Tallinn

Quality of life in Tallinn

With its stunning old town and high tech culture, Tallinn offers a unique blend of history and the modern 21st century living. It is among the most wired cities in the world, offering universal free public wifi and free public transportation for residents. The vibrant start-up scene is actively supported by the government and the city's strong tech eco-system. With low tax rates, cost of living and the seaside location, Tallinn is a truly inviting place to live.

Tallinn is one of the top ten city matches for 14.5% of Teleport users.

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Life quality score

City ranking

Housing

8
62/265
Details
Large apartment$850.00
Medium apartment$710.00
Rent index [score]0.84
Small apartment$570.00

Cost of Living

7
81/248
Details
5km taxi ride$5.60
A Cappuccino$3.00
A beer$1.60
A kilogram of Apples$1.50
Bread$0.43
Inflation [score]0.69
Lunch$10.00
Monthly fitness club membership$62.00
Monthly public transport$27.00
Movie ticket$8.80
Price of a meal at a restaurant$57.95

Startups

5
85/264
Details
Average monthly increase in number of startups5
Average monthly increase in number of startups [score]0.41
Coworking spaces [score]0.39
Coworking spaces on WorkFrom.co14
Meetups [score]0.25
Meetups groups60
Meetups members13408
Number of investors33
Number of startup events in the last 12 months86
Number of upcoming meetup events6
Startup climate scene [score]0.48
Startup events42
Startup events [score]0.54
Startups [score]0.66
Total number of startups363

Venture Capital

6
35/192
Details
Funding accelerator namesStartup Wise Guys, GameFounders
Number of funding accelerators2
Venture capital [score]0.58

Travel Connectivity

2
180/266
Details
Airport hub28
Airport hub [score]0.20
Intercity train connectivity [score]0.20

Commute

6
29/255
Details
Traffic handling [score]0.84

Business Freedom

8
144/264
Details
Business freedom79.00
Business freedom [score]0.75
Freedom from corruption69.00
Freedom from corruption [score]0.72
Lack of labor restrictions57.20
Lack of labor restrictions [score]0.40
Time to open a business3.50
Time to open a business [score]0.98

Safety

9
13/266
Details
Crime rate [score]0.93
Gun-related deaths per 100,000 residents per year3
Guns per 100 residents9
Lack of gun related deaths [score]0.93
Lack of guns [score]0.95
Lack of guns and gun-related deaths [score]0.94

Healthcare

7
179/265
Details
Healthcare expenditure [score]0.58
Healthcare quality [score]0.73
Life expectancy (years)77.56
Life expectancy [score]0.65

Education

5
59/240
Details
Best university in rankingTallinn University of Technology
Best university ranking700
Country mean scores in PISA math test524.66
Country mean scores in PISA reading test516.29
Country mean scores in PISA science test541.40
PISA math ranking (high school)8
PISA ranking4
PISA ranking (high school) [score]0.97
PISA reading (high school)5
PISA science (high school)3
Percent of happy students0.66
Percent of low performers in PISA math test0.11
Percent of low performers in PISA reading test0.09
Percent of low performers in PISA science test0.05
Percent of top performers in PISA math test0.15
Percent of top performers in PISA reading test0.08
Percent of top performers in PISA science test0.13
University quality [score]0.10

Environmental Quality

8
69/266
Details
Air quality [score]0.86
Cleanliness [score]0.77
Drinking water quality [score]0.82
Urban greenery [score]0.67

Economy

4
195/263
Details
Currency exchange rate per US dollar for urban area0.85
Currency for urban areaEUR
GDP growth rate0.02
GDP growth rate [score]0.40
GDP per capita$26998.78
GDP per capita [score]0.44

Taxation

5
93/266
Details
Effective company profit tax rate on payouts as dividends [score]0.46
Income tax level [score]0.61
Profit tax (% of profit)0.49
Time overhead to file company taxes84
VAT (Sales Tax)0.20

Internet Access

5
139/266
Details
Download speed (Mbps)32.91
Internet access (download) [score]0.50
Internet access (upload) [score]0.54
Upload speed (Mbps)13.38

Leisure & Culture

7
72/264
Details
Art galleries111
Art galleries [score]0.53
Cinemas89
Cinemas [score]0.63
Comedy clubs81
Comedy clubs [score]0.68
Concert venues114
Concerts [score]0.62
Historical sites65
Historical sites [score]0.73
Museums53
Museums [score]0.67
Performing art venues114
Performing arts [score]0.69
Sport venues27
Sports [score]0.52
Zoos2
Zoos [score]0.78

Tolerance

8
81/266
Details
LGBT Equality Index75.08
LGBT Equality Index [score]0.76
LGBT adoption rights✖ Single only
LGBT age of consent✔ Equal
LGBT blood donation regulations✖ Banned (indefinite deferral)
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, but requires surgery
LGBT homosexuality rights✔ Legal
LGBT housing discrimination legality✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
LGBT marriage rightsOther type of partnership
Tolerance towards minorities [score]0.81

Outdoors

5
152/266
Details
Elevation (hills or mountains) [score]0.10
Median peak in meters30.50
Seaside access1.00
Urban area elevation (meters)29.00
Water access [score]0.80
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Cost of living

Costs of living in Tallinn are in the 81st place of all 248 Teleport cities. 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)

$720$970
$850
Median rent for
apartments in city center

Daily living costs (USD)

Monthly fitness club membership$62
Movie ticket$9
Broadband internet connection$16
Monthly public transport$27
Lunch$10
-44%
compared to
San Francisco
See more prices and detailed cost of living data in Tallinn

Job salary calculator

Software Engineer salaries in Tallinn are below average. For this job type, Tallinn ranks 171st 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 Tallinn.

Estimated annual salary (in USD)

$32,418
Median salary
See more details and salary rankings for all job types in Tallinn

Locals review Tallinn

Do locals recommend living in Tallinn?

What could Tallinn do better?#improveTallinn

How could Tallinn 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 Tallinn - Taavi Aas
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something that can be improved about your city.

What makes Tallinn a special place?#praiseTallinn

Is Tallinn 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

20%
For annual salary of $40000
20%
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

40/266

Corporate taxation

Compared to other cities

186/263
See more details on taxation in Tallinn
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Safety

Gun crimes & Ownership

9.20
Guns per 100 people
2.67
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 Tallinn in position 22 of 266 Teleport Cities in a ranking for the safest cities.

WORSTBEST
See more details on gun crime and safety in Tallinn

Visa

For visits up to 90 days

Required with citizenship of

Startup Visa

Estonian Startup Visa
Investment requiredFunding providedDuration
NoNo1.5 years
Get more information about visas in Tallinn here
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People in Tallinn

Population of Tallinn

412,300
1,233 /km²
107/264
Density (people per unit of area)
-5%
Growth in 2015-2020
Tallinn

Demographics of Estonia

Median age
42
Elderly people
19%
Life expectancy at birth
77
GDP per capita (in USD)
$26,999
179/263
Unemployment
7%
156/264

Languages

Common spoken languages
Estonian

Friends living in Tallinn

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

Teleport Users  X  Tallinn

Teleport users who are      Tallinn

Work in:

Software Engineer
11.51%
Founder
11.11%
Marketing Manager
4.95%
Web Developer
3.75%
Product Manager
3.08%
Web Designer
3.08%
Systems Administrator
2.14%
Other
60.37%

Come from:

LGBT rights in Tallinn

Discrimination

Illegal In Some Contexts

Marriage

Other Type Of Partnership

Adoption

Single Only

Climate

Average day length (hours)

13.2

Climate type

Warm Summer Continental

Average daily maximum temperature

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Impressions from Tallinn

2:15 Tallinn

A video by Jaan Kronberg

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On living in Tallinn


Tallinn is Estonia's capital and largest city, located at the Gulf of Finland. A city of over 400,000 inhabitants, it is home to a third of the country's population, and besides serving as the national capital, it is also the capital of Harju County in Northern Estonia.

Tallinn has been and continues to be an important port of the Baltic Sea, with the busy passenger section of the port reaching the foothill of the picturesque medieval Old Town, which has been astonishingly well preserved and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. In a striking contrast, the immediate outskirts thereof are filled with a cluster of modern office towers, with intermittent architectural monuments to the Soviet era. Further out, you will find a bewildering variety of historic and modern neighbourhoods, religious, civic, industrial and maritime heritage. This all provides for the city seeing very sizeable tourist traffic given its size, which in turn means the infrastructure is robust and extensive.

Tallinn is a historic city dating back to medieval times. The first fortress on Toompea was built in 1050 and Tallinn was first recorded on a world map in 1154. In 1219, the city was conquered by Valdemar II of Denmark, but it was soon sold to the Hanseatic League in 1285. The city, known as Reval at the time, prospered as a trading town in the 14th century, and much of Tallinn's historic centre was built at this time.

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

Estonia
37th from a total of 163 countries

World Order

67th

Refugees hosted

Refugees generated

Charity giving

Birth rate

UN Treaties signed

International Peace & Security

56th

Dues in arrears to UN peace keeping budgets

International violent conflict

Peacekeeping troops

Arms exports

Internet security (2014)

Planet & Climate

89th

Ecological footprint

Reforestation since 1992

Hazardous pesticides exports

CO2 emissions

Ozone

Prosperity & Equality

129th

Development assistance

FDI outflows

Fairtrade market size

UN volunteers abroad

Open trading

Culture

6th

Freedom of movement

Press freedom

Creative services exports

UNESCO dues in arrears as % of contribution

Creative goods exports

Science & Technology

32nd

Nobel prizes

Patents

Journal exports

International publications

International Students

Health & Wellbeing

42nd

Pharmaceutical exports

Voluntary excess donations to the WHO

Food aid

Humanitarian aid donations

International Health Regulations Compliance

See details ▽

Still have questions?

Further research