# Edinburgh vs Lyon

> On balanced weights, Lyon comes out ahead: 57 against 52 out of 100, mostly on sunshine and winter daylight. Reference profile: one person, €60,000 gross a year, a one-bedroom home, everyday spending of €1,200 a month in Lisbon scaled by each country's price level, balanced weights. Figures as of 2026-11-05. Canonical page: https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/edinburgh-gb-vs-lyon-fr/

Scores out of 100: Edinburgh 52, Lyon 57. Make it yours: https://borgo.abcastor.com/?cities=edinburgh-gb,lyon-fr

## Line by line

| Line | Edinburgh | Lyon |
|---|---|---|
| Money left each month | €3,795 take-home a month | €3,429 take-home a month |
| Cost of living | Add your rent (World Development Indicators) | €2,524 a month (Carte des loyers: asking-rent indicators by commune (2025); World Development Indicators) |
| Nice days | 6 nice days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 54 nice days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Winter daylight | 6 h 57 min | 8 h 40 min |
| Sunshine | 1,312 h a year (Meteostat climate normals) | 2,044 h a year (WMO Climatological Standard Normals 1991-2020) |
| Dry days | 167 wet days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 118 wet days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Clean air | 4.8 µg/m³ (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026)) | 8.9 µg/m³ (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026)) |
| Safety | 1.1 homicides per 100k (World Development Indicators) | 1.3 homicides per 100k (World Development Indicators) |
| Long, healthy lives | 81.4 years (World Development Indicators) | 83.0 years (World Development Indicators) |
| Health costs | €64 a month (World Development Indicators) | €37 a month (World Development Indicators) |
| Childcare costs | no child of childcare age | no child of childcare age |
| Paid leave for parents | 12 weeks (mother 12, father 0) (OECD Family Database: parental leave systems (PF2.1)) | 27 weeks (mother 20, father 8) (OECD Family Database: parental leave systems (PF2.1)) |
| Happiness | 7.45 of 10 (OECD Well-being Database (How's Life?)) | 7.10 of 10 (OECD Well-being Database (How's Life?)) |
| Research output | 68 of 100 (OpenAlex institutions) | 70 of 100 (OpenAlex institutions) |
| Time difference from home | set your home city | set your home city |
| Flight home | set your home city | set your home city |
| Airport nearby | 11 km (OurAirports airports) | 19 km (OurAirports airports) |
| Public transport | 31 % of commuters (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) | 33 % of commuters (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) |
| Rail and metro stations | 13 stations (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) | 64 stations (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) |
| Short commutes | no data | 29 minutes (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) |
| Cycle network | 1.16 km per km² (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling) | 1.47 km per km² (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling) |
| Everyday needs on foot | 99 % of streets (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling) | 100 % of streets (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling) |
| Walking and cycling to work | 23.0 % of commuters (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) | 16.8 % of commuters (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) |
| Quick way out by bike | 5.3 km, about 21 min by bike (GHS Urban Centre Database 2025 (R2024A), general characteristics) | 6.2 km, about 25 min by bike (GHS Urban Centre Database 2025 (R2024A), general characteristics) |
| Near the sea | 2 km (Natural Earth (coastline, land, countries and populated places)) | 240 km (Natural Earth (coastline, land, countries and populated places)) |
| Near the mountains | 112 km (Terrain Tiles (Terrarium) on AWS Open Data) | 42 km (Terrain Tiles (Terrarium) on AWS Open Data) |
| Green space | 25.6 % of land (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) | 13.0 % of land (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) |
| Fast internet | 52 Mbit/s (M-Lab NDT statistics (daily city aggregates)) | 64 Mbit/s (M-Lab NDT statistics (daily city aggregates)) |
| English spoken | 98 % speak English (CLDR territory information) | 39 % speak English (CLDR territory information) |
| International crowd | 20.9 % born abroad (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) | 20.6 % born abroad (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) |
| Doctors | 3.3 per 1,000 (World Development Indicators) | 3.3 per 1,000 (World Development Indicators) |
| Jobs | 4.7 % unemployed (World Development Indicators) | 7.5 % unemployed (World Development Indicators) |
| Graduates around | 63.2 % of adults (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) | 50.5 % of adults (Urban Audit: cities and greater cities) |
| Developers around | 20.2 per 1,000 (GitHub user search) | 23.0 per 1,000 (GitHub user search) |
| Clean government | 1.53 of 2.5 (Worldwide Governance Indicators) | 1.24 of 2.5 (Worldwide Governance Indicators) |
| Politics, left to right | centre, 5.6 of 10; say where you stand (Political position from election results) | centre-right, 6.2 of 10; say where you stand (Political position from election results) |
| Abortion law | also on social or economic grounds; say where you stand (Abortion in law, from the statutes cited) | on request, 10 weeks or later; say where you stand (Abortion in law, from the statutes cited) |
| Same-sex couples in law | marriage; say where you stand (Same-sex couples in law, from the statutes cited) | marriage; say where you stand (Same-sex couples in law, from the statutes cited) |
| Founders Running Club | no chapter (Founders Running Club communities) | a chapter (Founders Running Club communities) |
| Coworking spaces | 19 spaces (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) | 77 spaces (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) |
| Climbing gyms | 4 gyms (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) | 14 gyms (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) |
| Swimming pools | 10 pools (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) | 46 pools (OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API) |
| Beach days | 1 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 26 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Run or ride days | 238 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 276 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Few muggy days | 0 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 5 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Few grey days | 183 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 133 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Cool nights for sleeping | 0 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 10 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Few heat-stress days | 0 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 23 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Few snow days | 5 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 4 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |
| Few windy days | 28 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) | 5 days a year (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)) |

## Questions

### Is it cheaper to live in Edinburgh or Lyon?

Everyday prices are lower in France: 82.8 against 92.4 on the World Bank price level index (United States = 100, 2025). Open rent data is missing for Edinburgh, so the full monthly cost needs your own rent.

### How much do you take home on €60,000 a year in Edinburgh and in Lyon?

About £38,171 a year in Edinburgh (United Kingdom 2026 tax rules) and €41,149 in Lyon (France 2026 tax rules), after income tax and employee social contributions.

### Which is warmer, Edinburgh or Lyon?

Lyon is warmer: average daily highs of the air over the year are 17.7 °C against 12.6 °C in Edinburgh (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).

### Which has cleaner air, Edinburgh or Lyon?

Edinburgh has cleaner air: an annual PM2.5 mean of 4.8 µg/m³ against 8.9 µg/m³ (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database; WHO guideline 5 µg/m³; 2021 and 2024).

### Can a citizen of the United Kingdom live and work in Lyon without a visa?

No. Citizens of the United Kingdom need a visa or permit to live and work in France; free movement there covers EU and EEA free movement and Swiss-EU free movement citizens.

## Cite

Borgo, "Edinburgh vs Lyon", https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/edinburgh-gb-vs-lyon-fr/, figures as of 2026-11-05.