Across Germany, there are huge differences in the amounts households pay for water and waste disposal. A new ranking has shown where people pay the most, and where they pay the least. 

Bremen has the highest additional housing costs in Germany

The ranking, put together by the German Taxpayers’ Association (BdSt), looked at the average additional costs paid by a three-person household living in a single-family home in state capital cities across the country. This includes water charges, sewage and wastewater charges, property taxes, and the TV licence fee (which is the same nationwide). 

Their figures show that there is almost a 1.000-euro discrepancy between the lowest and highest additional living costs. In Erfurt in Thuringia, where costs are lowest, households pay an average of 1.566 euros per year in 2024; in Bremen, the most expensive location, costs total 2.420 euros per year. 

Property costs are rising across Germany

Overall, they found that additional living costs have risen by an average of 68 euros per year over the past 12 months - but that’s just the average. In Bremen, costs have risen by 158 euros, and in Dresden they have gone up by a huge 283 euros. Kiel (where costs have fallen by 11 euros per year) and Berlin (minimal change) are the only state capitals where costs haven’t gone up. 

Here is the full breakdown of the costs:

• Erfurt - 1.247,51 additional costs + 318,89 property tax = 1.566,40 euros
• Mainz - 1.183,64 + 403,87 = 1.587,51
• Schwerin - 1.286,84 + 321,18 = 1.608,02
• Berlin East - 1.260,61 + 360,93 = 1.621,54
• Munich - 1.272,79 + 500,76 = 1.773,55
• Kiel - 1.200,83 + 575,00 = 1.775,83
• Düsseldorf - 1.215,53 + 571,74 = 1.787,27
• Magdeburg - 1.490,82 + 352,94 = 1.843,76
• Potsdam - 1.579,08 + 341,06 = 1.920,14
• Dresden - 1.646,42 + 344,74 = 1.991,16
• Stuttgart - 1.386,94 + 670,07 = 2.057,01
• Wiesbaden - 1.454,10 + 646,34 = 2.100,44
• Saarbrücken - 1.579,69 + 597,53 = 2.177,22
• Hannover - 1.490,82 + 724,15 = 2.214,97
• Berlin West - 1,260,61 + 1.040,96 = 2.301,57
• Hamburg - 1.265,48 + 1.050,46 = 2.315,94
• Bremen - 1.412,18 + 1.007,75 = 2.419,93

BdSt calls on government to scrap tax rises

"The state is a major driver of the cost of housing,” said BdSt president Reiner Holznagel. “People must not be burdened any further under any circumstances.” The association is calling for the government to rule out any increases to property tax rates - with a major shakeup of the property tax system on the horizon for 2025, people are still unsure how much they will have to pay in property tax from next year. 

BdSt is also asking for the government to further relieve households by reducing taxation on electricity, and also to provide financial incentives for people buying a house for the first time.