Nice might soon need to rename its famous "Promenade des Anglais" the "Promenade des Americains", given the southern French city on the Mediterranean has increasingly become the place to move to for Americans starting a new life in France.
Traditionally, Paris has been the more popular place for Americans movers. The capital city and its surrounding suburbs are home to over 40 percent of the US nationals living in France full-time, according to 2020 census data.
The central Auvergne-Rhone-Alps region takes second place for hosting American residents, while Provence-Alpes Côtes-d'Azur (PACA), the region which is home to Nice, came in third place.
Almost 3,000 Americans call PACA their home, and almost half of Americans living there are based in the the coastal Alpes-Maritimes département which is home to Nice.
READ MORE: MAP: Where do all of the Americans in France live?
The real estate agency, Adrian Leeds Group, which promises "French property the American way" has seen a significant rise in interest in Nice.
"I've watched [Nice] absolutely explode. When I first bought an apartment here in 2011, I was thinking about building a community that didn't really exist at the time, so I started writing about Nice," Adrian Leeds, a long-time resident of France, told The Local.
"Once we started talking about it, we saw our community grow," said Leeds, who splits her time between Nice and France.
"Every year we've doubled our business, this year we'll probably triple it. We have more demand than we have time," she said.
What do Americans in Nice say?
To get an idea of why people are choosing Nice, The Local spoke with several Americans who have recently made the move, and it was not just the promise of sunshine that enticed them (though around 300 days of sun annually does not hurt).
After years of visiting the French Riviera with his wife, Billy Linville, from Atlanta, Georgia, finally decided to make the move permanent last July when the couple bought a home in the city and Billy started a commerce and tourism business called Connexion South.
"I've travelled extensively in my life, and Nice is unusual in that it's a city that really works. You see it in its public transport, its safety, its sustainability and commitment to the environment. It appears to be a really efficiently run city, and that was a really appealing aspect," Billy explained.
For many people, key factors were the affordability and liveability of the city. Gone are the days of the inaccessible resort city that might have only been fit for the likes of Grace Kelly.
Jacob and Carla moved to Nice from Nashville with their three boys after rejecting a possible move to the French capital.
"Paris was a contender, but Nice was much more affordable, and in Paris we didn't think we'd be able to get outdoors as much. With three boys, we wanted a place where they'd be able to easily get out and exercise," Jacob explained.
As of April 2025, the average price per metre squared for an apartment in Paris was €9,418, in contrast to €5,130 in Nice.
The family has now been in Nice for almost a year. "I love it here (...) We're a three minute walk away from the sea. We don't need a car, I think we've only taken an Uber maybe three times?" Carla said.
Other new Nice residents also pointed out the ease of life, in part thanks to ample public transportation and an international airport.
Patty Sadauskas, who has been in France for over 10 years and has lived in Paris, Nîmes and now Nice, said: "It's so easy to get around. The public transportation is phenomenal here. Every Saturday my sister and I go on an adventure, and there are unlimited day trip opportunities, more-so than I experienced in Paris.
"Everything seems like more work in Paris."
"What also makes Nice so attractive is that it's one of three cities in France that has a true international airport. We're close to Italy too, which is nice," she added.
The city of Nice has big plans expansion plans for its international airport, with the goal of increasing its annual passenger capacity from 15 million to 18 million by 2030.
Currently, there are six flights a day to US cities in the summer months.
READ MORE: The direct flights between the French Riviera and the US this summer
The growing international community was also a benefit for Jacob and Carla.
"[I've noticed] the strength of the English-speaking community here. Nice has a pretty large community that we weren't sure would have been present in other smaller sized cities in France," Jacob said.
"Every Friday, there's about 40 of us who meet up. In the summer, we meet on the beach. That's been our biggest group of friends that we fell into immediately. We've also met people through conversation and language classes," he added.
Patty also shared this sentiment. "There is a large expat community in Nice. As much as people think 'Oh I don't want to be with other Americans', these are people who are like you.
"They have that same life experience as you, they left their lives behind in the US, so they're not like your neighbours back home," she said.
Adrian Leeds said she describes Nice as "a small city, but not small-minded".
"I tell people that they will make more friends in 90 days in Nice than they've had in their entire lives," she said.
"I will make that bet! They're all birds of a feather, they all came for the same reason and they have a lot in common."
Is Nice part of a larger trend of American movers?
By several measurements, more Americans in general are coming to this side of the Atlantic.
In 2024 13,000 US nationals were given a 'carte de séjour' residency permit.
These figures have been climbing since the Covid-19 pandemic, and year-on-year, there has been a 5.3 percent increase in Americans getting French residency cards.
As for Americans looking to buy a second home in France - but maybe not move here yet - these figures are holding strong too.
Based on the latest figures from 2023, Americans were the top non-European nationality of non-resident property buyers, and they were the only group in the top six nationalities to see their property purchases in 2023 remain stable, while all others saw decreases.
Americans readers of The Local have given several reasons for why they moved to France recently including the election of Donald Trump as well as the simple desire for a better quality of life,
READ MORE: 'Trump was final straw': Why Americans are moving to France
One former New Yorker, Gregory, who now lives in Carcassonne, told The Local: "The current political situation was enough for us to make a change.
"France has always been a country my wife wanted to live so for us it was the only place to move. We love the French and the kindness the French people have shown us has been amazing. Vive la France."
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