City profile: Chełm

Map of Chełm

Overview of Chełm

Snapshot of key indicators for Chełm in the most recent year available.

Population

59,546

people · 2021

Avg. gross salary

7.4 K PLN

2024

Unemployment rate

9.5%

% · 2025

Businesses per 10k

1,075

entities / 10k · 2024

Population density

1,411.9

ppl / km² · 2024

Apartment price / m²

5.9 K PLN / m²

2024

About - Chełm

Chełm is a powiat-status city in eastern Poland, in Lublin Voivodeship, with about 60,000 residents. It serves as a local administrative, cultural and border-area hub (50 km from the Ukrainian border), historically tied to Orthodox Christianity and a multicultural heritage. Strengths include strong policing — a crime-detection rate of 79.7% (86th percentile) — and a healthy business balance with a moderate number of deregistered entities (287, 91st percentile). Weak areas include very modest cultural and recreational infrastructure (1 stadium, 1 cultural centre), the absence of bus lanes and Park & Ride lots, low public-library readership (6,971 annual readers, 6th percentile) and acutely high registered unemployment of 9.5% (8th percentile). Forest cover of just 6.6% and gross wages of PLN 7,398 (86% of the national average) limit settlement and investment appeal. Average housing prices (PLN 5,868/m²) are accessible relative to local incomes, but the combination of high unemployment and a limited cultural offer makes retaining young residents difficult. Chełm is a typical peripheral powiat-status city — strong on policing effectiveness but weak on economic and cultural dynamism.

Strengths and weaknesses of Chełm

Strengths and weaknesses of Chełm based on the city's position across every published Polish-city ranking.

Top 3 rankings of Chełm

Best ranking positions of Chełm across Poland.

Strengths

High tourist appeal in Chełm - landmarks, attractions and visitor numbers among the country's top.
Most tourist-attractive cities
Rank among small cities (50–100 thousand inhabitants): #8
Rank in Poland: #33
Chełm is a bike-friendly city - well-developed bike-path network and car alternatives.
Most bike-friendly cities
Rank among small cities (50–100 thousand inhabitants): #10
Rank in Poland: #34
Chełm is an attractive weekend destination - strong culture, dining and entertainment offer.
Best weekend cities
Rank among small cities (50–100 thousand inhabitants):

Weaknesses

Low innovation potential in Chełm - limited R&D base and modest foreign capital presence.
Most innovative cities
Rank among small cities (50–100 thousand inhabitants): #21
Rank in Poland: #63
Low wealth of residents and local government in Chełm compared with the rest of the country.
Wealthiest cities
Rank among small cities (50–100 thousand inhabitants): #21
Rank in Poland: #64
Low investment potential in Chełm - limited capex activity by businesses and local government.
City investment potential
Rank among small cities (50–100 thousand inhabitants):

Air quality today

Very good air qualitySource: GIOŚ

The result is based on the reading from 1 monitoring station in Chełm.

PM10 now

13.5 µg/m³

Last updated

05/21/2026, 10:10 PM

Demographics of Chełm

Gender composition and demographic load on the working-age population of Chełm based on the latest GUS data.

Gender split in Chełm

Men27,797 · 46.7%
Women31,749 · 53.3%

Dependency ratios in Chełm

Non-working-age dependency ratio

ppl / 100 working-age · 2024

80.2

Post- per working-age

ppl / 100 working-age · 2024

53.5

Old-age dependency ratio

% · 2024

41.1%

Population change per 1k residents

ppl / 1k · 2024

-13.6

Vital events in Chełm

Births, deaths, marriages and natural increase in Chełm based on GUS data.

Total deaths

607

people · 2024

Marriages

159

marriages · 2024

Births / 1k4.91 per 1k people

Deaths / 1k10.68 per 1k people

Natural increase / 1k-5.77 per 1k people

Labour market in Chełm

Salaries in Chełm compared with the voivodeship and national averages, alongside broader employment signals.

Salary benchmark - Chełm

Voivodeship and Poland baselines derived from BDL ratios (Chełm vs. voivodeship / Poland).

Registered unemployment in Chełm

9.5%

% · 2025

Salary growth YoY

16.51%

% · 2024

Job offers at year-end in Chełm

339

offers · 2025

Employed per 1k residents

224

ppl / 1k · 2021

Business activity in Chełm

REGON registrations, deregistrations and net balance in Chełm.

Registrations vs deregistrations - Chełm

New businesses

374

entities · 2025

Deregistered

287

entities · 2025

New businessesDeregistered

Net change+87

REGON entities per 10k residents

1,075

entities / 10k · 2024

REGON entities per 1k working-age

193.6

entities / 1k working-age · 2024

Sole props / working-age

14%

% · 2024

Foreign-capital companies in Chełm

entities · 2025

Real estate in Chełm

Apartment prices, affordability and construction activity in Chełm.

Apartment price / m² in Chełm

5.9 K PLN / m²

2024

Housing affordability in Chełm

0.79

months of salary / m² · 2024

Dwellings completed / 1k residents

2.9

dwellings / 1k people · 2025

Months of gross salary required per 1 m² of apartment in Chełm.

Education in Chełm

Higher-education students, graduates and preschool-age children in Chełm based on GUS BDL data.

Higher-ed students

1,953

people · 2024

Higher-ed graduates

471

people · 2024

Preschool-age children

736

people · 2024

Students by gender

Women898
Men1,055

Transport & infrastructure in Chełm

Registered vehicles, public roads and road infrastructure in Chełm based on GUS BDL data.

Passenger cars

35,407

vehicles · 2024

Cars / 1k residents: 594.6

Environment and quality of life in Chełm

Air quality, green areas and public-space quality in Chełm.

Green areas per capita

m² / person · 2024

Municipal green areas per capita

9.5

m² / person · 2024

Parks & squares per capita

26.7

m² / person · 2024

Green-areas share of total area

6.63%

% · 2024

Air quality

· Monitoring stations: 1

Particulate matter

PM2.5 30d avg

10.61 µg/m³

PM10 now

13.5 µg/m³

Larger airborne particles - dust, traffic and heating.

PM10 24h avg

15.44 µg/m³

PM10 30d avg

19.6 µg/m³

High PM10 days (30d)

Maximum number of days with PM10 above 50 µg/m³ at a single station.

Traffic-related pollution

Last updated: 05/21/2026, 10:10 PMSource: GIOŚ

Chełm in numbers over time

Multi-year trajectory of the key indicators of Chełm benchmarked against the voivodeship.

Average gross salary in Chełm

Registered unemployment rate in Chełm

REGON entities per 10k inhabitants - Chełm

Population of Chełm

Apartment price per m² in Chełm

Chełm in rankings

How does Chełm rank?

Every city score is built from open data: GUS, GIOŚ, and public registries. A 0–100 score compares a city against the rest of Poland and against peers of similar population size.

Best cities to live in Poland

46.1/ 100

Rank in Poland: #53
Rank among small cities: #16

settlement year	Taxpayers (1.5%)	Total 1.5% PIT	OPPs in the city	Avg. per OPP
2025	4.9 K	503.3 K PLN	3	167.8 K PLN
2024	4.8 K	442.6 K PLN	3	147.5 K PLN
2023	4.1 K	411.3 K PLN	3	137.1 K PLN
2022	5.6 K	335.7 K PLN	3	111.9 K PLN
2021	5.4 K	273.2 K PLN	3	91.1 K PLN
2020	5.1 K	244.6 K PLN	2	122.3 K PLN
2019	5.0 K	247.2 K PLN	2	123.6 K PLN
2018	4.5 K

Indicator	Chełm	Zamość	Difference
Population	59,546	60,148	−602 −1%
Population density	1,411.9	1,896.3	−484.4 −25.5%
Avg. gross salary	7.4 K PLN	7.8 K PLN	−430.98 PLN −5.5%
Unemployment rate	9.5%	8.8%	+0.7% +8%
REGON / 10k	1,075	1,398	−323 −23.1%
Apartment price / m²	5.9 K PLN / m²	6.7 K PLN / m²	−801 PLN / m² −12%
Green areas / capita	47	56.1	−9.1 −16.2%
Housing affordability	0.79	0.85	−0.06 −7.1%

City profile: Chełm

Overview of Chełm

About - Chełm

Top 3 rankings of Chełm

Strengths

Weaknesses

Demographics of Chełm

Gender split in Chełm

Dependency ratios in Chełm

Vital events in Chełm

Labour market in Chełm

Salary benchmark - Chełm

Business activity in Chełm

Registrations vs deregistrations - Chełm

Real estate in Chełm

Education in Chełm

Students by gender

Transport & infrastructure in Chełm

Environment and quality of life in Chełm

Air quality

Particulate matter

Traffic-related pollution

Chełm in numbers over time

Average gross salary in Chełm

Registered unemployment rate in Chełm

REGON entities per 10k inhabitants - Chełm

Population of Chełm

Apartment price per m² in Chełm

Chełm in rankings

Best cities to live in Poland

Best cities to do business in

Best labour market

Most affordable housing relative to earnings

Greenest cities

City investment potential

Most demographically stable cities

Best cities for families

Best cities for students and education

Wealthiest cities

Safest cities

Best cities for culture

Best cities for an active lifestyle

Most tourist-attractive cities

Best weekend cities

Best cities for after-work life

Best cities for women's careers

Best cities for women

Best cities for seniors

Most peaceful cities to live in

Most bike-friendly cities

Cities with the highest parking pressure

Most innovative cities

Public-benefit organisations (OPP) and 1.5% PIT - Chełm

Largest OPP in Chełm

1.5% PIT history - Chełm

Comparison - Chełm vs another city

Percentage difference (Chełm minus peer)

All indicators - Chełm

Companies

Sped-cel Spółka z Ograniczoną Odpowiedzialnością

Lindar Capital Spółka z Ograniczoną Odpowiedzialnością

Kosinska Capital Spółka z Ograniczoną Odpowiedzialnością

Associations

Stowarzyszenie Przyjaciół Republiki

Nadbużańskie Stowarzyszenie o Charakterze Strzeleckim i Kolekcjonerskim SUB MOA w Chełmie

Stowarzyszenie Załoga Ósemki

Foundations

Wschodnie Centrum Bezpieczeństwa i Rozwoju

FAIR Tomorrow

Fundacja KURS na Przyszłość

Browse other city profiles

Chełm in rankings

Best cities to live in Poland

Best cities to do business in

Best labour market

Most affordable housing relative to earnings

Greenest cities

City investment potential

Most demographically stable cities

Best cities for families