Paris Rents, Mapped by Metro Station

Many of us have dreamed of moving to an apartment in some charming, photogenic Parisian quartier. Now there’s a map that allows you to put an exact price on the fantasy. Created by French Magazine Streetpress together with website Rentswatch, the map (available in zoomable format here) shows the average rent for an apartment within 500 meters of each city Metro station. If the number of apartments nearby is especially low, that radius is extended to one or two kilometers. Rather than providing a shock to the system, the map more or less confirms what anyone familiar with Paris might expect. Eiffel Tower views come at a premium, prices drop off to the east, and anyone who wants a bargain will have to hunt beyond the Boulevard Périphérique inner beltway.

Before we zoom in, a word on those prices. If they seem ever so slightly on the high side, that’s because they probably are. The figures, which cover new rental contracts offered over the past 6 months, only cover apartments of 35 square meters (377 square feet) or more. In Paris, many people live in smaller apartments than this, in garrets where mezzanine beds have been squeezed in overlooking the living room or in tiny chambres de bonne, originally designed to house the maids of wealthier apartments in the same building. As the list also excludes rent for public housing, which comes cheaper, it may be skewed slightly upwards.