Best Quality of Life City

This European City Was Just Named Best for Quality of Life Nine Years in a Row 

TALIA AVAKIAN 

Austria’s capital of Vienna was just named the world’s best city to live in for the ninth year in a row.

Vienna took first place because of its security levels, public transportation, moderate housing costs, and cultural features like famed cafes to musical offerings, according to Mercer’s 20th Quality of Living Survey. The quality of living survey, released Tuesday, offers recommendations for companies operating in multiple countries who want to send their employees abroad.

Most cities in the top 10 this year are located in Europe, including Zurich, which came in at second place, Munich, which tied for third (with Auckland, New Zealand), Dusseldof, which came in sixth, and Frankfurt, which came in at No. 7. Geneva, Copenhagen, and Basel followed in eighth, ninth, and 10th, respectively.

North American cities were less common at the top of the survey, with only one, Vancouver, breaking the top 10 (the city came in fifth). Toronto and Ottawa were the only other North American cities to make the top 20, ranking in 16th and 19th place. Meanwhile, San Francisco was the highest-ranking city in the U.S. in 30th, followed by Boston in 35th, Honolulu in 36th, and Seattle in 44th, and New York in 45th.

Montevideo took the highest spot in South America at 77th, followed by Buenos Aires in 91st and Santiago in 92. Singapore was Asia's highest-ranked destination at 25th, followed by Yokohama (55th) and Osaka (59th) in Japan.

Dubai was the highest-ranked city in the Middle East at 74th, while Baghdad retained its position as the lowest ranked city on the list.

This year, the consulting firm's survey compared 231 cities based on the following factors: political and social environment, economic environment, socio-cultural environment, medical and health considerations, education, recreation, consumer goods, housing, and natural environment factors like climate and the number of natural disasters.