Tartu

Quality of life in Tartu

By Merilin Jürjo

Tartu is a true student town and home to Estonia's oldest university. Its academic atmosphere and high concentration of bright minds makes it a center for innovation and entrepreneurship. With safe and tolerant environment, the city takes pride in its urban greenery, easy transit and excellent healthcare, all contributing to a high quality of life at a reasonable cost.

Tartu is one of the top ten city matches for 9.9% of Teleport users.

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Life quality score

City ranking

Housing

9
37/265
Details
Large apartment$710.00
Medium apartment$570.00
Rent index [score]0.90
Small apartment$430.00

Cost of Living

7
71/248
Details
5km taxi ride$5.60
A Cappuccino$3.20
A beer$1.30
A kilogram of Apples$1.60
Bread$0.30
Inflation [score]0.75
Lunch$7.90
Monthly fitness club membership$54.00
Monthly public transport$17.00
Movie ticket$8.30
Price of a meal at a restaurant$48.39

Startups

3
216/264
Details
Average monthly increase in number of startups1
Average monthly increase in number of startups [score]0.20
Coworking spaces [score]0.10
Coworking spaces on WorkFrom.co2
Meetups [score]0.10
Meetups groups4
Meetups members438
Number of investors3
Number of startup events in the last 12 months12
Number of upcoming meetup events1
Startup climate scene [score]0.33
Startup events33
Startup events [score]0.50
Startups [score]0.36
Total number of startups54

Venture Capital

N/A
Details
Funding accelerator namesbuildit
Number of funding accelerators1

Travel Connectivity

1
221/266
Details
Airport hub1
Airport hub [score]0.10
Intercity train connectivity [score]0.18

Commute

6
3/255
Details
Traffic handling [score]1.00

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
14/266
Details
Crime rate [score]0.92
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
174/265
Details
Healthcare expenditure [score]0.58
Healthcare quality [score]0.93
Life expectancy (years)77.56
Life expectancy [score]0.65

Education

5
54/240
Details
Best university in rankingUniversity of Tartu
Best university ranking325
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]0.11

Environmental Quality

9
5/266
Details
Air quality [score]1.00
Cleanliness [score]0.96
Drinking water quality [score]0.92
Urban greenery [score]0.88

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

4
191/266
Details
Download speed (Mbps)19.00
Internet access (download) [score]0.34
Internet access (upload) [score]0.52
Upload speed (Mbps)12.53

Leisure & Culture

4
219/264
Details
Art galleries30
Art galleries [score]0.37
Cinemas27
Cinemas [score]0.37
Comedy clubs36
Comedy clubs [score]0.68
Concert venues30
Concerts [score]0.47
Historical sites23
Historical sites [score]0.29
Museums31
Museums [score]0.52
Performing art venues34
Performing arts [score]0.47
Sport venues4
Sports [score]0.31
Zoos2
Zoos [score]0.52

Tolerance

7
102/266
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]0.73

Outdoors

3
208/266
Details
Urban area elevation (meters)43.00
Water access [score]0.70
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Cost of living

Costs of living in Tartu are in the 71st place of all 248 Teleport cities. Average living expenses are significantly lower compared to other cities, especially in the housing market. Moving to Tartu 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)

$470$670
$570
Median rent for
apartments in city center

Daily living costs (USD)

Monthly fitness club membership$54
Movie ticket$8
Broadband internet connection$21
Monthly public transport$17
Lunch$8
-49%
compared to
San Francisco
See more prices and detailed cost of living data in Tartu

Job salary calculator

Software Engineer salaries in Tartu are below average. For this job type, Tartu ranks 194th 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 Tartu.

Estimated annual salary (in USD)

$29,716
Median salary
See more details and salary rankings for all job types in Tartu

Locals review Tartu

Do locals recommend living in Tartu?

What could Tartu do better?#improveTartu

How could Tartu 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 Tartu - Urmas Klaas
You can be the first! 😊  Tell us something that can be improved about your city.

What makes Tartu a special place?#praiseTartu

Is Tartu 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 Tartu
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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 Tartu in position 24 of 266 Teleport Cities in a ranking for the safest cities.

WORSTBEST
See more details on gun crime and safety in Tartu

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 Tartu here
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People in Tartu

Population of Tartu

102,700
684 /km²
164/264
Density (people per unit of area)
-6%
Growth in 2015-2020
Tartu

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 Tartu

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

Teleport Users  X  Tartu

Teleport users who are      Tartu

Work in:

Founder
6.41%
Software Engineer
5.29%
Marketing Manager
4.18%
Web Developer
3.34%
Teacher
2.79%
Content Marketing
2.51%
Web Designer
2.51%
Other
72.98%

Come from:

LGBT rights in Tartu

Discrimination

Illegal In Some Contexts

Marriage

Other Type Of Partnership

Adoption

Single Only

Climate

Average number of days per year without rain

236

Climate type

Warm Summer Continental

Average daily maximum temperature

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On living in Tartu

Tartu (formerly known as Dorpat or Yuryev) is the second largest city in Estonia with a population of 100,000. It is a Hanseatic city and a university town. It is the oldest city in Estonia, dating back to 1030.

Tartu is 185 km south-east of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The Emajõgi River, which connects the two largest lakes of Estonia, flows for 10 km within the city limits.

Since Tartu is a student town, English is widely understood. As usual, the older people are more likely to only speak Estonian and Russian; however most can understand English if you speak clearly.

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 ▽

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