Expat families in Paris settle in three territories. Inside the city, the western arrondissements (16th, 7th, 8th and 17th) trade at 9,360 to 12,940 EUR/m2 for older apartments (Notaires du Grand Paris, end December 2025). Just west, Neuilly-sur-Seine (10,428 EUR/m2 median) and Boulogne-Billancourt (8,252 EUR/m2) offer commune-scale life on the metro, while the western school belt from Saint-Cloud to Saint-Germain-en-Laye offers family houses at 6,000 to 8,644 EUR/m2 within reach of four major international schools (Notaires de France, sales to June 2026).
The three family territories of Paris
Ask where expat families live in Paris and the answer is remarkably consistent across nationalities. They concentrate in three territories, all west of the city's centre of gravity. The first is western Paris intra-muros, the 16th, 7th, 8th and 17th arrondissements, where the International School of Paris and the EIB network keep their campuses. The second is the near-west pair of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt, just beyond the ring road. The third is the western school belt of the Yvelines and Hauts-de-Seine, from Saint-Cloud to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, structured by the RER A line and four major international campuses.
The choice between them is rarely about prestige. It is a triangle of constraints: the school your children will attend, the commute the working parent can absorb, and the surface area your budget buys. This guide puts verified figures on all three, using the notaires' official price data published in 2025 and 2026 and the schools' own 2026-2027 fee schedules, which we detail in our guide to international school fees in Paris.
The map in numbers
Two official sources are used below and should not be mixed. Inside Paris, the Notaires du Grand Paris publish standardized prices for older apartments (latest: end December 2025, published February 2026, plus a Q3 2025 series for the Left Bank). For the suburbs, the Notaires de France database publishes median prices from actual sales recorded between July 2025 and June 2026 (consulted 17 July 2026). For reference, the Paris-wide average stood at 9,600 EUR/m2 at end December 2025 and 9,530 EUR/m2 in April 2026.
| Zone | Profile | Indicative price per m2 (dated, sourced) | International schools nearby | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16th arrondissement | Residential streets beside the Bois de Boulogne (846 ha) | 10,050 EUR/m2, older apartments, end Dec 2025 (Notaires du Grand Paris) | ISP (all three campuses), Kingsworth, EIB Trocadero and Lamartine | Central Paris, metro network |
| 7th and 8th arrondissements | Landmark addresses around the Champ de Mars and Parc Monceau | 12,940 and 11,500 EUR/m2, end Dec 2025 (Notaires du Grand Paris) | EIB Grenelle (7th), EIB Monceau Primary (8th) | Central Paris, metro network |
| 17th arrondissement | The value entry to western Paris, below the city average | 9,360 EUR/m2, end Dec 2025 (Notaires du Grand Paris) | EIB Monceau Middle School, EIB Etoile High School, EIB Wagram (opening Sept 2026) | Central Paris, metro network |
| Neuilly-sur-Seine | Commune-scale calm at Paris prices | 10,428 EUR/m2 median, older apartments, 12 months to July 2026 (Notaires de France) | Marymount International School (ages 2-14) | Metro line 1, Pont de Neuilly station |
| Boulogne-Billancourt | The pragmatic near-west, about 20 percent below Neuilly | 8,252 EUR/m2 median, older apartments, same period (Notaires de France) | American School of Paris, directly across the Seine in Saint-Cloud | Metro lines 9 and 10, five stations |
| Saint-Cloud | Hillside family houses above the Seine | 8,644 EUR/m2 median, older houses, sales July 2025 to June 2026 (Notaires de France) | American School of Paris (25,000 to 41,400 EUR, 2026-27) | Facing Boulogne across the Seine |
| Le Vesinet and Croissy-sur-Seine | Garden-city streets on the RER A | 7,717 and 6,675 EUR/m2 median, older houses, same period (Notaires de France) | British School of Paris in Croissy (21,305 to 35,087 EUR, 2026-27) | RER A, Chatou-Croissy to Etoile in 16 min |
| Saint-Germain-en-Laye | The historic international-school town | 6,000 EUR/m2 median, older houses, same period (Notaires de France) | Lycee International (public, 14 national sections), Forest International School in nearby Mareil-Marly | RER A terminus, La Defense in 18 min |
| Maisons-Laffitte | Parkland avenues and equestrian heritage | 7,705 EUR/m2 median, older houses, same period (Notaires de France) | Ermitage International School (7,500 to 28,950 EUR day fees, 2026-27) | RER A and Transilien L |
| 5th, 6th and 15th arrondissements | The family Left Bank, from the Luxembourg to Convention | 14,010 (6th), 11,410 (5th) and 8,960 (15th) EUR/m2, older apartments, Q3 2025 (Notaires du Grand Paris) | Ecole Jeannine Manuel and ICS Paris, both in the 15th | Central Paris, metro network |
Western Paris intra-muros: 16th, 7th, 8th and 17th
These four arrondissements are the default answer to the question of the best arrondissement for families among international buyers who want to stay inside the city. The price ladder is clear. At end December 2025 the 7th led at 12,940 EUR/m2 (up 4.2 percent over one year), followed by the 8th at 11,500 EUR/m2, the 16th at 10,050 EUR/m2 and the 17th at 9,360 EUR/m2, the only one of the four below the Paris average of 9,600 EUR/m2 (Notaires du Grand Paris). The 7th is the most expensive of the four and the third most expensive arrondissement in Paris, behind only the 6th (13,400 EUR/m2) and the 4th (13,020 EUR/m2) at end December 2025 (Notaires du Grand Paris).
What families buy here, beyond the address, is green space at scale. The 16th runs along the Bois de Boulogne, 846 hectares of lakes, rowing boats and the Jardin d'Acclimatation (Ville de Paris). The 7th has the Champ de Mars, roughly 24.5 hectares open around the clock (Paris.fr lists it as accessible 24/24). The 8th and 17th share the Parc Monceau, 8.3 hectares of classic English-style garden landscaped by Alphand in 1861.
The school geography follows. The International School of Paris concentrates all three of its IB campuses in the 16th (Ranelagh, Cortambert and Beethoven), Kingsworth operates two British-curriculum campuses in the same arrondissement, and the EIB network covers all four arrondissements with seven intra-muros campuses, from Grenelle in the 7th to the Etoile high school in the 17th, including a new Wagram site announced for September 2026.
Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt
Cross the ring road and Paris pricing continues, but the texture changes to quiet, commune-scale family life. Neuilly-sur-Seine (59,538 residents, INSEE 2023) posts a median of 10,428 EUR/m2 for older apartments, the highest in the Hauts-de-Seine (Notaires de France, 12 months to July 2026), and a median standard of living of 56,030 EUR per year (2023), among the highest in France. Marymount International School serves ages 2 to 14 on the boulevard de la Saussaye at 23,250 to 38,500 EUR for 2026-2027, and metro line 1 runs from Pont de Neuilly to the Etoile, Concorde and Chatelet without a change.
Boulogne-Billancourt (119,019 residents, INSEE 2023) is the pragmatic alternative at 8,252 EUR/m2 median, roughly 20 percent below Neuilly, with a distinctly professional profile (35.4 percent of residents aged 15 and over are senior executives or knowledge professionals, INSEE 2023) and five metro stations on lines 9 and 10. The American School of Paris sits directly across the Seine in Saint-Cloud. Departmental context: Hauts-de-Seine apartments averaged 6,020 EUR/m2 in Q1 2026, up 1.7 percent over one year, the strongest rise of any departement in the Paris region (Notaires du Grand Paris, 28 May 2026).
The western suburbs of Paris: the school belt
For families who want a house with a garden, the answer lies further west, in a belt of Yvelines and Hauts-de-Seine communes organised around four international school poles. Median prices for older houses (Notaires de France, sales July 2025 to June 2026) run from 6,000 EUR/m2 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and 6,675 EUR/m2 in Croissy-sur-Seine to 7,705 EUR/m2 in Maisons-Laffitte, 7,717 EUR/m2 in Le Vesinet and 8,644 EUR/m2 in Saint-Cloud, the most expensive of the five. Apartments in the same communes trade well below Paris levels, at 5,392 to 6,500 EUR/m2 median.
Each commune pairs with a school. Saint-Germain-en-Laye hosts the Lycee International, a public school teaching through 14 national sections up to the French international baccalaureate, with only section fees to pay. Croissy-sur-Seine is home to the British School of Paris (21,305 to 35,087 EUR for 2026-2027). Maisons-Laffitte has the Ermitage, whose dual French-bilingual and IB tracks span 7,500 to 28,950 EUR in day fees. Saint-Cloud hosts the American School of Paris (25,000 to 41,400 EUR). Mareil-Marly, beside Saint-Germain, adds the Forest International School (12,500 to 23,000 EUR at standard rates).
The belt works because of the RER A: Saint-Germain-en-Laye is the line's terminus, with La Defense displayed at 18 minutes and a 2.55 EUR fare on the RATP journey planner (checked 17 July 2026). Families buying a house here face the same legal sequence as any non-resident purchaser in France; our guide to buying property in France as a foreigner walks through it step by step.
The family Left Bank: 5th, 6th and 15th
The Left Bank is the counter-proposal to the west. The 6th is the most expensive arrondissement in Paris at 14,010 EUR/m2, with the 5th at 11,410 EUR/m2 (older apartments, Q3 2025, Notaires du Grand Paris). Family life here orbits the Jardin du Luxembourg, 25.72 hectares managed by the French Senate, which drew 6.2 million visitors in 2022 (Senate figures).
The 15th is the value play of the trio at 8,960 EUR/m2, about 36 percent below the 6th, and it is the most populous arrondissement in the city (231,476 residents, INSEE reference 2023), a genuinely residential district around the Parc Andre-Citroen (about 14 hectares). Two significant bilingual and international schools anchor it: the Ecole Jeannine Manuel on rue du Theatre (10,260 to 32,560 EUR for 2026-2027 depending on level and programme) and ICS Paris on rue de Cronstadt (20,994 to 32,976 EUR for 2026-2027). For families targeting either school, the 15th allows a walking school run at a price no western arrondissement matches.
The school run: buses, the RER A and realistic commutes
Our standing advice is to choose the school before the home, then test the commute in both directions. The two Anglo-American campuses in the west run their own bus networks into Paris. The American School of Paris charges 4,250 EUR per year for zone 1 and 4,700 EUR for zone 2 in 2026-2027, late bus included, covering the 7th, 8th and 16th arrondissements and the western suburbs. The British School of Paris covers the 7th, 8th, 16th and 17th plus some 25 western communes, with routes and rates provided on request through its parent portal.
On rail, the RER A does the heavy lifting: Chatou-Croissy to Charles de Gaulle-Etoile is displayed at 16 minutes and Saint-Germain-en-Laye at 23 minutes, with peak trains every 6 to 12 minutes (public timetables, checked 17 July 2026). By car, no official journey times are published; treat road commutes as traffic-dependent and test them at 8 am, not on a Sunday.
Is Paris child friendly?
Honestly, yes, at neighbourhood scale, with one structural caveat. The city maintains 536 parks and gardens, and 60.1 percent of Parisians live within 300 metres of a public green space (Insee Premiere no. 2049). Daily life for a child is walkable: school, park, pool and market typically sit within a few hundred metres. On safety, the official SSMSI data (file of 25 June 2026) shows that the gap between Paris and its western communes concerns non-violent theft (45.1 per 1,000 inhabitants in Paris against 6.4 to 13.2 in the west), a pattern linked to tourist density in central districts, while residential burglary rates are comparable across the whole area (4.6 to 5.7 per 1,000 dwellings).
The structural caveat is surface. Parisian family apartments are smaller than what many families arriving from North America, the Gulf or Asia expect, which is precisely why the western belt, with houses at 6,000 to 8,644 EUR/m2, absorbs so many international arrivals each year.
How we help
Al Qantara Institute advises families privately on this exact arbitration: shortlisting the territory against school admissions, commute and budget, then executing the purchase or lease through our property and installation service. The housing search runs as one workstream of a broader family relocation mandate, from school applications to the day the container arrives. To discuss a move to Paris, contact the practice.
Property prices: Notaires du Grand Paris (standardized prices, older apartments, end December 2025 published February 2026; Q3 2025 historical series for the Left Bank; Hauts-de-Seine press file of 28 May 2026) and the Notaires de France public database (medians from recorded sales, July 2025 to June 2026, consulted 17 July 2026). Demographics and living standards: INSEE, reference year 2023. Parks: official Ville de Paris, mairie07/mairie08 and Senate pages (Bois de Boulogne 846 ha, Champ de Mars 245,405 m2, Parc Monceau 83,300 m2, Jardin du Luxembourg 25.72 ha and 6.2 million visitors in 2022). Green-space proximity: Insee Premiere no. 2049 (60.1 percent within 300 m). Safety: SSMSI departmental database on data.gouv.fr, file of 25 June 2026. School fees: official 2026-2027 fee schedules published by each school (ASP, BSP, ISP, Marymount, Ermitage, Jeannine Manuel, ICS Paris, Forest International, Kingsworth 2025-26, Lycee International section associations). Transit: Bonjour RATP journey planner and public RER A timetables, consulted 17 July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Where do expat families live in Paris?
Expat families concentrate in three territories: western Paris intra-muros (the 16th, 7th, 8th and 17th arrondissements, 9,360 to 12,940 EUR/m2 for older apartments at end December 2025, Notaires du Grand Paris), the near-west communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt (8,252 to 10,428 EUR/m2 median), and the western school belt from Saint-Cloud to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, where family houses trade at 6,000 to 8,644 EUR/m2 median (Notaires de France, sales to June 2026). Each territory is anchored by international schools, from ISP in the 16th to the American School of Paris in Saint-Cloud.
Is Paris child friendly?
Yes, at neighbourhood scale. Paris maintains 536 parks and gardens, 60.1 percent of residents live within 300 metres of a green space (Insee Premiere no. 2049), and daily life with children is walkable. The main constraint is apartment size: families wanting a house and garden typically look to the western belt, where houses trade at 6,000 to 8,644 EUR/m2 median (Notaires de France, sales July 2025 to June 2026).
What is the best arrondissement for families in Paris?
It depends on the school. The 16th combines the Bois de Boulogne (846 hectares) with all three ISP campuses and prices of 10,050 EUR/m2 (end December 2025, Notaires du Grand Paris). The 17th is the value entry to western Paris at 9,360 EUR/m2, below the city average. On the Left Bank, the 15th offers a walking school run to Ecole Jeannine Manuel or ICS Paris at 8,960 EUR/m2 (Q3 2025), about 36 percent below the 6th.
What are the best neighborhoods in Paris for expat families?
Inside Paris: the streets around the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th, the Champ de Mars side of the 7th, the Parc Monceau plain shared by the 8th and 17th, and the residential 15th near the Jeannine Manuel and ICS campuses. Just outside: Neuilly-sur-Seine on metro line 1 (10,428 EUR/m2 median) and Boulogne-Billancourt (8,252 EUR/m2 median, Notaires de France, 12 months to July 2026).
Are the western suburbs of Paris good for families?
They are the primary destination for international families wanting a house. Saint-Germain-en-Laye (6,000 EUR/m2 median for older houses), Croissy-sur-Seine (6,675), Maisons-Laffitte (7,705), Le Vesinet (7,717) and Saint-Cloud (8,644) each pair with a major school: the public Lycee International and its 14 sections, the British School of Paris, the Ermitage and the American School of Paris (prices: Notaires de France, sales July 2025 to June 2026).
How long is the commute from Saint-Germain-en-Laye to central Paris?
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is the terminus of the RER A. The RATP journey planner displays La Defense in 18 minutes (2.55 EUR fare) and Charles de Gaulle-Etoile in 23 minutes, with peak trains every 6 to 12 minutes (checked 17 July 2026). Chatou-Croissy, the stop for the British School of Paris, is 16 minutes from the Etoile.