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Bielefeld
Photo: InnovativeSights, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Bielefeld

The centre of East Westphalia, a city of family-owned manufacturers (Dr. Oetker, Schüco, Miele nearby) with a university and a reputation for being pleasantly unremarkable. Housing is moderate and the surrounding Teutoburg Forest is close.

Official website Wikidata

The place

State
North Rhine-Westphalia
Population
331,419as of December 2025 ·
Area
258.8 km²
Density
1,280 people per km²
Public holidays a year
11as of January 2026 ·

Work and pay

Unemployment rate
9.2%as of September 2026 ·
Median gross pay
€4,276 a monthas of December 2025 ·

Local taxes and charges

Grunderwerbsteuer
6.5%
Church tax
9%
Grundsteuer B, Hebesatz
660%as of January 2024 ·
Gewerbesteuer, Hebesatz
480%as of January 2024 ·

Housing

Asking price, apartments
€2,553 per m²as of September 2026 · sourced · immoportal.com
Asking rent, apartments
€9.92 per m² a monthimmoportal.com
Hausgeld
€3.30 per m² a month
Prices, last 12 months
-2.1%
A 70 m² flat
To buy€178,710
Closing costs on top+ €21,124
To rent, cold€694 a month
Asking rent, BBSR (re-lettings)
€9 per m² a monthas of July 2024 ·
Rent in existing tenancies (Zensus 2022)
€7.12 per m² a monthas of May 2022 ·
Vacant flats
3.1%as of May 2022 ·
Owner-occupiers
33.3%as of May 2022 ·
Paid price, resold flats
€2,369 per m²as of July 2025 ·
Paid price, new flats
€4,789 per m²as of July 2025 ·

With your own numbers

The numbers above describe a stranger. The calculators take your own salary, tax class and household and work them through for this city.

Buy or rent hereYour net payCompare with another city

Over time

How these numbers have moved. Each series gains a point whenever new figures are published.

Unemployment rate9.2%

Monthly, Bundesagentur für Arbeit.

Median gross pay a month€4,276

Each 31 December, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, full-time employees by workplace.

Where these numbers come from