Best Cities to Live in Poland in 2026: Rankings, Rents and Salaries

Which Polish cities lead the 2026 quality-of-life rankings, how much rent and new flats cost, and what salaries look like in Poland

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Several rankings of the best cities to live in Poland were published in 2026, and they rarely agree. One study compared all 2,479 Polish municipalities, while two others looked only at the 16 regional capitals. Depending on the method, the winner is a mid-sized town near Warsaw, the capital itself, Szczecin, or the pair Poznań and Rzeszów.

For expats, students and families planning a move, the differences matter: each ranking weighs different things, from clean air and schools to wages and housing prices. Below is what each study found, along with the latest figures on rent, property prices and salaries.

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Which Polish city has the best quality of life in 2026?

According to Finance.ua, citing inpoland, the companies Algolytics Technologies and SW Research Agency compared quality of life in 2,479 municipalities. They produced two lists: one based on expert criteria and one based on residents' preferences.

The expert ranking

Mińsk Mazowiecki in the Masovian Voivodeship topped the expert ranking for the second year in a row. The rest of the top five is:

• Inowrocław (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship);
• Pabianice (Łódź Voivodeship);
• Chojnice (Pomeranian Voivodeship);
• Siedlce (Masovian Voivodeship).

The top of this list is dominated by mid-sized towns and county centres. Not a single regional capital made the top ten.

The residents' ranking

When residents' preferences were counted, Warsaw came first, followed by Sopot, Kraków, Poznań and Gdańsk. The experts gave more weight to the environment and the quality of education, while residents valued economic conditions and access to services more.

In both lists, access to healthcare, schools, transport and everyday services played a large role. The Silesian Voivodeship showed the best conditions, with strong results also in Greater Poland and the southern regions. The Podlaskie Voivodeship scored lowest, and the north-east, West Pomerania and the Lublin region also lagged behind.

About the earlier ranking of Polish cities by quality of life in 2026 — read more at the link.

What do other 2026 rankings of regional capitals show?

Polskie Radio: Szczecin moves to the top

The most recent ranking, reported by Polskie Radio, compared one city from each of the 16 voivodeships. Szczecin came first, Lublin second and Łódź third. They were followed by Poznań, Bydgoszcz, Opole, Rzeszów, Katowice, Olsztyn and Warsaw in tenth place. Gdańsk was 11th, Wrocław 12th, Kielce 13th and Kraków 14th.

According to Polskie Radio, Lublin offers the best access to doctors and a high level of safety. Łódź stands out for clean air, good access to doctors and relatively low housing prices.

Business Insider Polska: a shared first place

The Business Insider Polska ranking, published at the turn of 2025 and 2026, used six hard indicators for the 16 regional capitals. For the first time in its history, two cities shared first place, RMF FM reported: Poznań and Rzeszów.

• Poznań has the lowest unemployment of the 16 cities.
• Rzeszów has the lowest crime rate, good access to doctors and a strong high-tech and aviation industry.
• Katowice has the best ratio of housing prices to earnings in the country.
• Warsaw took fifth place thanks to high wages and low unemployment.

Gdańsk fell to its lowest position in two and a half years. Kraków, third among residents in the inpoland study, ended up near the bottom of both the Polskie Radio and Business Insider lists.

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How much does housing cost in Polish cities?

Buying a new flat

Developers' average asking prices in Warsaw exceeded 20,000 zlotys per square metre for the first time in October 2026, according to Wprost, which put Kraków at 17,300 and Wrocław at 16,300 zlotys. Otodom Analytics gives lower figures for the same month:

• Warsaw — 19,766 zlotys per m²;
• Kraków — 16,965 zlotys per m²;
• Wrocław — 15,954 zlotys per m², up 7,7% in a year;
• Tricity (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot) — just over 17,000 zlotys per m².

Adjusted for inflation, new flats are becoming cheaper in Kraków, Katowice, the Tricity and Łódź, according to Managerplus.

Renting a flat

The median asking rent in 34 cities was 2,492 zlotys a month as of 29 October 2026, Finwire reported. Warsaw stood at 3,200 zlotys, Kraków and Wrocław at 2,600 zlotys each, and Bytom was the cheapest at 1,400 zlotys.

Average rents are higher than medians. According to the OnGeo blog, in April 2026 the average rent was 4,868 zlotys in Warsaw, 3,187 in Gdańsk, 3,158 in Kraków, 3,136 in Wrocław and 3,109 in Gdynia; Włocławek was the cheapest at 1,546 zlotys. Administrative fees, utilities, a deposit and agency commission can add 30–50% to the monthly bill, Radio Spacja notes.

About monthly living costs in the best EU countries in 2026 — read more at the link.

What are salaries and jobs like in Poland?

According to Statistics Poland (GUS), as reported by Dlahandlu, the average gross wage in the enterprise sector was 9,266.48 zlotys in September 2026, 5.9% more than a year earlier. In real terms, wages grew by 1.6%. The data cover companies with more than nine employees.

Employment in the sector fell by 0.8% year on year to 6.4 million full-time jobs. The national minimum wage has been 4,806 zlotys since January 2026, up 3.0% on 2025.

Compare Poland with other destinations in the ranking of the best countries in Europe to live and work in.

What this means for people moving to Poland

• Decide what matters most: the expert ranking favours smaller towns with good schools and environment, while big cities win on wages and services.
• Poznań, Rzeszów, Lublin and Szczecin rank high in the studies of regional capitals.
• Katowice and Łódź combine strong positions with more affordable housing.
• Budget for 30–50% on top of the advertised rent.
• Check which source a price comes from: medians and averages are not comparable.

Moving to a Polish city by car means a long drive through neighbouring countries. Arrange a Vignette for your route online with Visit World and get it before departure.

We remind you! In our previous article, we wrote about the best cities in the Czech Republic for expats to live in 2026.

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