In France, the median monthly standard of living is just over €2,000 for a single person, after taxes and social benefits. This means that half of the French people live on less than this amount each month, and the other half live on more. To get another idea of the income level of the French, we can look at salary levels: 20% of employees earn less than €1,700 per month, while 10% receive a monthly salary of more than €4,300.
Given these differences, not everyone necessarily has the same vision of the amount of money they consider necessary to have at their disposal per month to live comfortably. However, studies show that the average ideal income is needed to avoid financial problems daily. The INSEE, for example, indicated that €2,500 per month represents, on average, the amount that the French consider essential to have to live well. Another survey conducted on the purchasing power of the French concluded that the French are about €500 short per month to live comfortably. These are, of course, averages that inevitably vary depending on family situation, age, or even place of residence, elements that have a direct link to the level of one’s expenses and therefore the money needed to meet them.
€2,500 per month the ideal amount for a good life, according to an INSEE study
In June 2024, INSEE published a study entitled “Perceived well-being and income: does money buy happiness?” in which the organization tested the life satisfaction felt by French households surveyed according to their standard of living.
To this end, INSEE has measured what it calls a “satiety threshold”, that is to say, the level of income beyond which earning more no longer brings additional happy moments and no longer contributes to perceived well-being.
It appears that in France this satiety threshold amounts to almost €30,000 per year and per consumption unit (CU), a measurement tool which makes it possible to compare the living standards of households of different sizes and composition (1 CU for the first adult in the household, 0.5 CU for other people aged 14 or over, and 0.3 CU for children under 14).
In other words, for the French surveyed by INSEE, the amount of money needed to live comfortably is estimated at around €2,500 per month for a single person.
Note: In this same study, this satiety threshold was also measured in 5 other countries. It is €80,000 in the United States (€6,700 per month), €60,000 in Australia (€5,000 per month), €45,000 in the United Kingdom (nearly €4,000 per month), and €40,000 in Germany (a little over €3,000 per month). These amounts are therefore higher in these countries than the income that the French consider necessary to live well.
€2,500 per month for a single person in France to live comfortably is, of course, an average. This amount inevitably varies from household to household, particularly depending on the age of the people surveyed, their place of residence, and their family situation.
The highest income levels mentioned for living comfortably (up to almost €3,000 per month for a single person) are thus observed among those over 67, people who live in areas of high urban density, particularly in Ile-de-France, which is not surprising given the weight of housing costs in these areas.
Conversely, the French who indicate that a sum between €2,000 and €2,200 per month is enough to be happy in life are more likely to be single-parent families, people aged 43 to 54, who say they work less than 30 hours per week, or who live in small towns.
The French are missing just over €500 per month to live comfortably
Another study published more recently says a little more, and differently, about the amount of money considered necessary to live comfortably.
In its 14th barometer of the purchasing power of the French based on a survey conducted among 1,000 people aged 18 and over from May 22 to 30, 2025, Cofidis indicates that the French are on average short of €507 each month to live without money problems.
Incidentally, this estimate rose to €556 per month in 2024, a higher level linked in particular to the inflationary peak experienced by the French at that time.
This level of additional income is desired to live comfortably, which is not surprising in a context where the purchasing power of the French remains one of their primary concerns, along with health and insecurity, particularly because the period is still marked by inflation, even if the latter tends to slow down. As this Cofidis barometer indicates, one in two French people thus report living under budgetary constraints.
Having an extra €500 per month could allow a large proportion of French people surveyed in this survey (40%) to prioritize purchasing food products. 33% would spend this money on leisure activities and 25% on household goods.
Living comfortably thanks to the possibility of having this additional sum per month does not therefore mean living beyond one’s m, means and even less aspiring to live in wealth!
If we refer to the median standard of living in France, which is €2,000 per month for a single person (half have less and the other half more), and we add these €500 per month that the French lack to live decently, we are in fact far from the threshold defined by the Observatory of Inequalities from which we can consider that a person is rich and therefore lives well, which is €4,000 per month for a single person!
