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Quick summary
No Austrian state sets its own income tax or social insurance contributions, so there is no “cheapest state” to find in the tax return. The differences sit in housing and land (who may buy, how holiday homes are restricted, reference rents, subsidies and allowances), in childcare fees, in the daily hospital contribution, in a few state and municipal charges and in social assistance. This page compares the states on those points at summary depth for anyone living in Austria or buying property here, and links to the article that goes deeper on each point. It gives no verdict on which state is better, because that depends on facts about a household that no table holds.
The question people bring is usually “which Austrian state makes the most financial sense”. Austria’s tax system gives no answer to it, because income tax, social insurance contributions and the Grunderwerbsteuer (property transfer tax) are federal and apply the same way in Vienna and in Vorarlberg. What the states do control is a set of costs and rules that surround a household: the price of a flat, who may buy land, what a nursery costs and what a hospital bed adds to the bill.
This page walks through those points one at a time, names the states each statement was checked for, and sends you to the state’s own portal where it wasn’t possible to check all nine. For the state-level overview, the State-by-State Variations hub collects the deeper articles.
What is the same everywhere
Federal law sets the tax tariff and the social insurance contributions, so a salary produces the same income tax and the same contributions in every state. How the tariff works is covered in how Austria’s income tax brackets work, and the contribution side in how Austrian social insurance works.
The Grunderwerbsteuer on a paid purchase of land or a flat is 3.50% of the value in every state. The full cost stack of a purchase, with the state-specific parts marked, is in the cost of buying property.
Rent indexation is also federal: a rent that follows an index clause rises on the same timetable everywhere, as the article on the rent increase cap explains. The part that isn’t federal is the level of the reference rent, which comes up below.
International organisation staff
Staff of international organisations headquartered in Vienna can have tax and social insurance status set by headquarters agreements, so the federal points above may not apply to them. None of the state sources read here addresses that status, and the organisation’s HR or legal office is the place to ask. The wider picture is in the article on international organisation staff.
Land and holiday homes
Grundverkehr (the state rules on acquiring land) is state law, and each state has its own act. On the federal government’s portal, EU and EEA nationals are treated like Austrians, while nationals of other countries generally have to go through an approval procedure, and the same page says the rules differ by state: according to the government’s page on foreign land acquisition (in German), a non-EU buyer in Graz needs no approval, and in Vienna a married couple needs none if one spouse is an Austrian citizen.
The fee for an approval follows each state’s own schedule too. Tyrol charges a flat , Vienna EUR 130 per applicant, and Vorarlberg’s fee tops out at . The nine-state comparison of who needs approval is in the article on foreigners buying property.
Contested flag
Whether a state approves a particular purchase is decided case by case by the state authority under that state’s law. This page does not estimate the chances of any approval, and the state authority is the source.
Holiday and second homes are a separate layer, and the restrictions attach to how a home is used, so they bind Austrians as well. The table gives the position in all nine states as the article on holiday homes by state found it. A “none found” row describes what the research read, not a guarantee.
| State | Restriction on leisure use |
|---|---|
| Burgenland | Declaration in restricted municipalities |
| Carinthia | Special zoning designation for holiday homes |
| Lower Austria | None found |
| Upper Austria | Approval needed in designated restricted areas |
| Salzburg | Allowed only in designated second-home areas |
| Styria | Holiday zones and municipal zoning |
| Tyrol | Only registered or permitted holiday homes |
| Vorarlberg | Allowed only in designated areas |
| Vienna | None found |
A yearly second-home levy is a separate charge. Six states have one: Carinthia (municipal, under an act that is replaced from 1 January 2027), Upper Austria (a flat charge by flat size), Salzburg, Styria and Vorarlberg (municipal, within a state ceiling) and Tyrol (set by the council between a minimum and a maximum). The holiday-homes research found none in Burgenland, Lower Austria or Vienna.
The fines for unlawful use run to a maximum of EUR 80,000 in Tyrol and EUR 50,000 in Salzburg (maximums, not typical amounts). Single-state depth is in Tyrol’s property rules and Salzburg’s property rules.
Reference rents
For flats where the Tenancy Act applies in full, the maximum rent starts from the Richtwert (reference rent per m² a month), and each state has its own. Statistik Austria publishes the values from 1 April 2026, according to its table of reference rents (in German).
| State | Reference rent per m² a month |
|---|---|
| Burgenland | EUR 6.15 |
| Lower Austria | EUR 6.92 |
| Vienna | EUR 6.74 |
| Carinthia | EUR 7.89 |
| Upper Austria | EUR 7.30 |
| Tyrol | EUR 8.22 |
| Styria | EUR 9.30 |
| Salzburg | EUR 9.31 |
| Vorarlberg | EUR 10.35 |
The Richtwert is the starting point only. Surcharges and deductions move the permitted rent up or down, whether a given flat falls under these rules at all is decided case by case, and the next rise on 1 April 2027 is capped at 2%. The mechanics are in the article on reference rents, and the wider rent rules in renting in Austria.
Illustration
A hypothetical 70 m² flat where the reference-rent rules apply in full, in either Vienna or the city of Salzburg, using the Richtwerte in force from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.
Assumptions: only the Richtwert itself is multiplied by the floor area; surcharges, deductions, the fixed-term discount, service charges and VAT are left out, so the result is a starting point and not a rent. The flat’s state is the only difference.
In Vienna, 70 m² at EUR 6.74 gives EUR 471.80 a month. In Salzburg, 70 m² at EUR 9.31 gives EUR 651.70 a month, a starting point EUR 179.90 higher.
Vienna against the rest
Vienna is not simply a more or less expensive version of the other states; its rental market is built differently. Statistik Austria’s 2025 microcensus shows that Vienna has by far the largest share of rented flats owned by the municipality, according to its March 2026 housing release (in German). The table gives each state’s share of main rentals that are municipal flats; “not published” marks a value Statistik Austria calls statistically not interpretable.
| State | Municipal flats, share of main rentals |
|---|---|
| Vienna | 25.9% |
| Lower Austria | 8.1% |
| Burgenland | not published |
| Styria | 7.6% |
| Carinthia | 10.7% |
| Upper Austria | 2.8% |
| Salzburg | 3.6% |
| Tyrol | 11.6% |
| Vorarlberg | 10.3% |
Across Austria the share is 14.9%. The same release puts 21.0% of Vienna’s main rentals under the reference-rent rules, against 13.4% across Austria and between 6.0% and 11.4% in the other states where a value is published.
Cooperative and non-profit association flats are a third category: 28.7% of Vienna’s main rentals and 39.3% across the country. Private rentals on the free market make up 22.0% in Vienna, against 31.2% for Austria and 48.0% in Salzburg, 52.0% in Tyrol and 55.4% in Vorarlberg.
For a hypothetical newcomer, that mix means the rules behind a rent differ by state before any price is compared: in Vienna a larger share of rents sits under the reference-rent rules or a municipal landlord, and in Tyrol, Salzburg and Vorarlberg about half or more of rentals are privately set. The same release puts the Austria-wide average at 10.4 euros per m² including service charges for the last quarter, and it gives no average rent by state. This page therefore compares no state’s average rent and makes no claim that Vienna is dearer or cheaper than another state. Vienna’s municipal and non-profit housing is covered in the article on subsidised housing.
Housing subsidies and allowances
Wohnbauförderung (the housing subsidy) is state-run: each state sets the loans and grants for building, buying and renovating, and who qualifies. The federal overview is in the article on housing subsidies, and the nine-state tables are in housing subsidies by state.
The money that funds it is also state-set. The Wohnbauförderungsbeitrag (housing-subsidy contribution) is withheld from pay, and since January 2018 the states set its rate, according to Vienna’s page on the contribution (in German). From 1 January 2026 Vienna’s rate is 0.75% for the employee and the same for the employer, while the employee share in the other eight states is 0.50%, according to the social insurance umbrella body’s contribution values for 2026 (in German).
Illustration
A hypothetical employee in the tax year with a monthly contribution base of EUR 3,000, working either in Vienna or in one of the other eight states.
Assumptions: 14 salary payments a year; the EUR 3,000 is an assumed monthly base for regular pay; the contribution isn’t charged on the 13th and 14th salaries, so they’re left out; only the employee share is shown. A real payslip follows the payroll rules and can differ.
In Vienna the employee share is 0.75% of EUR 3,000, or EUR 22.50 a month. At 0.50% it’s EUR 15.00, so the Vienna employee pays EUR 7.50 a month more, or EUR 90 over the 12 regular salaries of the year.
A Wohnbeihilfe (housing allowance, a payment toward rent) is a separate state benefit for tenants, and the states name and run it differently. Two states were checked for this page. In Vienna, the city’s page on the allowance (in German) lists Austrian citizens and those treated as such, including EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, and long-term settled foreign nationals who have lived in Austria lawfully for at least 5 years, and the application goes to the Wohnbeihilfenstelle in MA 50.
Tyrol calls its version Mietzins-Beihilfe, and its state page (in German) says the state pays 80% and the municipality 20%, that people other than Austrians and equivalent persons need a main residence in Tyrol for at least 5 years, and that the application goes to the municipal office. The other seven states weren’t checked here; housing allowances by state goes through them, and each state’s housing portal is the source for a given rule.
Childcare
Childcare is the states’ competence, and so fees, opening hours and free places differ. The government portal’s page on where children are looked after (in German) says the cost of a Krippe (nursery for the youngest children) depends on the state, with free places in some states, as well as on the provider, the parents’ income and the hours.
One rule is the same everywhere: the half-day kindergarten attendance in the last year before school is compulsory and free of charge. The page doesn’t say which states make a nursery free, so this page doesn’t either. Childcare costs and free kindergarten years covers the state differences and how the costs are treated for tax.
Hospital contribution and other charges
When a social insurance member stays in hospital in the general fee class, a daily Kostenbeitrag (hospital cost contribution) is charged for at most 28 days per calendar year. The 28-day cap and part of the daily amount are federal, but each state adds its own layer, so the total differs: the Gesundheitsportal’s page on hospital stays (in German), last updated 16 January 2024, puts it between roughly EUR 12 and EUR 16 a day depending on the state.
For Vorarlberg’s state hospitals, the operator’s information sheet for 2026 (in German) gives EUR 15.58 a day. For any other state, the hospital’s admissions office gives the current amount.
Illustration
A hypothetical insured patient who spends 10 days in a Vorarlberg state hospital in the general fee class in the calendar year.
Assumptions: no other hospital stays in the year; no exemption applies; the insurer doesn’t charge its own co-payment instead.
Ten days at EUR 15.58 come to EUR 155.80. A stay that ran to the 28-day cap would cost EUR 436.24 for the year, and any days beyond the 28th would cost nothing more.
Several smaller charges also differ by state or municipality. The ORF-Beitrag (the broadcasting contribution) carries a state levy in Burgenland, Carinthia, Styria and Tyrol, and none in Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Vorarlberg or Vienna, according to the business service portal’s page on the contribution (in German). The amounts are in the article on the ORF-Beitrag, and the wider budget in household costs. Second-home levies are in the table above, and state and municipal charges gathers the rest. Tourism levies on letting a flat are in short-term letting.
Social assistance
Sozialhilfe (social assistance, the last-resort benefit) is built in two layers. A federal framework law sets the principles and maximum rates, and each state implements it in its own law, so the state laws needn’t be identical, according to the government portal’s page on social assistance (in German).
The Social Ministry’s page on the benefit (in German), last updated 1 January 2026, gives the federal maximum for a single adult or single parent as around EUR 1,230 a month. It also notes that the states add their own parts: couples are graded differently, the states may add supplements for single parents and housing costs, and Vienna, Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg have traditionally paid extra housing-cost benefits.
Contested flag
The ministry page says Tyrol had not yet enacted an implementing law, so its amounts differ from those in the other states. Tyrol’s government sent an amendment to its own Mindestsicherung law for consultation on 27 February 2026 with a planned start of 1 July 2026, according to the state’s press release (in German). Whether it has since been passed and is in force was not confirmed, so Tyrol’s current rules are a question for the state authority.
Who can claim, and how earnings interact with the benefit, depends on the state law and the person’s circumstances, and Sozialhilfe by state goes through the money rules as published, without assessing anyone’s eligibility.
Tip
Each state’s own portal is the source for a state rule: burgenland.at, ktn.gv.at, noe.gv.at, land-oberoesterreich.gv.at, salzburg.gv.at, steiermark.at, tirol.gv.at, vorarlberg.at and wien.gv.at. When a state page and a federal summary differ, the state’s text governs the state rule.
Bottom line
The states differ on land and holiday-home rules, reference rents, housing subsidies and allowances, childcare, the daily hospital contribution, a few charges and social assistance. Income tax, social insurance, the Grunderwerbsteuer rate and rent indexation are the same everywhere. Vienna’s rental market is built differently from the others, with larger municipal and reference-rent shares, but official statistics give no average rent by state, so this page draws no ranking.
Getting help
A rule that differs by state is answered by that state’s own authority: the Grundverkehr office for a purchase, the housing office for a subsidy or allowance, the municipality for a nursery fee or a levy, and the social welfare office for Sozialhilfe. For a purchase, a notary can be found through the Chamber of Notaries’ online finder, and for disputes a lawyer through the Austrian Bar’s lawyer finder, which has a language filter.
For a rent question, the Arbeiterkammer in the state concerned gives free advice to its members, and where one exists the municipal Schlichtungsstelle handles rent disputes (in Vienna, MA 50). For individual tax questions across states, a tax adviser (Steuerberater) can be checked in the member directory of the Chamber of Tax Advisers and Auditors.
Official sources
- Government portal, general information on foreign land acquisition (in German)
- Statistik Austria, reference rents from 1 April 2026 (in German)
- Statistik Austria, housing release with the tenancy types by state (in German)
- City of Vienna, housing-subsidy contribution (in German)
- Social Ministry, social assistance benefits (in German)
- Government portal, where children are looked after (in German)
