Cost of Living inEnschede, Netherlands
Image credit: Dietmar Rabich
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Netherlands: $70,499/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 27% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.
Income Category
Happiness
7.3 / 10
#6 globally
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-school quality, expat access, instruction language, and homeschool legality for relocating families.
Public schools
Public-schooling rules are set nationally for Netherlands; Enschede-specific enrollment notes are still being verified.
Quality
Good public schools
Expat access
Available to residents
conditionalInstruction
Dutch
Language fit is more manageable.
PISA / outcomes
Qualitative only
Using curated quality notes for now.
Why this quality rating
The Netherlands has a strong public-school system and a real resident-schooling path, especially for families staying long enough to integrate.
Why the expat-access rating looks like this
Resident families can generally enroll, and newcomer support exists in some places, but the long-term public path still depends on Dutch.
⚠️ Homeschooling
Legal with strict exemptions onlyDutch law requires school attendance. Exemptions exist for religious/philosophical objections (Article 5a) or if no suitable school exists within travel distance. Lifestyle or pedagogical preference is not sufficient grounds. Most worldschooling families cannot legally homeschool in the Netherlands.
Homeschool legality in Netherlands — check current regulations before committing.
Source: User-curated family relocation research (initial seed) (2026-04-14)
Childcare & Domestic Help
Estimate-only country fallback for the family-support costs we track in Netherlands.
Full-time nanny (5 days)
$2,400-$3,150
Estimate-only country fallback
Live-in / 24-7 nanny
$3,600-$4,700
Estimate-only country fallback
Source: curated family relocation research(derived country fallback)
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Enschede is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Netherlands.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
StrongHigh national coverage, strong doctor availability, and deep nursing capacity support this rating.
Public care
GoodBroad public coverage, relatively low patient cost-sharing, and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong support this rating.
Private care
MixedSelf-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
UHC coverage
85/100
2023
Physicians
3.88/1k
2022
Hospital beds
2.42/1k
2022
Out of pocket
12%
2024
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
82.0 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
4/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
2.6/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedMultiple facilities have websites and country-level outcomes are comparatively strong help, but price transparency is still sparse.
Pricing transparency
LimitedMultiple facilities have crawlable websites help, but published self-pay prices are scarce.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Netherlands yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-07-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2024 annual wages in Enschede, Netherlands · Source: CBS (region-adjusted)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders can stay up to 90 days without a visa.
Long-Term Visa Programs
working holiday
Working Holiday VisaQuick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Enschede compared with the US?
Your money goes about 1.2x further in Enschede than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Netherlands here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Enschede cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Enschede is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 27% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Enschede. We are using the country-level cost index for Netherlands here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Enschede compare with New York City?
Rent in Enschede is about 64% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Netherlands here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Enschede?
Groceries in Enschede are about 33% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 21% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Netherlands here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Enschede
Enschede is the largest city in the eastern Netherlands' Overijssel province, sitting just a few kilometers from the German border about 160 kilometers east of Amsterdam. Historically the center of the Dutch textile industry, the local economy has reshaped itself around the University of Twente, the Kennispark technology campus, advanced manufacturing, and a growing tech and medical-devices ecosystem. Intercity rail connects Enschede to Utrecht and Amsterdam in roughly two hours, and the border location gives easy road access to Münster and the German Ruhr area. The climate is temperate maritime with mild summers, cool wet winters, and rainfall distributed across the year. For relocators, Enschede offers a strong university-anchored tech ecosystem at housing costs far below the Randstad; Dutch is preferred for daily life, but English is widely spoken in the university and tech sectors.
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