Quality of Living Survey

The Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranks 221 cities from Vienna to Baghdad on quality of life.

In 2010, Vienna won the title as the highest ranked city, followed by Zurich (2), Geneva (3), jointly Vancouver (4) and Auckland (4), and Düsseldorf (5). The quality of living survey is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments. The survey also identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based upon internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement and relationships with other countries. In this case, Luxembourg is top, followed by Bern, Geneva, Helsinki and Zurich, all equally placed at number 2.

Scoring

The cities — 221 in total — were evaluated on 39 factors including political, economic, environmental, personal safety, health, education, transportation and other public service factors. Cities were compared to New York City which was given a base score of 100.

2010 Rank

City

Country

Index 2010

1

Vienna

Austria

108.6

2

Zurich

Switzerland

108.0

3

Geneva

Switzerland

107.9

4

Auckland

New Zealand

107.4

4

Vancouver

Canada

107.4

6

Düsseldorf

Germany

107.2

7

Frankfurt

Germany

107.0

7

Munich

Germany

107.0

9

Bern

Switzerland

106.5

10

Sydney

Australia

106.3

11

Copenhagen

Denmark

106.2

12

Wellington

New Zealand

105.9

13

Amsterdam

Netherlands

105.7

14

Ottawa

Canada

105.5

15

Brussels

Belgium

105.4

16

Toronto

Canada

105.3

17

Berlin

Germany

105.0

18

Melbourne

Australia

104.8

19

Luxembourg

Luxembourg

104.6

20

Stockholm

Sweden

104.5

21

Perth

Australia

104.2

21

Montreal

Canada

104.2

23

Hamburg

Germany

104.1

24

Nürnberg

Germany

103.9

24

Oslo

Norway

103.9

26

Canberra

Australia

103.6

27

Dublin

Ireland

103.6

28

Calgary

Canada

103.5

28

Singapore

Singapore

103.5

30

Stuttgart

Germany

103.3

31

Honolulu

United States

103.1

32

Adelaide

Australia

103.0

32

San Francisco

United States

103.0

34

Paris

France

102.9

35

Helsinki

Finland

102.6

36

Brisbane

Australia

102.4

37

Boston

United States

102.2

38

Lyon

France

101.9

39

London

United Kingdom

101.6

40

Tokyo

Japan

101.4

41

Milan

Italy

100.8

41

Kobe

Japan

100.8

41

Yokohama

Japan

100.8

44

Lisbon

Portugal

100.6

45

Barcelona

Spain

100.3

45

Chicago

United States

100.3

45

Portland, OR

United States

100.3

45

Washington DC

United States

100.3

48

Madrid

Spain

100.2

49

New York City

United States

100.0

50

Seattle

United States

99.8

Top cities by region

North America

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

4

Vancouver

107.4

2

14

Ottawa

105.5

3

16

Toronto

105.3

4

21

Montreal

104.2

5

28

Calgary

103.5

Asia

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

28

Singapore

103.5

2

40

Tokyo

101.4

3

41

Yokohama

100.8

4

41

Kobe

100.8

5

51

Osaka

100.5

Northern Europe

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

1

Vienna

108.6

2

2

Zurich

108.0

3

3

Geneva

107.9

4

6

Düsseldorf

107.2

5

7

Frankfurt

107.0

5

7

Munich

107.0

Southern Europe

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

34

Paris

102.9

2

38

Lyon

101.9

3

41

Milan

100.8

4

44

Lisbon

100.6

5

7

Barcelona

100.3

Oceania

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

4

Auckland

107.4

2

10

Sydney

106.3

3

12

Wellington

105.9

4

18

Melbourne

104.8

5

21

Perth

104.2

Middle East & North Africa

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

75

Dubai

87.0

2

83

Abu Dhabi

84.1

3

100

Muscat

81.7

Sub-Saharan Africa

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

82

Port Louis

87.7

2

86

Cape Town

85.7

3

90

Johannesburg

83.3

South America

Rank

Overall Ranking

City

Quality of living

1

78

Buenos Aires

88.8

2

79

Montevideo

88.6

3

83

Santiago

84.4

See also

  • World's most livable cities
  • List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees

cs:Seznam měst podle kvality života es:Anexo:Ciudades por calidad de vida ja:クオリティ・オブ・リビングによる都市順リスト zh:世界最佳居住城市