Renting in Austria: Guide and Regional Prices

The rules of apartment hunting are the same across Austria, but the markets are not. A Viennese Altbau, a new build in Innsbruck and a co-op flat in rural Upper Austria are different worlds in both price and pace. Here is the country-wide picture.

How the search works

1. Budget realistically. On top of rent there are running costs (Betriebskosten, BK), a deposit of normally three months' gross rent, and sometimes an Ablöse payment to the previous tenant for the kitchen or furniture. Rule of thumb: have four times the monthly rent available before you move.
2. Search where Austrians search. willhaben.at dominates everywhere; add immobilienscout24.at, derStandard's property section and regional portals. University towns have student housing boards (ÖH Wohnbörse).
3. Use alerts instead of scrolling. Good listings go fast. Mietscan scans willhaben every 5 minutes and pings you on Telegram or email, with filters in English – free during the beta.
4. Prepare documents, reply fast. Payslips, your residence registration (Meldezettel), a short introduction. Whoever writes within the first hours gets the viewing.
5. Check the contract before signing. Deposits, fixed terms and clauses are regulated by law, and not every contract complies. Our AI contract check reads it in minutes, in English.

Where Austria is expensive – and where it is not

The toughest rental markets have long been Innsbruck and Salzburg: limited space, tourism and students push square-metre prices above Vienna's. Vienna itself is surprisingly moderate for a capital – its huge stock of pre-war, municipal and co-op housing keeps prices in check. Graz and Linz sit noticeably below that and are popular with young professionals. The cheapest rents are in Carinthia, Burgenland and the rural parts of Lower Austria and Styria.

A useful legal anchor: the 2026 Richtwert values, which cap rents for pre-1945 apartments fully covered by the Austrian Tenancy Act (per m², since 1 April 2026, source: Statistik Austria):

• Burgenland: 6.15 €
• Vienna: 6.74 €
• Lower Austria: 6.92 €
• Upper Austria: 7.30 €
• Carinthia: 7.89 €
• Tyrol: 8.22 €
• Styria: 9.30 €
• Salzburg: 9.31 €
• Vorarlberg: 10.35 €

Context matters: these caps apply only to old buildings within the full scope of the MRG, with surcharges and deductions. New buildings and many other flats are priced freely, so market rents usually sit well above these figures. Whether the cap applies to your contract is exactly what a contract check tells you.

The markets at a glance

• Vienna: the biggest market and the fastest. Best selection at every price point.
• Graz: student city – tight from August on, best selection in spring.
• Linz: solid job market, fair rents, often overlooked.
• Salzburg: small, beautiful, scarce. Consider the surrounding Flachgau too.
• Innsbruck: the most competitive market in the country. Alerts are not a luxury here.

For all other cities, open the live map and switch the state in the filter.

Three Austrian particularities

Co-op apartments (Genossenschaftswohnungen) make up a large share of the market in Upper and Lower Austria: a one-off financing contribution buys you stable below-market rent. Municipal housing matters mostly in Vienna but comes with waiting lists and residency requirements. And in university towns, September is the worst month to search – if you can choose, search in spring or early summer.