Kiev

Quality of life in Kiev

By Andrii Gorbenko

With a history going back more than 1500 years, Kiev today is an economic and industrial center of Eastern Europe. Known for its river-front location and historical landmarks, Kiev continues to develop, and boasts several international companies serving Ukraine's large domestic market. Its expansive infrastructure offers some of the cheapest metro services in Europe, there are great leisure-time opportunities and the overall cost of living is very reasonable.

Kiev is one of the top ten city matches for 4.4% of Teleport users.

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Life quality score

City ranking

Housing

9
32/265
Details
Large apartment$620.00
Medium apartment$500.00
Rent index [score]0.90
Small apartment$380.00

Cost of Living

10
10/248
Details
5km taxi ride$2.00
A Cappuccino$1.30
A beer$0.54
A kilogram of Apples$0.74
Bread$0.12
Inflation [score]0.98
Lunch$4.30
Monthly fitness club membership$22.00
Monthly public transport$10.00
Movie ticket$3.10
Price of a meal at a restaurant$23.54

Startups

4
141/264
Details
Average monthly increase in number of startups-1
Average monthly increase in number of startups [score]0.10
Coworking spaces [score]0.45
Coworking spaces on WorkFrom.co15
Meetups [score]0.41
Meetups groups108
Meetups members43171
Number of investors31
Number of startup events in the last 12 months63
Number of upcoming meetup events36
Startup climate scene [score]0.31
Startup events12
Startup events [score]0.36
Startups [score]0.71
Total number of startups199

Venture Capital

3
121/192
Details
Venture capital [score]0.25

Travel Connectivity

5
52/266
Details
Airport hub77
Airport hub [score]0.38
Intercity train connectivity [score]0.72

Commute

5
122/255
Details
Human city pagehttp://cities.human.co/details/Ukraine/Kiev
Traffic handling [score]0.62

Business Freedom

5
232/264
Details
Business freedom56.80
Business freedom [score]0.29
Freedom from corruption26.00
Freedom from corruption [score]0.11
Lack of labor restrictions47.90
Lack of labor restrictions [score]0.24
Time to open a business5.00
Time to open a business [score]0.96

Safety

7
128/266
Details
Crime rate [score]0.48
Gun-related deaths per 100,000 residents per year0
Guns per 100 residents7
Lack of gun related deaths [score]1.00
Lack of guns [score]0.97
Lack of guns and gun-related deaths [score]0.98

Healthcare

4
240/265
Details
Healthcare expenditure [score]0.33
Healthcare quality [score]0.50
Life expectancy (years)71.29
Life expectancy [score]0.28

Education

1
232/240
Details
Best university in rankingTaras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Best university ranking801
University quality [score]0.10

Environmental Quality

4
221/266
Details
Air quality [score]0.36
Cleanliness [score]0.37
Drinking water quality [score]0.15
Urban greenery [score]0.59

Economy

1
262/263
Details
Currency exchange rate per US dollar for urban area25.73
Currency for urban areaUAH
GDP growth rate-0.07
GDP growth rate [score]0.10
GDP per capita$8668.33
GDP per capita [score]0.16

Taxation

5
91/266
Details
Effective company profit tax rate on payouts as dividends [score]0.40
Income tax level [score]0.70
Profit tax (% of profit)0.52
Time overhead to file company taxes356
VAT (Sales Tax)0.20

Internet Access

6
88/266
Details
Download speed (Mbps)33.65
Internet access (download) [score]0.51
Internet access (upload) [score]0.70
Upload speed (Mbps)20.86

Leisure & Culture

8
26/264
Details
Art galleries64
Art galleries [score]0.92
Cinemas62
Cinemas [score]0.90
Comedy clubs56
Comedy clubs [score]0.75
Concert venues61
Concerts [score]0.73
Historical sites125
Historical sites [score]0.83
Museums88
Museums [score]0.85
Performing art venues59
Performing arts [score]0.87
Sport venues51
Sports [score]0.84
Zoos13
Zoos [score]0.89

Tolerance

7
155/266
Details
LGBT Equality Index71.98
LGBT Equality Index [score]0.73
LGBT adoption rights✖ Illegal
LGBT age of consent✔ Equal
LGBT blood donation regulations✔ Legal
LGBT conversion therapy regulations✖ Not banned
LGBT discrimination legalityIllegal in some contexts
LGBT employment discrimination legality✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
LGBT gender changing rights✔ Legal, surgery not required
LGBT homosexuality rights✔ Legal
LGBT housing discrimination legality✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
LGBT marriage rights✖ Unrecognized
Tolerance towards minorities [score]0.64

Outdoors

5
89/266
Details
Elevation (hills or mountains) [score]0.14
Median peak in meters177.00
Seaside waterbody1.00
Urban area elevation (meters)156.00
Water access [score]0.93
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Cost of living

Costs of living in Kyiv are in the least expensive 10 percent of all 248 Teleport cities. Average living expenses are significantly lower compared to other cities, especially in the housing market. Moving to Kyiv will very likely decrease your daily costs of living. Sign up for free to get access to our cost of living index and use our international  cost of living calculator to do cost comparison by city.

Housing costs (USD)

$380$610
$500
Median rent for
apartments in city center

Daily living costs (USD)

Monthly fitness club membership$22
Movie ticket$3
Broadband internet connection$4
Monthly public transport$10
Lunch$4
-71%
compared to
San Francisco
See more prices and detailed cost of living data in Kiev

Job salary calculator

Software Engineer salaries in Kiev are very low. For this job type, Kiev ranks 247th for salaries among 265 cities. Get access to our salary comparison calculator by signing up. Compare salaries city by city with our free salary wizard and convert your own salary to a local salary in Kiev.

Estimated annual salary (in USD)

$10,651
Median salary
See more details and salary rankings for all job types in Kiev

Locals review Kiev

Do locals recommend living in Kiev?

What could Kiev do better?#improveKiev

How could Kiev improve to make it a more liveable city? We will make sure that the local government will know about the suggestions that reach enough votes*.
*Suggestions will be delivered to: Mayor of Kiev - Vitali Klitschko
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something that can be improved about your city.

What makes Kiev a special place?#praiseKiev

Is Kiev a great place to live? What makes it special for you? What makes it liveable? What should others know about? Why should they move here? Why do you love it?
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something nice about your city.

Taxation

Personal taxation

Effective income tax rate

17%
For annual salary of $40000
17%
For annual salary of $80000

Value added tax (VAT)

20%
Standard tax rate. Different rates might apply for certain product categories.

Compared to other cities

33/266

Corporate taxation

Compared to other cities

222/263
See more details on taxation in Kiev
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Safety

Gun crimes & Ownership

6.60
Guns per 100 people
0.24
Gun deaths per 100k people / year
HIGH GUN CRIMELOW GUN CRIMEFEW GUNSMANY GUNS
North America
Europe
Asia
South America
Africa
Oceania

Overall crime rate city ranking

The overall crime rate puts Kiev in position 178 of 266 Teleport Cities in a ranking for the safest cities.

WORSTBEST
See more details on gun crime and safety in Kiev

Visa

For visits up to 90 days

Required with citizenship of
Get more information about visas in Kiev here
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People in Kiev

Population of Kiev

3,627,600
192 /km²
254/264
Density (people per unit of area)
1%
Growth in 2015-2020
Kiev

Demographics of Ukraine

Median age
40
Elderly people
16%
Life expectancy at birth
72
GDP per capita (in USD)
$8,668
238/263
Unemployment
10%
220/264

Languages

English proficiency score
51
202/228
Common spoken languages
Russian
Ukrainian

Friends living in Kiev

Find out which of your friends are living in Kiev. Nothing is better than knowing a local 😉

Teleport Users  X  Kiev

Teleport users who are      Kiev

Work in:

Founder
12.66%
Software Engineer
6.33%
Mobile Developer
4.43%
Graphic Designer
3.80%
Marketing Manager
3.16%
Web Designer
3.16%
Business Analyst
2.53%
Other
63.92%

Come from:

LGBT rights in Kiev

Discrimination

Illegal In Some Contexts

Marriage

Unrecognized

Adoption

Illegal

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Impressions from Kiev

4:09 Kyiv aerial video. Киев аэросъемка

A video by Oleg Prylutskyi

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On living in Kiev


Kiev (Ukrainian: Київ, Russian: Киев), Europe's city of intrigue, is the capital of Ukraine and its largest and most vibrant city with 3 million inhabitants. It is in the north of central Ukraine on the Dnieper River (Ukrainian: Днiпро, Russian: Днепр).

The official name of the city has long been Kyiv, a transliteration from the Ukrainian Київ. The common English name of the city, Kiev, is a transliteration of the Russian Киев. Expect to see Kyiv used more often inside Ukraine, and Kiev to be used by most foreign media. The spelling of the city name in English-language guidebooks is debatable.

The Ukrainians are understandably very proud of their capital's role in establishing European civilisation in Eastern Europe. Kiev is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, dating back to the 5th century, although settlements at this location existed much earlier. By the late 9th century, Kiev was at the centre of an emerging Eastern Slavic state. Between the 10th and early 13th centuries, the city reached its golden age as the capital of the first Ukrainian state known today as Kievan Rus, (Kyivan Ruthenia, or Rus-Ukraine). It was this state that shaped the religious and cultural foundations of the modern Slavic eastern European states. In the middle of the 13th century, Kievan Rus was overrun by the Mongols. Later that century, Kiev became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569 the city was absorbed into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1654 the Cossack, Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, "liberated" Kiev from that Commonwealth but then promptly folded it into Russian hegemony in an action that continues to be a sore point for Ukrainian nationalists.

Read more

Good Country Index

Every city comes with a country. How is this one doing in terms of giving back to the global community? Our friends at The Good Country Index measure what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away, relative to its size.

Overall ranking

Ukraine
61st from a total of 163 countries

World Order

49th

Refugees hosted

Refugees generated

Charity giving

Birth rate

UN Treaties signed

International Peace & Security

137th

Dues in arrears to UN peace keeping budgets

International violent conflict

Peacekeeping troops

Arms exports

Internet security (2014)

Planet & Climate

95th

Ecological footprint

Reforestation since 1992

Hazardous pesticides exports

CO2 emissions

Ozone

Prosperity & Equality

126th

Development assistance

FDI outflows

Fairtrade market size

UN volunteers abroad

Open trading

Culture

75th

Freedom of movement

Press freedom

Creative services exports

UNESCO dues in arrears as % of contribution

Creative goods exports

Science & Technology

14th

Nobel prizes

Patents

Journal exports

International publications

International Students

Health & Wellbeing

96th

Pharmaceutical exports

Voluntary excess donations to the WHO

Food aid

Humanitarian aid donations

International Health Regulations Compliance

See details ▽

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