Rentals vary dramatically across the country, reflecting growing differences in economic activity, housing demand and local demographics.
The data, published through the government's national rent observatory for 2025, is based on an analysis of rental advertisements in the leading on-line rental websites. The adverts are for unfurnished properties, primarily apartments.
It shows that while Paris remains one of France's most costly rental markets, it has been matched by several affluent suburbs and Riviera locations where housing shortages, high incomes, and exceptional demand continue to push rents higher.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, a cluster of small rural communes in central France offers some of the lowest rental costs in the country.
Most Expensive Rental Markets
The table below shows the 10 most expensive rental markets.
Neuilly-sur-Seine (€34.1m2), one of France's wealthiest suburbs, shows ahead of Paris largely because it functions as a highly homogeneous premium market, whereas Paris averages rental levels across districts with widely differing prices, in several areas higher than it’s affluent neighbour.
The ten most expensive communes are concentrated in four distinct areas:
The western suburbs of Paris, including Neuilly-sur-Seine, Levallois-Perret, Boulogne-Billancourt and Issy-les-Moulineaux.
Prestigious eastern suburbs such as Saint-Mandé and Vincennes.
The Monaco border area, represented by Cap-d'Ail and Beausoleil.
The Franco-Swiss frontier, represented by Divonne-les-Bains. The influence of the frontier worker is strong along the border with Switzerland. Swiss employers pay Swiss salaries, which are substantially higher than French ones.
Although Paris remains one of Europe's most expensive rental markets, the data suggest that the strongest pressures are increasingly concentrated in highly desirable suburban locations where housing supply remains extremely limited.
Interestingly, one of the most striking feature of the ranking is the absence of France's major regional cities. While Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Nantes all remain expensive by national standards (€14-17m2), none approaches the rental levels recorded in the affluent Paris suburbs or along the Monaco frontier.
Cheapest Rental Markets
The lowest rents in France (€6.3m2) are now found almost exclusively in small rural communes in central France.
The ten least expensive municipalities are located primarily in the departments of Haute-Loire and Cantal, including Saint-Just-près-Brioude, Saint-Didier-sur-Doulon, Mercœur, Malvières and Celoux, although many are very small communes, with barely a rental market, so here figures for average rents should be treated with caution.
The contrast with the Paris region is dramatic. A 60-square-metre apartment rented at median market rates in Neuilly-sur-Seine would cost approximately €2,040 per month before charges. An equivalent property in Celoux would cost about €380, meaning tenants in the Paris suburb pay more than five times as much for the same floor area.
Property Size
The government data also confirm a longstanding feature of the French rental market: smaller properties command significantly higher rents per square metre.
Studios and one-bedroom apartments, particularly in urban centres, remain in strong demand from students, young professionals and single-person households. Larger family properties generally rent at lower rates per square metre, although their total monthly cost remains substantially higher.
Thus, studios in Paris typically command €35–45m/2 against €22–28 for three-bedroom apartments.
Rent Growth
Despite the high levels reached in certain communes, rental growth has remained relatively moderate in many parts of France.
The the index governing annual rent increases on existing tenancies (Indice de Référence des Loyers) is capped by law and has been running significantly below headline inflation since 2022, following a government intervention during the energy price surge.
There are also additional rent-control (encadrement des loyers) schemes in cities such as Paris, Lyon Montpellier, Bordeaux, Lille, and Grenoble.
A more detailed, interactive analysis of rental levels across the country, at all administrative levels, can be found at Carte des Loyers.
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