Region · Spain
Living in the Basque Country
the Basque Country is Atlantic Spain: winters average 9.1°C and summers stay comparatively mild — 25.3°C highs against a hotter national norm — across roughly 121 rainy days a year. The trade is grey, wet spells rather than reliable sun, but summer water stress runs low (WEI+ 18 vs a national 56). As Spain's south dries out, that green-and-watered profile is a genuine climate-refuge trait.
Overview
On the wallet: homes run about €2,856/m² (41% above the national average (€2,024/m²)); median net income is about €18,524 per person (30% above the national average (€14,279)).
Public healthcare here means a mean surgical wait around 64 days (38% below the national average (103 days)), with 2.3% of the surgical list waiting over six months — a real, published number, not a brochure claim.
We publish 13 of the Basque Country's 252 municipalities in depth so far — the ones with a full guide portrait to sit alongside the numbers, weighted toward the milder-summer north. Every figure below is shown against the national reference, gaps included.
The numbers for the Basque Country
Region-level data, each figure against the national reference. Where a figure is a comunidad-autónoma reading rather than a town measurement, we say so under the card.
Climate
- Winter average
- 9.1°C 1.3 °C above the national average (7.8°C)
- Summer high
- 25.3°C 4.8 °C below the national average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 121 days 76% above the national average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 4.8 h/day 33% below the national average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+)
- 18 39 points below the national average (56)
Aggregated from the region's municipalities (AEMET/derived); summer water stress is a river-basin (WEI+) reading.
Schools
- PISA maths
- 482 3 points above the national average (479)
- PISA reading
- 466 12 points below the national average (478)
- PISA science
- 480 9 points below the national average (489)
PISA 2022, reported per comunidad autónoma (INEE). National reference = the mean across the 17 comunidades.
Healthcare
- Surgical wait
- 64 days 38% below the national average (103 days)
- Waiting over 6 months
- 2.3% 14.4 pts below the national average (16.6%)
- Specialist consult wait
- 49 days 48% below the national average (95 days)
Public waiting lists, SISLE-SNS Dic 2025 (2025-12-31), per comunidad autónoma.
Cost & economy
- Median net income / person
- €18,524 30% above the national average (€14,279)
- Median home price
- €2,856/m² 41% above the national average (€2,024/m²)
Median across the region's municipalities (INE net income; Catastro-derived sale price).
Who lives here
- Born in Spain
- 89.3% 0.5 pts above the national average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 1.9% 1.9 pts below the national average (3.8%)
Share of residents by place of birth, averaged across the region's municipalities (INE).
Town profiles in the Basque Country
We profile 13 of the Basque Country's 252 municipalities in depth — numbers plus an honest portrait. More as we cover them.
Is the Basque Country right for you?
These are the Basque Country's regional numbers. Whether it fits you depends on your priorities — winter sun or mild summers, short medical waits, a city or a village, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on what you care about, the Basque Country included.
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