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Regions / Germany / Hesse

State of Germany · checked 20 October 2026

Living in Hesse

Hessen

Official figures for Hesse, next to Germany as a whole and the other 15 states.

Population 6,278,594 31 December 2025 · official estimate · Source

Immigrant population

Foreign nationals

18.6%

of residents · 1,170,322 people

Germany: 14.9% · 4th highest of 16

31 Dec 2025 · Source

What this does and doesn't say

Share of residents who do not hold German citizenship. A higher share usually means larger international communities and more services used to foreign residents.

Naturalised Germans are not counted. It says nothing about how welcome you will feel.

Moved to Germany from abroad

24.8%

of residents

Germany: 19.8% · 4th highest of 16

2025 · Source

What this does and doesn't say

Share of residents in private households who were born abroad and moved to Germany themselves (Microcensus, “Eingewanderte”), whatever their passport.

A sample survey (first results); people in shared accommodation are not included.

Hate crime

Read with care: Recorded crime depends on how often people report and how the police record it, and definitions differ from country to country. Compare regions within one country, not across countries.

Violent right-wing hate crimes

1.0

per 100,000 residents · 60 recorded

Germany: 1.5 · 13th highest of 16

2025 · calculated · Source

What this does and doesn't say

Violent offences that the police recorded as right-wing politically motivated and as hate crime, per 100,000 residents. Calculated by PassPeers from the Federal Government's case list (Bundestag document 21/5639) and Destatis population on 31 Dec 2025.

Only crimes reported to the police and classed this way. Hate crime from other motives is not included, many incidents are never reported, and small states swing a lot from year to year.

Right-wing politically motivated crimes

39

per 100,000 residents

Germany: 51 · 12th highest of 16

2025 · Source

What this does and doesn't say

All offences the police classed as right-wing politically motivated, per 100,000 residents, as published by the Federal Government. In 2025, 74% of xenophobic crimes recorded in Germany fell into this category (BKA).

Includes propaganda offences, damage and insults, not only offences against people. It is not a measure of how people in a state vote or think.

Recorded crime

Read with care: Recorded crime depends on how often people report and how the police record it, and definitions differ from country to country. Compare regions within one country, not across countries.

Recorded crime

6,002

per 100,000 residents · 376,981 recorded

Germany: 6,591 · 13th highest of 16

2025 · Source

What this does and doesn't say

All criminal offences recorded by the police, per 100,000 residents – the BKA's frequency figure (Häufigkeitszahl) from the Police Crime Statistics (PKS).

Crimes are counted where they happen, so city states with many commuters and visitors show higher rates. Includes offences such as fare dodging, drug possession and breaches of residence law. Unreported crime is missing.

Violent crime

259.2

per 100,000 residents · 16,282 recorded

Germany: 254.1 · 6th highest of 16

2025 · Source

What this does and doesn't say

Offences the PKS groups as violent crime (Gewaltkriminalität – for example robbery, serious assault, rape and homicide), per 100,000 residents.

Simple assault is not part of this group. Same counting rules as above.

Out and about? Our sister app Stay Safe uses official police data like this, area by area, in 40 countries.

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) publishes hate crime only for Germany as a whole, so the state figures here come from the Federal Government's answer to a parliamentary question, which covers right-wing motivated crime only.

The PKS also publishes district (Kreis) and city tables; this map shows the 16 states.

We don't rank regions as “friendly” or “unfriendly”. No single number can tell you that, and an area's figures don't describe the people you will meet. Use these figures as one input, next to jobs, housing and the people you know there.

Largest cities

All cities in Germany by population →

People from your country in Hesse

Most common here among the 37 countries we list (by citizenship):

  1. Türkiye 166,045
  2. Ukraine 111,390
  3. Romania 82,120
  4. Poland 73,365
  5. Afghanistan 69,515
  6. Syria 59,430
  7. India 34,990
  8. Morocco 22,220

Germany counts citizenship, not birthplace: people who became German citizens are not included, and children born in Germany with a foreign passport are. Per 1,000 is calculated by PassPeers from the register count and Destatis population on 30 Nov 2025. See all states on the map →

Closer look: recorded crime by area

Read with care: Recorded crime depends on how often people report and how the police record it, and definitions differ from country to country. Compare regions within one country, not across countries. Small areas with few residents can show very high rates from a handful of cases.

Recorded crime by district in Hesse

26 districts · 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2025 · Source

Rates per 100,000 residents (Häufigkeitszahl) as the BKA publishes them. Cities are separate districts, so they stand out against the rural districts around them: crimes are counted where they happen, including those against commuters and visitors.

All 26 districts as a table
Recorded crime by district in Hesse
Districts
Frankfurt am Main city15,026113,6036915,224
Kassel city10,26320,2425081,002
Wiesbaden city7,55421,819382.21,104
Offenbach am Main city6,8189,050299.8398
Darmstadt city7,67112,812282.6472
Gießen district6,84518,372270.5726
Limburg-Weilburg district4,8658,457211.7368
Marburg-Biedenkopf district4,56811,090205.9500
Main-Taunus-Kreis district5,03912,031198.1473
Werra-Meißner-Kreis district4,4374,335197.6193
Lahn-Dill-Kreis district3,8479,773187475
Groß-Gerau district4,36811,720183491
Main-Kinzig-Kreis district4,13117,388174.9736
Waldeck-Frankenberg district3,3925,262174.7271
Offenbach district4,19415,014174.6625
Wetteraukreis district3,84911,993174.3543
Vogelsbergkreis district4,1094,157173175
Hochtaunuskreis district3,6868,908162.2392
Hersfeld-Rotenburg district3,7834,442155.9183
Schwalm-Eder-Kreis district3,5086,317148.8268
Fulda district4,4259,836143.5319
Kassel district3,4738,026125.9291
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district3,0365,636125.5233
Odenwaldkreis district2,7112,544119.3112
Bergstraße district2,7667,583116318
Darmstadt-Dieburg district2,9018,762112.2339

Small figures under each rate: the number of recorded cases.

District outlines © GeoBasis-DE / BKG, Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0 (via opendatasoft georef-germany-kreis), simplified.

Compare Hesse with another state

Hesse next to Germany
FigureHesseGermany
Immigrant population
Foreign nationals% of residents · 31 Dec 202518.6%14.9%
Moved to Germany from abroad% of residents · 202524.8%19.8%
Hate crime
Violent right-wing hate crimesper 100,000 residents · 20251.01.5
Right-wing politically motivated crimesper 100,000 residents · 20253951
Recorded crime
Recorded crimeper 100,000 residents · 20256,0026,591
Violent crimeper 100,000 residents · 2025259.2254.1

Differences between two regions are not a verdict on either. Read each figure's notes above.

Other states

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