €400 per month. As I’m employed in a permanent position, my employer covers the other half.

Why have I listed healthcare as a cost of living? Although employees may not think twice about healthcare as an expense because it’s deducted from their monthly salary, we’ve explicitly included it here for people coming outside of the European Union. For example, if you’re Canadian like me, you won’t be used to seeing such a massive deduction from your monthly salary. I’m telling you in advance so you won’t be surprised when you get that first pay cheque. I also list it here so that freelancers are aware they have to pay out of pocket and assume the costs themselves.

3) Electricity: €49 per month

Energy prices are on the rise and as I’ve moved into a bigger place, Vattenfall is now charging me €49 per month.

Our lovely survey respondents reported paying anywhere from €15 per month, all the way to €150. I’m not sure whether or not the latter were trying to grow marijuana at home, but on average people were spending €50 a month for electricity. 

Note – Electricity prices in Germany are among the highest in the world and expected to increase significantly in 2022. Shop around for the best prices at CHECK24. Unfortunately, some electricity providers may decline your business if you’re new to the country and don’t have an established credit history – this happened to me when I first moved here. If all else fails, go with Vattenfall and switch providers at a later date.

4) Internet: €55 per month

As I work from home full-time and use streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime a lot, it’s important for me to have a fast and reliable Internet connection. I’ve been with PYUR for several years and am really happy with their services. The high-speed connection is fairly pricey at €55 a month, but is totally worth the cost.

62% of our survey respondents reported that they pay for Internet, while the remainder have it included in the cost of their rent. They also paid anywhere from €15 – €60 per month for Internet, which for some, also included cable TV or home phone (some people still have landlines!). On average, they were paying €30 per month. 

5) Mobile Phone Provider: €15 per month

I currently don’t have a contract with a mobile phone provider and have a sim card with Alditalk. For this, I pay €10 per month for 5 GB of data and another €5.00 for texts and calls.

Our survey respondents were divided evenly down the middle, with the half of the group having contracts with companies like Vodafone and other half paying as they go. People said they were paying anywhere from €10 – €65 per month which includes various things like data, texting, calls, and more. On average, people claimed they were paying €25 per month. 

6) Bank Account: €3 per month

I have a basic account with Sparkasse which costs me €3 per month. This has remain unchanged since I opened the account in November 2014.

61% of those who took part in our survey about the cost of living in Berlin stated they don’t pay any monthly fees to their bank. Others reported paying anywhere from €2 – 11 per month, with the average cost for a bank account per month costing €6 per month. 

7) Insurance: €27 per month

My insurance with Sparkasse includes home insurance, personal liability insurance, and life insurance. It’s €81 every three months or about €27 a month. My cost of insurance actually went up at the end of 2020 from €64, an increase of €17.

57% of our survey respondents indicated they have other forms of insurance, with the remaining choosing to risk an insurance free life. People are paying anywhere from €5 – €60 per month, with people paying €20 on average.

8) ARD: €17.50 per month

Even though I don’t have a television or radio, I still grin and bear it by paying the controversial “TV tax” which is not really a tax but a fee that everyone must pay to fund public broadcasting in Germany (i.e. including publications like Deutsche Welle). I pay €52.50 every three months, which works out to be €17.50 a month. This cost has remain unchanged since I moved into my flat in 2016.

Cost Of Living In Berlin: Variable Monthly Expenses

1) Groceries: €400 per month

Another cost of living in Berlin is food, glorious food. Although I order takeout once or twice a week to help support local businesses, I’m cooking more at home since the pandemic started. As a result, my monthly groceries cost went up since last year and I tend to spend about €400 per month.

I mainly shop at the Edeka next to my apartment building and place an online order for delivery with Rewe once per month. When I want to cook something special, I sometimes go to more upscale chains like Biocompany or Frischeparadies.

People’s spend on groceries varied, with many reporting they spend anywhere from €50 – €600 per month on food. On average, people were coming in at €200 per month. 

2) Eating Out: €150 per month

If you’re happy to eat a simple a Döner, you’ll only pay €3–4 at most spots around the city (even the trendy ones). If you want a basic meal out – pizza, pasta, a burger, ramen, or some form of Asian or Indian, most mains will be around €10. Dining at a more popular or upscale place will typically run you between €15-20 for a main. Berlin is filled with plenty of upscale eateries as well, with Restaurant Tim Raue being a prime example. 

You can buy basic beers from any Späti (convenience store) or supermarket for €1-3. Buying a typical German beer in a bar or club will start at around €3–4, with craft beers typically starting at €5. A bottle of wine at super markets will fetch you anywhere from €3–€12 while wine in upscale speciality shops will be more. In a bar, a glass of nicht so gut wine will start at €3, where a decent glass of wine will start around €6.

A coffee from a bakery usually starts around €2 and fancier coffees at trendy hotspot will fetch you around €5. You can also buy a decent package of coffee in the supermarket for €6 – 7 and course fork out around €20 for a high end coffee from a specialty shop like The Barn. I’ve taken order higher quality coffees online at roastmarket.de.

A great thing about Berlin is that eating out is very affordable and you can easily have a decent meal (including a glass of wine!) for €20 or so. Note, drinking alcohol, or even ordering water for that matter, will significantly add to your meal expenses.

As I work from home and go out less due to the pandemic, I’m saving a lot on eating out. I now spend about €150 a month on takeout. As I have a full time job, I’m really happy to support the restaurants who’ve suffered a lot in recent years. I tend to order out at least twice per week, sometimes three if I’m feeling lazy. I use Lieferando to have food delivered. People who live in central areas of the city tend to favour Wolt or UberEats. When I visit other parts of the city, I order from local venues and pick-up from the restaurant directly.

People who took part in our survey said they spent anywhere from €30 – €600 per month on eating out. On average, they reported spending at least €200 enjoying Berlin’s culinary scene. Note – we never specifically asked people how much they spent on partying, so this figure would probably be higher had we asked this question. 

3) BVG Tickets: €27 per month

Prior to the pandemic, I had a monthly pass which cost me €63 a month. This allowed for unlimited travel within Berlin’s A/B zone. Obviously, the pandemic placed a lot of us home and have seen us seek alternative transit options. I now walk, ride a bike, take taxis, even scooters, and very rarely, use public transit.

I use the BVG app to purchase tickets when needed. To get the most value for my money, I purchase a 4-single trip ticket for €9 about three times a month.

Our survey participants seemed to prefer public transit and riding a bike. No one talked about how often they used taxis or Uber. Very few people reported owning – or even renting cars via a car sharing program like SHARENOW. On average people were spending anywhere from €60-80 per month on public transit. 

Cost Of Living In Berlin: Other Monthly Expenses

To share a comprehensive picture of how much things cost in Berlin, I’m also sharing some other common expenses that people have, even though I’m not personally paying for these particular things at this time.

1) Fitness Studios

Fitness studios have been closed during the corona times, so I cancelled my contract just this year and workout at home or outside.

Most studios offer memberships for €20 – €30 a month if you sign-up for a long term contract. In the past, I’ve held memberships at FitX and Lady Company and paid about €20 a month. If you want more flexibility and access to different types of classes and facilities, you can always signup for Urban Sports Club which has plans which range from €29,99 – €129,99 per month. 

60% of people who responded to our survey say they don’t go to the gym and other 40% who do go to the gym said they paid anywhere from €10 – €110 per month. 49% of people who go to a gym, use a company like Gympass, or take special lessons have a long-term contract. On average, people are paying €37 per month. 

2) Cigarettes

I’m no longer a smoker and and now two years smoke free (yeah!). Unfortunately, Berlin’s a smoking city and there are smokers everywhere. A pack of 20 cigarettes will run you about €7. Most people opt to save money and buy tobacco, papers, and filters to roll the cigarettes themselves. Others stock up when visiting other countries like Poland where cigarettes are way cheaper. 

Cost Of Living In Berlin: Summary

So what is my cost of living in Berlin:

• My fixed expenses come to about €1170 per month. I don’t count health insurance as it’s automatically deducted from my gross salary.
• My variable expenses are an additional €575 per month, which I can adjust at any given time if I want to save more money. I still manage put aside money every month too.
• In total, my expenses come to €1,745 per month.

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Have we missed anything? Are there other cost of living in Berlin details you’re interested in knowing about? Let us know in the comments below.

How The Berlin Life Can Help You

1) If you like this post, check out some of our other free Berlin guides:

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• The Most Detailed Moving To Berlin Guide Out There – This moving to Berlin guide is the most comprehensive guide out there. Find where to learn German, find a job, secure a flat, & more.

2) If you’re looking to jumpstart your career in Berlin, check out some of our helpful resources ranging from our e-books, CV and cover letter coaching services, exclusive events, and more.

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