Monthly living costs
During your studies, you have to think about some expenses - semester contribution, housing costs, health insurance, broadcasting fee, food, cell phone contract and expenses for your leisure activities. Obviously, you are not only here to study all day, but also to enjoy your free time! North Rhine-Westphalia is a region worth visiting, which you can easily explore with the help of the student ticket. To make your stay in Dortmund an unforgettable experience, you should have sufficient financial resources to cover your expenses and live with peace of mind. Approximately how much money should you budget for monthly living expenses?
Overall, the monthly cost of living in Dortmund is roughly estimated as follows:
| approx. €350 - €500 | housing costs(Opens in a new tab) (Dortmund and the surrounding area are quite cheap compared to other cities) |
| approx. €200 | food (meals etc.) |
| approx. €100 | insurance for health, accident, third party insurance |
| approx. €18 | broadcasting fee |
| approx. €20 | cell phone, internet |
| approx. €50 | clothing |
| approx. €30 | working materials, study equipment |
| approx. €60 | free time, culture, sports |
| approx. €60 | as a buffer for the semester contribution(Opens in a new tab) (per semester approx. €350) |
Since winter semester 2022/23, the recommended financial resources you should have available each month amount to €934. Further information on the website of the BAföG institute(Opens in a new tab) .
Please note that this calculation is an approximate figure that does not include your individual fixed costs. Also, this calculation can change at any time (tendency is increasing).
Housing costs
The rental costs for a fully furnished room in a student dormitory or private apartment in Dortmund and the surrounding area vary between €200 and €500.
This makes living in Dortmund very affordable compared to other cities in Germany! If you would like to have a larger apartment, the costs are higher, of course. Furnished rooms or apartments are also more expensive and not very common in Germany.
Advice: For unfurnished rooms you can quickly and cheaply buy used furniture in a very good condition - online or in special second-hand stores. You can also often buy the furniture directly from the previous tenant - just have the courage to ask. You can always negotiate about the price.
Please also keep in mind that when renting private accommodation, you have to add costs for heating, electricity, water, garbage collection, broadcasting etc. to your rent.
Broadcasting fee
The broadcasting contribution must be paid by everyone residing in Germany. The contribution is billed per apartment. The broadcasting fee must be paid by every apartment, even though this apartment is exclusively occupied by foreign students (including exchange students or scholarship holders) and you do not own a television or radio. The monthly costs currently amount to approximately €18.
You live in a shared apartment? In shared apartments (WGs) only one person needs to be registered, as a shared apartment is considered to be one household. The other flatmates must inform the authority that one person is already registered and already paying the contributions - the paying person must be named on the reply form and their membership number must also be provided. This is done by means of an online form. The roommates are then obliged to pay the share of the contribution to the person paying the contribution.
Further information about the broadcasting fee for students:
www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/welcome/englisch/students_and_apprentices