Living in Austria as a French National: Cities, Budget, Settling-In Formalities and Schooling

Austria brings together three advantages for a French national: a right of residence guaranteed by free movement within the European Union, structured public services (transport, health, education) and a way of life that combines large cities and Alpine landscapes. On 1 January 2026, the country had 9,219,113 inhabitants according to Statistik Austria’s provisional results, of whom 20.5% foreign nationals: welcoming new residents is an everyday reality, particularly in Vienna, where this share reaches 37.0%.

• Advantages: access to work without authorisation, social health insurance linked to professional status, dense public transport networks in the large cities and mountains accessible all year round.
• Points of caution: a command of German is generally essential for working and for administrative procedures (French embassy in Austria); the housing market differs markedly between Vienna and the Alpine cities; winters are cold on the plains and snowy at altitude; the avalanche risk means checking the bulletins before any mountain outing (France Diplomatie, the French foreign ministry).

The Austria country page details health insurance by status; the pages on working in Austria and retiring in Austria complete this guide.

The first five Austrian cities are the capitals of five Länder and offer different ways of life. Statistik Austria publishes the population of the Länder on 1 January 2026 (provisional results), with the share of foreign nationals.

• Vienna: capital and a Land in its own right, 2,042,036 inhabitants, of whom 37.0% foreign nationals. It is the city that concentrates the most jobs, healthcare services and transport lines. In 2025, the districts of Donaustadt (+3.2%), Leopoldstadt (+1.4%) and Landstraße (+1.2%) recorded the largest population increases.
• Graz: capital of Styria, a Land of 1,272,195 inhabitants (14.8% foreign nationals). The country’s second city, it is a university hub.
• Linz: capital of Upper Austria, a Land of 1,537,669 inhabitants (16.6% foreign nationals), with a dense industrial fabric.
• Salzburg: capital of a Land of 573,748 inhabitants, where foreign nationals represent 21.1% of the population, the highest proportion after Vienna.
• Innsbruck: capital of Tyrol, a Land of 779,174 inhabitants (19.3% foreign nationals). Tyrol and Salzburg are the Länder where tourism contributes most to the regional economy (Statistik Austria).

For a first stay, Vienna and Graz offer the broadest job market, while Salzburg and Innsbruck attract through their Alpine setting and mountain activities. The housing search generally starts a few weeks before arrival; the checklist for the first 90 days helps you put the formalities in order.

Statistik Austria measures quarterly the rent of rented main residences: €10.5 per m² including utilities in the second quarter of 2026, or €694.7 per dwelling on the national average, up 0.4% per m² on the first quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2025, rent excluding utilities came to €7.8 per m² and utilities to €2.6 per m². The actual amount depends on the region, the floor area, the rental segment and the date of the lease.

Vienna has a structure of its own. Of 748,800 rental dwellings in 2025, 25.9% are municipal housing (Gemeindebau), 28.7% cooperative housing, 21.0% fall under the reference rent (Richtwertmiete) and 22.0% the free private market. The share of the free private market is higher elsewhere: 48.0% in Salzburg, 52.0% in Tyrol and 43.8% in Styria (Statistik Austria, Mikrozensus 2025).

• Agency commission: since 1 July 2023, the tenant pays the commission only if they themselves commissioned the agent. The cap is two gross monthly rents for an open-ended lease or one of more than three years, and one rent for a lease of three years or less, plus VAT (oesterreich.gv.at).
• Transport: the Vienna Jahreskarte costs €461 for an adult in 2026 and €294 for under-26s and over-65s (public transport of the City of Vienna).

To prepare a full budget, the guide to budgeting for health abroad helps you include health protection, and the page on working in Austria gives reference salary levels.

French nationals enter freely with a valid identity card or passport. The settling-in procedures follow a precise timetable.

• Within 3 days: registration of your home address (Meldezettel) with the municipality. Failure exposes you to an administrative fine of up to €726, and €2,180 for a repeat offence (oesterreich.gv.at).
• Within 4 months: application for the Anmeldebescheinigung for a stay of more than three months, with the MA 35 in Vienna or the Bezirkshauptmannschaft (district authority) elsewhere. Fees are €44 in 2026; the document is valid for an unlimited period. It is based on employment or self-employment, or on sufficient resources with comprehensive health insurance, or on studies with the same guarantees.
• After 5 years of regular, continuous residence: permanent residence certificate, also €44.
• Employment and health insurance: the employee is declared by their employer to social insurance; the self-employed person contacts the SVS (the social insurance institution for the self-employed).
• Consular register: the French embassy recommends registering on the register of French nationals living abroad for a departure of more than six months.
• Vehicle: registering in Austria a vehicle brought from France involves a technical inspection and the NoVA tax, presented on the embassy website.

In Austria, health cover follows status. An employee is automatically affiliated to the ÖGK (the Austrian Health Insurance Fund) by their employer, a self-employed person to the SVS, a retiree holding form S1 registers with the ÖGK, and a person without activity takes out voluntary affiliation (Selbstversicherung) or equivalent insurance. For a temporary stay, the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card, CEAM in French) is requested at least 15 days before departure (France Diplomatie).

To understand how the care network works, see the guide to the Austrian healthcare system. Details of what is reimbursed in each situation are in the page on healthcare reimbursement in Austria, and the expat health insurance page helps you compare supplementary options.

France Diplomatie indicates normal vigilance across the whole country. Crime in Vienna remains lower than in other European capitals, with a rise in pickpocketing reported in the first district and on public transport; the terrorist risk cannot be ruled out, as in the other capitals of the Union. Practical advice is simple: do not keep papers and money together, use hotel safes, carry copies of your passport. In the mountains, wearing a helmet is compulsory for skiers under 15, avalanche conditions should be checked before each outing and insurance covering mountain rescue costs is recommended.

• Emergencies: 112 (European number), 133 (police), 144 (ambulance), 141 (on-call doctor). The French embassy in Vienna answers on +43 1 502 750 (France Diplomatie).
• Climate: the country combines hot summers, cold winters on the plains and a high-mountain climate at altitude. Winter equipment is prepared from autumn, both for the mountains and for driving.
• Language: German dominates professional and administrative life; the international organisations based in Vienna sometimes recruit in English (French embassy in Austria).

The Lycée français de Vienne presents itself as “four schools in one”, from nursery (from age 3) to the final year. It is attached to the AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad) and follows the French curriculum; it reported a 100% pass rate in the 2025 baccalaureate, of which 95% with honours. School fees are set each year by the school and given at enrolment; families can find out about school grants from the French embassy.

In the Austrian system, primary school starts at age 6. The embassy points out that public nursery and kindergarten places are limited in Vienna: enrolment should be prepared early. For families, family health cover is checked at the same time as choosing the school.