Tahiti
191 779 residents — 69 % of the whole country. Every hospital speciality, every lycée, every administration, almost every salaried job. Also the traffic, the highest rents and the noise.
Living here · written from Raiatea
Where to live in French Polynesia
Almost everyone who moves here ends up on Tahiti, and most of them on the same twelve kilometres of west coast. This page explains why, what it costs, and what you give up by choosing an outer island instead — with the census numbers, the rent brackets actually being asked in August 2026, and the rules that decide whether you can work.
The short answer
Tahiti for work and services, Moorea for the compromise, an outer island only with your eyes open
Moorea
18 201 residents, 30 to 50 minutes by ferry from Papeete. Space and lagoon without leaving the job market — but two collèges and no lycée, so your teenager commutes or boards.
Raiatea, Bora Bora
The only outer islands with a lycée besides the Marquesas. Raiatea has the region's hospital; Bora Bora has the tourist economy and the price level that comes with it.
Tuamotu, Australes, Marquesas
No lycée in the Tuamotu or the Australes at all. 47,5 % of Tuamotu-Gambier pupils board during secondary school. Decide on that before you decide on the lagoon.
Where people actually are
Population by commune, 2022 census
These are the legal population figures from the 2022 census — the most recent one. There is no newer count, and the next one has not been announced.
| Commune (Tahiti) | 2022 population |
|---|---|
| Faaa | 29 826 |
| Punaauia | 28 781 |
| Papeete | 26 654 |
| Mahina | 14 623 |
| Pirae | 14 068 |
| Taiarapu-Est (Taravao) | 13 602 |
| Paea | 12 756 |
| Papara | 11 743 |
| Teva I Uta | 10 837 |
| Arue | 10 322 |
| Hitiaa O Te Ra | 10 196 |
| Taiarapu-Ouest | 8 371 |
The whole country holds 278 786 residents. The Windward Islands (Tahiti and Moorea) hold 75,3 % of them. For context: Moorea 18 201, Bora Bora 10 758, Raiatea about 12 388 across its three communes, Huahine 6 263, Taha'a 5 296, Rangiroa 3 761, Nuku Hiva 3 025.
The population is no longer growing
ISPF put the country at about 279 500 residents at 31 December 2025: 3 170 births (−3,1 %), 1 840 deaths, and a net migration of roughly −1 350 people a year. The fertility rate is down to 1,6 children per woman, the lowest ever recorded here. More people leave than arrive.
What it costs
Rents: the brackets actually being asked
There is no public rent observatory in French Polynesia. No official body publishes an average or median rent. What follows is a reading of the listings of three Tahiti agencies and one classifieds platform on 19 August 2026 — asking prices, not market averages. Treat them as an order of magnitude and nothing more.
| Type | Asking rent, per month | ≈ EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 90 000 – 135 000 XPF | 750 – 1 130 € |
| F2 (one bedroom) | 110 000 – 180 000 XPF | 920 – 1 500 € |
| F3 (two bedrooms) | 175 000 – 270 000 XPF | 1 470 – 2 260 € |
| F3 on the peninsula | 95 000 – 160 000 XPF | 800 – 1 340 € |
| House, 4 bedrooms, Punaauia | up to 350 000 XPF | 2 930 € |
Papeete and Punaauia sit at the top of each bracket. The peninsula — Taravao, Vairao, Papeari — runs roughly 40 % below the west-coast equivalents, which is why it fills up with people who accepted the commute.
No reliable rent data exists for Moorea, Raiatea or Bora Bora. The local platforms are not readable, no study covers them, and nobody publishes figures. Anyone quoting you a precise average for those islands is guessing. Ask three landlords directly.
What is official: rents rose 4,1 % in 2025 (ISPF, price review published April 2026), and housing costs 34,8 % more here than in metropolitan France (ISPF spatial price comparison, collected 2022).
Buying
There is no property price index here
France's notarial indices, the DVF open database, the ISPF — none of them cover French Polynesia. No official body publishes transaction prices. What can be observed from agency listings in August 2026 is an order of magnitude of 600 000 to 700 000 XPF per m² (about 5 000–5 900 €) for an apartment in Punaauia or Papeete. That is a reading of asking prices, not a statistic.
Two facts are documented. Housing loans grew 20,5 % in 2025 (IEOM annual report, published July 2026), driven by falling rates. And 58 % of the land surface of French Polynesia is held in undivided co-ownership (indivision) — roughly 1 857 km² out of 3 207. Getting out of an indivision means a genealogy, the original tomite deeds, a survey, and a mandatory pass through the CCOMF conciliation commission before any court action. If a plot looks cheap, this is usually why.
The commute nobody warns you about
Traffic on Tahiti is the real constraint
The government's 2024 traffic counts — the first since 2017 — put 33 000 vehicles a day entering or crossing Papeete, and 8 210 in the single morning peak hour (6.30–7.30), of which 4 210 come from the west coast. Average occupancy is 1,46 people per car. Two-wheelers make up 20 % of traffic, against 4 % in metropolitan France — which tells you what residents actually do about it.
No authority publishes real journey times. Not the transport directorate, not the government. Forum anecdotes exist; verifiable figures do not. Budget generously and test the drive yourself, at 6.45 on a Tuesday, before you sign anything.
The bus network — Tere Tahiti, run by RTCT since 2019 — has 21 regular lines and 173 school lines, 10 % of the fleet electric, and a 150 XPF ticket. The territorial audit chamber is blunt about it: headways sometimes over an hour, chronic delays caused by the same congestion, a timetable built around office hours, buses driving past full stops at peak, and only 10 % of the fleet accessible to reduced-mobility passengers. More than 80 % of households own a car, and the country covers more than half the network's operating revenue.
A 14 billion XPF programme runs to 2029: bus lanes from Outumaoro (Punaauia) to the RIMAP roundabout (Arue), park-and-ride sites, 15 km of cycle paths Papeete–Pirae, a third lane at Erima and a reversible third lane at Mahina. Around 5 000 extra bus seats a day were announced for 2026.
Children
Where the lycées are — and where they are not
This is the single decision that most often forces a family to move a second time.
| Island or archipelago | Collège | Lycée |
|---|---|---|
| Tahiti | 12 | 7 public + 2 private |
| Moorea | 2 (Paopao, Afareaitu) | none |
| Raiatea | 1 (Faaroa) | Uturoa, general and vocational |
| Bora Bora | — | Ihi-Tea No Vavau |
| Huahine | 1 | none |
| Taha'a | 1 (Uporu) | none |
| Marquesas | 3 (Taiohae, Ua Pou, Atuona) | Atuona |
| Tuamotu | 3 (Rangiroa, Hao, Makemo) | none in the archipelago |
| Australes | 2 (Tubuai, Rurutu) | none in the archipelago |
| Gambier | none | none |
The consequence is measured. In an ISPF survey of 4 350 pupils in their final year of collège: over 80 % of Society Islands pupils live with their parents, against 50 % in the Australes (32,4 % board) and only 37,5 % in the Tuamotu-Gambier (47,5 % board). About a quarter of all pupils have changed archipelago during their schooling; in the Tuamotu-Gambier and the Australes it is close to half.
Schools follow the French national curriculum. The 2026 intake was around 46 000 pupils, 8 % down in a year — the demographic contraction is already reaching the classrooms.
Working remotely
A submarine cable is not fibre to your door
Four cables serve the country: Honotua (international to Hawaii, 2010, with a domestic branch to Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea and Bora Bora), Natitua (2018, ten islands directly: Hao, Makemo, Fakarava, Arutua, Kaukura, Rangiroa, Manihi, Takaroa, Hiva Oa and Nuku Hiva), Manatua (2020, towards the Cook Islands, Niue and Samoa), and Natitua Sud (2023 — Tubuai and Rurutu only; the rest of the Australes stays on radio links).
A cable brings capacity to the island. FTTH to the actual dwelling is a separate rollout, overwhelmingly limited to Tahiti, running at fewer than 5 000 new lines a year since Covid and projected over ten to twelve years. Where there is no fibre, it is VDSL over copper. No official FTTH coverage rate is published — not by the digital directorate, not by the regulator, not by the operator.
Prices as advertised on 19 August 2026: Vini's Vinibox UP at up to 200/75 Mb/s for 9 000 XPF a month; Vodafone's VodaFibre at up to 100/50 Mb/s for 9 900 XPF, Tahiti only, plus a mandatory Onati fixed line at about 3 565 XPF. That compulsory fixed line is itself a live dispute between operators.
Test the connection at the exact address, not the island. Two houses on the same road can be on different technologies.
Money
Wages, jobs and the rule that decides whether you get hired
Unemployment was 7,5 % in the 2024 labour force survey, the lowest since 2018, with an employment rate of 57,7 % (against roughly 67 % in metropolitan France). Youth unemployment stays at 18,1 %. The gap between urban Tahiti (63,0 % employment rate) and rural areas (48,9 %) is 14 points.
The minimum wage — the SMIG — is 1 024,74 XPF an hour, 173 182 XPF a month for 169 hours, about 1 451 €. That rate has been in force since 1 May 2024 and no later revaluation could be verified.
The employment service's first labour-needs survey found 1 815 posts planned for 2026 by 44 % of the firms surveyed, with 72 % of them in four communes — Papeete (517), Faa'a (341), Arue (238), Punaauia (213). Hospitality and food service take 26 %, retail 24 %, transport-logistics-tourism 12 %. Sixty-three per cent of those posts are considered hard to fill.
Local employment protection — read this before you plan a career move
For occupations listed in the TAPP, hiring priority goes to candidates with longer residence in the country (3, 5 or 10 years depending on the job) at equal qualification and experience. The list was cut from 221 to 126 protected occupations on 1 March 2025 and covers pharmacists, teachers, nurses, waiting staff and others. An employer hiring outside the scheme faces a 178 000 XPF penalty unless the employment service certifies that no eligible candidate exists. Between October 2023 and September 2024, 91,76 % of people hired already held a resident number issued at least ten years earlier.
Paperwork
Who can settle, and who needs permission
French nationals
No formality. It is national territory: no visa, no residence permit, no declaration.
EU nationals
No visa. For a stay over three months: sufficient resources and health cover, plus registration at the town hall within three months. A residence card is optional. To work you need a work permit issued by the government of French Polynesia. EU free movement does not apply as such — French Polynesia is an OCT, outside the EU customs and tax territory, and outside Schengen.
Non-EU nationals
A long-stay visa specifically valid for French Polynesia, applied for at a French consulate before departure. A Schengen visa or a metropolitan long-stay visa is not enough. Residence permit application within two months of arrival.
Buying property
No restriction for French nationals, resident or not. Foreign investors need prior authorisation for the acquisition of real property. Buying gives you no right to stay — residence remains a matter for the State.
Cost of living
How much more expensive it really is depends on what you eat
ISPF's spatial price comparison — collected in 2022, published October 2023, the most recent — puts overall prices 30,8 % above metropolitan France (down from 39 % in 2016). Broken down: food +45,4 %, hotels and restaurants +75,5 %, housing +34,8 %, communications +32,6 %, health +9,8 %, and transport −0,6 % — marginally cheaper.
The number that matters most is this one: a metropolitan shopping basket consumed here costs 43,8 % more, a local basket only 18,9 %. The gap you feel depends almost entirely on how quickly you switch to what is grown, caught and made here.
Inflation was 1,3 % in 2025. VAT is local, not French: 5 % on food, transport, electricity and hotel accommodation; 13 % on most services; 16 % on other goods, notably imports. The CFP franc is pegged to the euro at a fixed rate: 1 000 XPF = 8,38 €, unchanged since 1999.
Questions people actually ask
Moving to French Polynesia: FAQ
Which island should I move to?
Tahiti, unless you already have a job or an income that does not depend on being there. Tahiti holds 69 % of the population, essentially all salaried employment, every hospital speciality and every lycée. Moorea is the common compromise: 30 to 50 minutes by ferry, more space, but no lycée. Outer islands work for retirees, remote workers with a tested connection, and people with family there.
How much is rent in Tahiti?
Asking prices in August 2026 run roughly 110 000 to 180 000 XPF a month for a one-bedroom and 175 000 to 270 000 XPF for a two-bedroom, with Papeete and Punaauia at the top and the peninsula about 40 % below. There is no official rent observatory, so these are listings, not statistics. Rents rose 4,1 % in 2025.
Can I just move there if I am French?
Yes. It is French territory: no visa, no residence permit, no declaration. EU nationals need sufficient resources, health cover, registration at the town hall within three months, and a work permit from the government of French Polynesia in order to work. Non-EU nationals need a long-stay visa specifically valid for French Polynesia.
Will I find work?
Unemployment was 7,5 % in 2024 and hiring is concentrated in hospitality, retail and logistics, mostly in four communes around Papeete. The constraint is the local employment protection scheme: for 126 listed occupations, priority goes to candidates with 3, 5 or 10 years of residence at equal qualification. Over 91 % of people hired in 2023-24 already held a resident number issued at least ten years earlier.
Is it much more expensive than France?
Prices are 30,8 % higher overall, but the figure that matters is the split: a metropolitan shopping basket costs 43,8 % more here, a local one only 18,9 %. Food is +45,4 % and restaurants +75,5 %, while transport is marginally cheaper. How expensive your life is depends mostly on how fast you stop importing your habits.
What about internet if I work remotely?
Four submarine cables serve the country, but fibre to the home is overwhelmingly limited to Tahiti and rolls out at fewer than 5 000 lines a year. No official coverage rate is published. Test the connection at the exact address before signing a lease — two houses on the same road can be on different technologies.
Check before you decide
Primary sources
ISPF
Census, prices, labour force survey — the statistical authority.
ispf.pf ↗Government services
Residence, work permits, land registry, schools.
service-public.pf ↗High Commission
Entry and residence conditions for foreign nationals.
polynesie-francaise.gouv.fr ↗Census 2022 · prices and rents checked 19 August 2026 · written in Raiatea, French Polynesia.
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