Germany · Europe
Moving to Frankfurt
Frankfurt quick facts
Germany at a glance
Europe & Central Asia
Economy
World Bank · 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in Frankfurt
Can you move to Germany?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter Germany — and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice — confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in Germany
Residence permits, Anmeldung, and Germany's most international city
Germany's sequence is rigid: register your address within two weeks of moving in, producing the confirmation needed for a tax ID, bank account, health insurance and residence permit. Frankfurt's appointment availability is better than Munich's, and its Ausländerbehörde is unusually practised — this is the German city with the highest proportion of foreign residents. If you qualify, pursue an EU Blue Card specifically.
Read the full step-by-step guideExchanging a licence, and a city you can cross on foot
EU and EEA licences remain valid without action. Non-EU licences are valid for six months from taking up residence, after which you need a German licence — and whether tests are required depends on the issuing country and, for federal countries, the specific state or province. Frankfurt is compact, densely served by U-Bahn and S-Bahn, and fifteen minutes from a major airport, so a car is genuinely unnecessary.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening a German account in Germany's banking capital
You need a German account for salary, rent and the direct debits German life runs on. Traditional banks require an Anmeldung first, creating a sequencing problem; digital banks generally do not. The irony of Frankfurt is that being the country's banking capital makes no practical difference to a retail customer — the Schufa problem is identical here, and it is what landlords screen on.
Read the full step-by-step guideCompulsory insurance, and why finance salaries complicate the choice
Germany requires everyone to hold health insurance. Employees below an annually-set income threshold must join the statutory system; above it, private cover becomes available. Frankfurt's finance and consulting salaries push a high share of newcomers over that threshold in their first year, and private brokers know it — the pitch is aggressive and it emphasises exactly the years when private looks best.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting a German SIM, and living on top of DE-CIX
Germany requires identity verification for every SIM including prepaid. Prepaid needs no Anmeldung or Schufa; postpaid contracts run a Schufa check a newcomer will fail or pass marginally. Frankfurt's quirk is that it hosts DE-CIX, one of the world's largest internet exchanges — which makes home broadband here unusually good even though the mobile network is the same as everywhere else.
Read the full step-by-step guideGerman income tax, tax classes, and 9% church tax in Hesse
German income tax is progressive and deducted at source, with your tax class determining monthly withholding. Church tax adds 9% of your income tax liability in Hesse if you declared a religious affiliation at Anmeldung. A solidarity surcharge applies to higher incomes — which on Frankfurt finance salaries means most people. Filing is optional for many employees but frequently produces a refund.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas — sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential German phrases
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What to know before you go
This is the most international city in Germany, and English goes further here
CriticalFrankfurt has the highest proportion of foreign residents of any major German city — well over half the population has a migration background — and the finance and consulting sectors operate substantially in English. That does not remove the need for German for bureaucracy, healthcare and daily life, but the workplace barrier is genuinely lower here than in Munich or Hamburg, and the international community is correspondingly large and easy to join.
Register within two weeks — appointments are easier here than Munich
CriticalThe Anmeldung must be completed at a Bürgeramt within two weeks of moving in, and it gates your tax ID, bank account, health insurance and residence permit. Frankfurt's appointment availability is markedly better than Munich's, but the deadline is still real. Book online as soon as you know your move date.
Church tax in Hesse is 9%, and you opt in at Anmeldung
CriticalDeclaring membership of a recognised church at registration triggers automatic deduction of church tax at 9% of your income tax liability in Hesse — as in most German states, against 8% in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Declaring no affiliation means no church tax. It is asked in a five-minute appointment that most newcomers do not realise carries an annual price.
Health insurance is compulsory and the choice is near-irreversible
CriticalEveryone in Germany must hold health insurance. Employees below an income threshold join the statutory system; above it, private becomes available. Private is often cheaper when young and healthy, considerably more expensive later, prices each family member separately, and is very difficult to leave. Frankfurt's finance salaries push many newcomers over the threshold in their first year — decide on the thirty-year view, not the first premium.
The city is small and you can walk across it
ImportantFrankfurt has fewer than 800,000 residents despite the skyline, and the centre is genuinely compact — you can walk from the Hauptbahnhof through the banking district to the river in twenty minutes. Combined with a dense U-Bahn and S-Bahn network and the Deutschlandticket, a car is entirely unnecessary and parking in the centre is expensive.
The airport changes what living here means
ImportantFrankfurt Airport is one of Europe's largest hubs and is fifteen minutes from the centre by S-Bahn. For anyone whose life or work involves regular travel — or family in another country — this is a material quality-of-life factor that no other German city matches, and it is one of the strongest practical arguments for choosing Frankfurt.
Top industries & employers
Banking & central banking
European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, DZ Bank
The ECB and the Bundesbank are both here, making Frankfurt the monetary centre of the eurozone — and the reason every major international bank maintains a substantial German presence in the city.
Asset management & exchanges
Deutsche Börse, DWS, Union Investment, Allianz Global Investors
Deutsche Börse operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Eurex, one of the world's largest derivatives exchanges, from Eschborn just outside the city.
Consulting & professional services
McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, EY
A very deep professional services market serving the financial sector, with more genuinely English-speaking roles than anywhere else in Germany.
Data centres & internet infrastructure
DE-CIX, Equinix, Digital Realty, Interxion
DE-CIX in Frankfurt is among the world's largest internet exchange points by traffic, and the resulting data centre cluster is the biggest in continental Europe.
Aviation & logistics
Lufthansa, Fraport, DHL, Kühne+Nagel
Frankfurt Airport is one of Europe's busiest and the single largest workplace in Germany by employees on one site.
Chemicals & pharmaceuticals
Sanofi, Merck (Darmstadt), Clariant, Industriepark Höchst
The Höchst industrial park in the west of the city remains one of Europe's largest chemical and pharmaceutical research sites.
Where to go in Frankfurt
The Städel Museum
Culture · Museumsufer, Sachsenhausen
One of Germany's most important art collections, spanning 700 years, with a subterranean contemporary wing lit by circular skylights in the lawn above.
Local tip: Part of the Museumsufer — a row of museums along the south bank. The Museumsuferfest in August and the annual Museumsufer Ticket make the whole strip worth doing properly rather than one at a time.
Sachsenhausen & the apple wine taverns
Food · South bank
Cobbled streets of traditional taverns serving Äppelwoi from Bembel jugs, with Grüne Soße and Handkäs mit Musik.
Local tip: Order a Bembel for the table rather than glasses. Handkäs mit Musik is a sour milk cheese with onions — the 'music' is a joke about what happens next, and you should try it anyway.
The Römer & Altstadt
Landmark · Old town
The medieval town hall and the reconstructed old town, rebuilt from 2018 on the original plots after wartime destruction.
Local tip: The reconstruction is recent and divides opinion, but the Kaiserdom next door is original and you can climb the tower for the best free-ish view of the skyline.
Palmengarten
Nature · Westend
A 22-hectare botanical garden from 1871 with tropical houses, a lake and a genuinely serious plant collection.
Local tip: The best place in the city on a grey February afternoon — the tropical greenhouses are warm and humid when everything outside is not. Locals buy an annual pass and use it as a park.
The Taunus hills & Feldberg
Nature · 30 minutes north-west
Forested hills rising to 880 metres, with hiking, a Roman limes fortification, and snow in winter.
Local tip: Reachable by S-Bahn and bus on the Deutschlandticket. The Grosser Feldberg is the highest point and, on a clear day, you can see the Frankfurt skyline from it — the contrast is the point.
The Bahnhofsviertel
Hidden gemNeighborhood · Around the main station
The most contradictory district in Germany — banks on one corner, the red-light district on the next, and the best and most diverse eating in the city throughout.
Local tip: Genuinely the best food in Frankfurt, from Eritrean to Korean to Turkish, on streets that also carry an open drug scene the city manages rather than hides. Go with clear eyes; it is safe but it is not sanitised.
Emergency numbers in Frankfurt
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