If you're planning on moving to Spain, how well off an area is may be something that could influence your search for somewhere to live. So, what is the wealthiest city in Spain? And where do the rich live in Spain? We have the details, along with the areas in Spain with the most and least unemployment.
National Statistics about cities in Spain in 2022
Pozuelo de Alarcón (a municipality in the outskirts of Madrid) is the area with the highest average income and lowest unemployment rate in Spain. This is according to the "Indicadores Urbanos 2022" (2022 Urban Indicators) statistics which have been published by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE).
Unemployment rates in Spain 2021/2022
According to the data, Pozuelo (Madrid) is the municipality in Spain with the lowest estimated average unemployment rate in 2021, with a rate of 6.2%, followed by Sant Cugat del Vallès (6.4%) and Las Rozas de Madrid (7.1%). After Pozuelo, Sant Cugat del Vallès and Las Rozas, the Madrid municipality of Majadahonda (7.4%), Donostia-San Sebastián (7.8%) and Getxo (7.9%) also stand out for their low unemployment rates.
In contrast, all of the cities with the highest unemployment rates in Spain are found in Andalusia. Linares (Jaén), with 30.9%, followed by La Línea de la Concepción (30.3%) and Alcalá de Guadaíra (26.9%) had the highest unemployment rates.
Therefore, of the 15 municipalities with the lowest estimated average unemployment rates for 2021 and 2022, 6 are in the Community of Madrid, 4 in Catalonia, 3 in the Basque Country and 2 in Galicia. On the other hand, as mentioned, among the top 5 municipalities with the highest unemployment, 4 are located in Andalusia: after Linares, La Línea de la Concepción and Alcalá de Guadaira, Jerez de la Frontera comes in with an unemployment rate of 26%. The fifth municipality with the highest unemployment rate is Santa Lucía de Tirajana, in Gran Canaria, with 26%.
On the whole, of the 15 municipalities with the highest unemployment in Spain, 11 belong to Andalusia and 4 to the Canary Islands (Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Arrecife, Telde and Santa Cruz de Tenerife).
In terms of activity rates, i.e. the proportion of the local population which is employed, the areas with the highest in 2021 were Rivas-Vaciamadrid (69.7%), Valdemoro (68.8%) and Parla (67.4%). On the other hand, the cities with the lowest activity rates were Ferrol (49.9%), León (50.2%) and Salamanca (50.4%).
The richest municipality in Spain 2022
The INE statistics also include data on average annual income, this time referring to the year 2019. Pozuelo de Alarcón, a municipality on the outskirts of the city of Madrid, repeats as the area with the highest average net annual income per inhabitant, with this figure standing at 26,367 euros. Pozuelo is followed by Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), with an average net income of 21,976 euros, and Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona), with 21,122 euros.
According to the statistics, Madrid and Barcelona have the 10 neighbourhoods with the highest average net annual income per inhabitant in Spain, making Madrid and Barcelona the wealthiest cities in Spain.
On the other hand, the cities with the lowest income per inhabitant were Níjar (Almería), with an income of 7,097 euros, Vícar (Almería), with 7,634 euros, and Los Palacios y Villafranca (Seville), with 8,054 euros.