What are the easiest German cities to move to in 2026?
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By Olivia Logan
Amid the worst affordable housing crisis in 20 years and a cost of living crisis, it is getting harder and harder to find somewhere to live in Germany. A new ranking has listed the easiest German cities to move to in 2026.
Erlangen named easiest German city to move to in 2026
According to a new ranking compiled by BOXIE24 and shared with IamExpat, Erlangen, Bavaria, is the easiest German city for newcomers to find their feet in 2026. The storage company considered statistics on average monthly rents, the cost of living, crime rates, the local speed of internet and average commuting times to compile the ranking.
The 69th largest city in Germany, Erlangen was named the easiest to move to because it has the lowest cost of living and average asking rents for one-bedroom flats, at 740 euros per month. The Bavarian city is also well connected to other large cities, a stone’s throw from Nuremberg and Fürth, and two and a half hours from Munich.
Erlangen’s economy is largely propped up by a Siemens AG plant and Friedrich-Alexander University, both of which are large international employers. Around one in five people living in Erlangen are employed in the medical sector, with the city having set itself a goal to become the medical research, production and services capital of Germany.
Aachen, Hanover and Düsseldorf are also strong contenders
Also thanks to its low cost of living and asking rents, Aachen, on the German border with Belgium and the Netherlands, came in second place. The university city is the 27th largest in Germany and well connected to Cologne and Bonn, which lie in Germany’s most populous regions.
Hanover, Germany’s 13th largest city, followed in third place. The city of around 550.000 people has six higher education institutions, with many inhabitants working in travel and transport, including at Volkswagen, Deutsche Bahn and TUI. Düsseldorf, the sixth-largest city in Germany, came in fourth thanks to its low asking rents compared to other large cities.
Top 10 German cities to move to in 2026
According to the ranking, these are the top 10 easiest German cities to move to in 2026:
- Erlangen
- Aachen
- Hanover
- Düsseldorf
- Munich
- Karlsruhe
- Dresden
- Mannheim
- Bonn
- Mainz
Do you live in one of these cities? Would you recommend a friend to move?
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Editor for Germany at IamExpat Media. Olivia first came to Germany in 2013 to work as an Au Pair. Since studying English Literature and German in Scotland, Freiburg and Berlin she has worked as a features journalist and news editor.Read more