In short
Payotte covers Germany's 16 states and its 22 largest cities. Each page computes the transfer tax at the state's official rate with the notary and land registry fees, and gives the 2022 census figures: rents run from 5.84 € per m² in Duisburg to 12.89 € in Munich.
Transfer tax rate (Grunderwerbsteuer), 19 October 2026
- 3.5%
- 5%
- 5.5%
- 6%
- 6.5%
- city
Boundaries: © BKG (2026) dl-de/by-2-0 (www.bkg.bund.de, www.govdata.de/dl-de/by-2-0), data sources: https://sgx.geodatenzentrum.de/web_public/gdz/datenquellen/datenquellen_vg_nuts.pdf; VG250, 31 Dec. 2025, modified by Payotte (simplified), simplified for display (about 1 km). Berlin and Hamburg are city-states: their page is the state page. Not an authoritative map.
States
- Baden-Württemberg5%
- Bavaria3.5%
- Berlin6%
- Brandenburg6.5%
- Bremen5.5%
- Hamburg5.5%
- Hesse6%
- Lower Saxony5%
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania6%
- North Rhine-Westphalia6.5%
- Rhineland-Palatinate5%
- Saarland6.5%
- Saxony5.5%
- Saxony-Anhalt5%
- Schleswig-Holstein6.5%
- Thuringia5%
Transfer tax rate in force on 19 October 2026.
The 22 cities, A to Z
- Berlincity-state7.67 €/m²
- BielefeldNorth Rhine-Westphalia7.12 €/m²
- BochumNorth Rhine-Westphalia6.25 €/m²
- BonnNorth Rhine-Westphalia9.09 €/m²
- Bremen (city)Bremen7.75 €/m²
- CologneNorth Rhine-Westphalia9.39 €/m²
- DortmundNorth Rhine-Westphalia6.45 €/m²
- DresdenSaxony6.92 €/m²
- DuisburgNorth Rhine-Westphalia5.84 €/m²
- DüsseldorfNorth Rhine-Westphalia9.24 €/m²
- EssenNorth Rhine-Westphalia6.72 €/m²
- FrankfurtHesse10.58 €/m²
- Hamburgcity-state9.16 €/m²
- HanoverLower Saxony7.61 €/m²
- KarlsruheBaden-Württemberg8.46 €/m²
- LeipzigSaxony6.44 €/m²
- MannheimBaden-Württemberg8.39 €/m²
- MunichBavaria12.89 €/m²
- MünsterNorth Rhine-Westphalia8.71 €/m²
- NurembergBavaria8.21 €/m²
- StuttgartBaden-Württemberg10.39 €/m²
- WuppertalNorth Rhine-Westphalia6.10 €/m²
Highest census rents
- Munich12.89 €/m²
- Frankfurt10.58 €/m²
- Stuttgart10.39 €/m²
- Cologne9.39 €/m²
- Düsseldorf9.24 €/m²
Lowest census rents
Full table: 22 cities, state, rate, buyer's costs on €400,000, census figures
| City | State | Rate | Tax, notary, registry on €400,000 | Rent €/m² | Owner-occupied | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | Berlin | 6% | €27,980 | 7.67 | 16.3% | 3,700,577 |
| Bielefeld | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 7.12 | 33.3% | 331,419 |
| Bochum | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 6.25 | 28.5% | 358,880 |
| Bonn | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 9.09 | 29.6% | 323,587 |
| Bremen (city) | Bremen | 5.5% | €25,980 | 7.75 | 37% | 588,413 |
| Cologne | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 9.39 | 24.7% | 1,025,523 |
| Dortmund | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 6.45 | 27% | 600,880 |
| Dresden | Saxony | 5.5% | €25,980 | 6.92 | 16.8% | 562,764 |
| Duisburg | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 5.84 | 26.6% | 500,810 |
| Düsseldorf | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 9.24 | 22.1% | 619,444 |
| Essen | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 6.72 | 26% | 573,618 |
| Frankfurt | Hesse | 6% | €27,980 | 10.58 | 20.1% | 760,656 |
| Hamburg | Hamburg | 5.5% | €25,980 | 9.16 | 21.6% | 1,869,473 |
| Hanover | Lower Saxony | 5% | €23,980 | 7.61 | 23.4% | 522,803 |
| Karlsruhe | Baden-Württemberg | 5% | €23,980 | 8.46 | 29.1% | 309,247 |
| Leipzig | Saxony | 5.5% | €25,980 | 6.44 | 13.5% | 615,932 |
| Mannheim | Baden-Württemberg | 5% | €23,980 | 8.39 | 27.5% | 319,536 |
| Munich | Bavaria | 3.5% | €17,980 | 12.89 | 24% | 1,505,036 |
| Münster | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 8.71 | 29.2% | 306,368 |
| Nuremberg | Bavaria | 3.5% | €17,980 | 8.21 | 28.3% | 531,159 |
| Stuttgart | Baden-Württemberg | 5% | €23,980 | 10.39 | 31.1% | 609,365 |
| Wuppertal | North Rhine-Westphalia | 6.5% | €29,980 | 6.10 | 29.4% | 357,243 |
Sources
- Rents, owner-occupation: Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder, Zensus 2022, Zensusdatenbank, table 4000W (Wohnungen, Gebietsstand 15.05.2022): 4000W-0004 average net cold rent, 4000W-0001 ownership and vacancy rates, 4000W-1001 dwellings (© Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder, Deutschland, 2026. Lizenziert unter der Datenlizenz Deutschland - Namensnennung - Version 2.0 (dl-de/by-2-0, https://www.govdata.de/dl-de/by-2-0)); population: Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), Gemeindeverzeichnis GV-ISys, « Alle politisch selbständigen Gemeinden », population based on the 2022 Census (Datenlizenz Deutschland - Namensnennung - Version 2.0 (dl-de/by-2-0). File footer: "© Daten (im Auftrag der Herausgebergemeinschaft Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder) Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), 2026 Vervielfältigung und Verbreitung, auch auszugsweise, mit Quellenangabe gestattet.").
- Taxes and fees: rates and sources of the calculator.