Methodology and sources
How we do the sums
Where each number comes from and how we work it out. The figures are for the default households below; on each municipality page you can change the size of the home, the income and the mortgage.
Missing is never zero
A missing value shows as “no data” and is left out of totals. When comparing two municipalities, an item missing on one side is left out of both.
Official sources only
INE, the tax authority, ERSE, ERSAR, DGEG, Banco de Portugal, Carta Social. Every number says where it comes from and how recent it is.
What is left out
Food and other everyday spending: official data only exists as national or regional averages, which would not tell municipalities apart. What each number leaves out is under “Note”.
The default households
Single person60 m² · 4 m³ of water/month · 2000 € income tax/year
Couple80 m² · 7 m³ of water/month · 5000 € income tax/year
Family with 2 children110 m² · 11 m³ of water/month · 6000 € income tax/year · 2 dependants
Home
| Indicator | What it is and how it is calculated | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price | Median sale price per m² over the last 12 months, times the size of the home.median €/m² × size | INE, Estatísticas de preços da habitação ao nível local2nd quarter of 2026 | — |
| House price rise over 5 years | Change in the median sale price per m² between the same quarter five years ago and now. Ranked from the smallest to the largest rise, without calling either better: a smaller rise is good for buyers, a larger one for owners.(current €/m² ÷ €/m² 5 years ago) − 1 | INE, Estatísticas de preços da habitação ao nível local2nd quarter of 2021 → 2nd quarter of 2026 | Where there are few sales the median price jumps a lot from year to year. No data when INE does not publish one of the two periods. |
| Rent | Median rent per m² of new contracts over the last 12 months, for the same size, for 12 months.rent €/m² × size × 12 | INE, Estatísticas de rendas da habitação ao nível local2nd quarter of 2026 | — |
| IMI (property tax) | Taxable value (VPT) times the municipal rate, minus the family deduction (€30 / €70 / €140 for 1 / 2 / 3+ dependants), only where the municipality opted in.VPT × rate − family deduction | Portal das Finanças, taxas de IMI por município2025 | Without your VPT we estimate it as 50% of the market price, which is a rough approximation. Not included: the nationwide exemption for first homes and rates set per parish. |
| Mortgage | When buying, the yearly total includes 12 payments on a constant-payment loan of 90% of the price over 35 years, at the average rate on new housing loans. All three can be changed.12 × payment · 90% · 35 years · 3% | Banco de Portugal, BPstat (série 12533735)August 2026 | A cash-flow view: part of each payment repays capital that stays in the home. Not included: mandatory life and home insurance, bank fees and stamp duty on interest. |
| On the day you buy | Down payment, IMT (transfer tax, 2026 tables for an own permanent home; IMT Jovem when ticked) and stamp duty.down payment + IMT + 0.8% of price + 0.6% of loan | IMT and Stamp Duty codes2026 | Brackets are 25% higher in the Azores and Madeira. Shown apart: it is not part of the yearly total. |
Bills and taxes
| Indicator | What it is and how it is calculated | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water, sewage and waste | A year on the official tariff of each utility, with VAT and pass-through fees.12 × (fixed monthly charge + per-m³ tiers) | ERSAR's index on the mainland; the utilities' own tariffs elsewhere270 municipalities | Not included: social and large-family tariffs. |
| Income tax refunded by the municipality | The part of the 5% municipal share of income tax that the municipality gives back.income tax paid × (5% − share kept) | Portal das Finanças, participação dos municípios no IRS2026 | — |
| Electricity | Regulated tariff with ERSE's reference households: single person 3.45 kVA and 1,469 kWh/year, couple 3.45 kVA and 1,900 kWh, family 6.9 kVA and 5,000 kWh. | ERSE, tarifas transitórias de venda a clientes finais em BTN e tarifas de acesso às redes, outubro 2026 (erse.pt)Taxes: IVA: ERSExplica, aplicação do IVA na fatura de eletricidade, fev. 2025 (erse.pt; Lei 38/2024) · IVA do gás: 6% no termo fixo da tarifa de acesso, 23% no resto (ERSE) · IEC eletricidade 0,001 €/kWh e ISP gás natural 0,307 €/GJ (Portaria 320-D/2011) · adicionamento CO2 2026: 70,0405 €/t × 0,0561 tCO2/GJ (Ofício-Circulado AT 25086/2025) · CAV 2,85 €/mês (Lei 30/2003, não atualizada no OE 2026) | The same across the mainland; the islands have their own tariffs and VAT rates. |
| Gas | Natural gas at the regulated tariff in the 169 municipalities where DGEG lists a distribution network, with ERSE's reference use (1,610 kWh/year for a couple, 3,407 for a family). Elsewhere, the same energy in 13 kg butane bottles at €35.96; in the Azores at the regional maximum price (€23.5). | ERSE, tarifas transitórias de venda a clientes finais e tarifas de acesso às redes em BP < 10 000 m3, ano gás 2026-2027 (erse.pt)ERSE, GPL engarrafado, supervisão de preços, relatório mensal de setembro 2026 (erse.pt); preço médio anunciado de agosto 2026; poder calorífico do butano: Portgás, equivalências energéticas (portgas.pt)Governo Regional dos Açores, Fundo Regional de Coesão, preço máximo do butano em garrafas de 26 l no revendedor: 1,808 €/kg × 13 kg (PMVP a partir de 01/10/2026: portal.azores.gov.pt) | No figure for Madeira, where bottle prices are not regulated. In the 61 municipalities that still pass the subsoil fee (TOS) on to households, we add it with VAT, at the 2026 values published by the distributors (Floene, Portgás, Sonorgás). The State Budget says it should not be charged to consumers, but it still appears on bills. |
| Car | Km per month × consumption × the average price at the municipality's stations.800 km × 6.5 L/100 km × €/L | DGEG, preços dos combustíveis (precoscombustiveis.dgeg.gov.pt)26 October 2026 | 800 km/month and 6.5 L/100 km are conventions you can change: there is no official average of either. Not included: insurance, road tax (IUC) and maintenance. |
| Public transport pass | The official monthly pass of the area, one per adult. | Metropolitan areas, intermunicipal communities and operators132 municipalities | Elsewhere “no data”. |
Work and income
| Indicator | What it is and how it is calculated | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing effort rate | The monthly mortgage payment (or rent) divided by the household's gross monthly income: the local median salary × 1 earner for a single person or 2 for a couple or family, unless you enter your own income.payment ÷ (median salary × 1 or 2) | INE / GEP, Quadros de Pessoal, ganho mensal mediano2024 | Salaries are gross and measured by place of work: in commuter towns residents often earn the salary of where they work, and the effort rate on net income is higher. |
| Median and average salary | We use the median, not the average, because half of workers earn less than it and it is not pulled up by a few high earners. The average is shown too. | INE / GEP, Quadros de Pessoal, ganho mensal mediano2024INE / GEP, Quadros de Pessoal, ganho médio mensal2024 | — |
| Purchasing power | Purchasing power per capita, against the national average (100). | INE, Estudo sobre o Poder de Compra Concelhio2023 | — |
| Commute | Average one-way trip to work or school of employed and student residents. | INE, Censos 2021, movimentos pendulares2021 | Not part of the euro total. It predates later changes in transport. |
Health and family
| Indicator | What it is and how it is calculated | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crèches | Places in crèches and with childminders per 100 children under 3, adding up public, non-profit (IPSS) and private places. Below it, the not-for-profit places (public bodies, IPSS, misericórdias and cooperatives): the ones that are free under Creche Feliz without conditions. | GEP/MTSSS, Carta Social, taxa de cobertura da creche e ama (lugares por 100 crianças dos 0 aos 3 anos), painel público cartasocial.pt2024GEP/MTSSS, Carta Social, pesquisa de respostas sociais (Creche): natureza jurídica da entidade e capacidade de cada creche, cartasocial.pt22 October 2026 | In adhering private crèches it is free only when there is no agreement place near home or work. It counts places, not children, so it can pass 100. The split counts crèches only, without childminders. Mainland only: Carta Social does not cover the Azores and Madeira, which have their own schemes. |
| Nearest emergency department | The public hospital emergency services (basic, medical-surgical and polyvalent). For every Census subsection we take the nearest one and average the distance over the residents, so the figure is how far it is for the people who live there, not from the middle of the map. We name the one nearest to most residents, and the share living within 15 km.Σ (residents × km to the nearest) ÷ residents | SNS, SESARAM and Saúde Açores2026INE, BGRI 2021 (residents per Census subsection)2021 | Straight line, not by road. On the islands we only look at the same island. |
| Pharmacies | Pharmacies per 1,000 people. | INE, farmácias e postos farmacêuticos móveis por 1000 habitantes2025 | — |
Safety and population
| Indicator | What it is and how it is calculated | Source | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crime | Crimes recorded by the police per 1,000 residents. | INE / DGPJ, taxa de criminalidade2025 | Not part of the euro total. Municipalities with many tourists or commuters (Albufeira, Lisboa) look worse than daily life there suggests. |
| Ageing | Older people per 100 young people. | INE, índice de envelhecimento2025 | — |
| Burnt land | Share of the municipality that burnt at least once in the last ten complete years. On the mainland, the ICNF burnt-area polygons of each year, laid over the municipal boundaries; land that burnt twice counts once.burnt land (any year) ÷ municipal area | ICNF, territórios ardidos2016–2025INE / ICNF, superfície ardida; INE / DGT, superfície2016–2025 | There are no burnt-area maps for the islands: in Madeira we use the INE hectares, which book each fire to the municipality where it started (so a large fire can inflate one municipality), and the Azores have no fires recorded. The 2017 and 2025 fires weigh heavily in this window. A structural fire-hazard map exists for the mainland only, under a licence that does not allow this use, so it is left out. |
On the map, tiles near the coast may sit up to ~15 km inland so that no tile falls in the sea; the islands are magnified. Municipal boundaries: DGT, CAOP.