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Essen
Photo: Drdavid41, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Essen

At the centre of the Ruhr and the seat of energy and industrial groups such as RWE, E.ON, Evonik and Thyssenkrupp, with the Zollverein mine as a World Heritage site. Housing is inexpensive by big-city standards, and the north-south divide inside the city is pronounced.

Official website Wikidata

The place

State
North Rhine-Westphalia
Population
573,618as of December 2025 ·
Area
210.3 km²
Density
2,727 people per km²
Public holidays a year
11as of January 2026 ·

Work and pay

Unemployment rate
11.3%as of September 2026 ·
Median gross pay
€4,532 a monthas of December 2025 ·

Local taxes and charges

Grunderwerbsteuer
6.5%
Church tax
9%
Grundsteuer B, Hebesatz
670%as of January 2024 ·
Gewerbesteuer, Hebesatz
480%as of January 2024 ·

Housing

Asking price, apartments
€2,405 per m²as of September 2026 · sourced · immoportal.com
Asking rent, apartments
€9.50 per m² a monthimmoportal.com
Hausgeld
€3.30 per m² a month
Prices, last 12 months
-4.9%
A 70 m² flat
To buy€168,350
Closing costs on top+ €19,899
To rent, cold€665 a month
Asking rent, BBSR (re-lettings)
€9 per m² a monthas of July 2024 ·
Rent in existing tenancies (Zensus 2022)
€6.72 per m² a monthas of May 2022 ·
Vacant flats
3.9%as of May 2022 ·
Owner-occupiers
26.1%as of May 2022 ·
Paid price, resold flats
€2,330 per m²as of July 2025 ·
Paid price, new flats
€4,570 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 rate11.3%

Monthly, Bundesagentur für Arbeit.

Median gross pay a month€4,532

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

Where these numbers come from