City quality of life indices

City quality of life indices are lists of cities that are ranked according to a defined measure of living conditions. In addition to considering the provision of clean water, clean air, adequate food and shelter, many indexes also measure more subjective elements including a city's capacity to generate a sense of community and offer hospitable settings for all, especially young people, to develop social skills, a sense of autonomy and identity.

Regions with cities commonly ranked in the top 50 include the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Three examples of such surveys are Monocle's "Quality of Life Survey", the Economist Intelligence Unit's "Global Liveability Ranking", and "Mercer Quality of Living Survey". Numbeo has the largest statistics and survey data based on cities and countries.Deutsche Bank's Liveability Survey is another ranking of cities by quality of life.

The EIU's Global Liveability Ranking

The Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) publishes an annual Global Liveability Ranking, which ranks 140 cities for their urban quality of life based on assessments of their stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.

Melbourne, Australia, had been ranked by the EIU as the world's most livable city for seven years in a row, from 2011 to 2017. Between 2004 and 2010, Vancouver, Canada, was ranked the EIU's most livable city, with Melbourne sharing first place in the inaugural 2002 report. Vancouver has ranked third since 2015, while Vienna, Austria, ranked second until 2018 when it climbed to the top spot.

The Syrian capital, Damascus, was ranked the least livable city of the 140 assessed in 2021 and 2022.

The EIU also publishes a Worldwide Cost of Living Survey that compares the cost of living in a range of global cities.

EIU's Global Liveability Ranking 2022
	City	Country/Region
1	Vienna	Austria
2	Copenhagen	Denmark
3	Zurich	Switzerland
4	Calgary	Canada
5	Vancouver	Canada
6	Geneva	Switzerland
7	Frankfurt	Germany
8	Toronto	Canada
9	Amsterdam	Netherlands
10	Melbourne	Australia
10	Osaka	Japan

Monocle's Quality of Life Survey

Since 2006, the lifestyle magazine Monocle has published an annual list of livable cities. The list in 2008 was named "The Most Livable Cities Index" and presented 20 top locations for quality of life.

Important criteria in this survey are safety/crime, international connectivity, climate/sunshine, quality of architecture, public transport, tolerance, environmental issues and access to nature, urban design, business conditions, proactive policy developments and medical care.

The 2022 Monocle Survey determined the world's most livable city was Copenhagen, followed by Zurich, Lisbon and Helsinki.

Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2022
	City	Country/Region
1	Copenhagen	Denmark
2	Zürich	Switzerland
3	Lisbon	Portugal
4	Helsinki	Finland
5	Stockholm	Sweden
6	Tokyo	Japan
7	Vienna	Austria
8	Sydney	Australia
9	Vancouver	Canada
10	Taipei	Taiwan
11	Munich	Germany
12	Seoul	South Korea
13	Berlin	Germany
14	Amsterdam	Netherlands
15	Madrid	Spain
16	Auckland	New Zealand
17	Paris	France
18	Barcelona	Spain
19	Melbourne	Australia
20	Kyoto	Japan
21	Milan	Italy
22	Fukuoka	Japan
23	Oslo	Norway
24	Singapore	Singapore
25	Brisbane	Australia

Global Finance's World's Best Cities to Live

Global Finance is an English-language monthly financial magazine that publishes a list of the world's best cities to live that is based on a score that reflects a comprehensive list of eight unique factors. These are: economic strength; research and development; cultural interaction; livability; environment; accessibility; GDP per capita (nominal in U.S. dollars); and COVID-19 deaths per million for the country.

The World's Best Cities to Live In 2022
	City	Country/Region
1	London	United Kingdom
2	Tokyo	Japan
3	Shanghai	China
4	Singapore	Singapore
5	Melbourne	Australia
6	Sydney	Australia
7	Paris	France
8	Beijing	China
9	New York	United States
10	Amsterdam	Netherlands

Mercer's Quality of Living Ranking

American global human resources and related financial services consulting firm Mercer annually releases its Mercer Quality of Living Survey, comparing 221 cities based on 39 criteria. New York City is given a baseline score of 100 and other cities are rated in comparison. Important criteria are safety, education, hygiene, health care, culture, environment, recreation, political-economic stability, public transport and access to goods and services. The list is intended to help multinational companies decide where to open offices or plants, and how much to pay employees. Mercer has ranked Austria's capital Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey since 2009.

Mercer's Quality of Living Ranking 2019
	City	Country/Region
1	Vienna	Austria
2	Zürich	Switzerland
3	Vancouver	Canada
4	Munich	Germany
5	Auckland	New Zealand
6	Düsseldorf	Germany
7	Frankfurt	Germany
8	Copenhagen	Denmark
9	Geneva	Switzerland
10	Basel	Switzerland
11	Sydney	Australia
12	Amsterdam	Netherlands
13	Berlin	Germany
14	Bern	Switzerland
15	Wellington	New Zealand
16	Toronto	Canada
17	Melbourne	Australia
18	Singapore	Singapore
19	Ottawa	Canada
20	Hamburg	Germany
21	Perth	Australia
22	Montreal	Canada
23	Nuremberg	Germany
24	Stockholm	Sweden
25	Oslo	Norway
26	Luxembourg City	Luxembourg
27	Stuttgart	Germany
28	Brussels	Belgium
29	Adelaide	Australia
30	Canberra	Australia
31	Helsinki	Finland
32	Calgary	Canada
33	Dublin	Ireland
34	San Francisco	United States
35	Brisbane	Australia

The full ranking includes 231 cities.

Deutsche Bank Liveability Survey

The 2019 survey showed the following cities to be highest in quality of life, for numerous reasons (e.g. style, affordability, happiness and pollution etc.):

Wellington, like Melbourne, has also been ranked as the most liveable city by Deutsche Bank twice in a row, and also has the least pollution of any ranked city.

Cities with the highest quality of life 2019
	City	Country/Region
1	Zürich	Switzerland
2	Wellington	New Zealand
3	Copenhagen	Denmark
4	Edinburgh	United Kingdom
5	Vienna	Austria
6	Helsinki	Finland
7	Melbourne	Australia
8	Boston	United States
9	San Francisco	United States
10	Sydney	Australia

See also

• European Green Capital Award
• Healthy city
• List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees
• List of largest cities
• Urban vitality