On the EIU’s index, which ranks 140 cities on 30 factors bunched into five categories—stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure—Vienna scores a near-perfect 99.1 out of 100, putting it just ahead of Melbourne. [...] Higher crime rates and ropey infrastructure pull some bigger cities like London, New York and Paris down the league table, despite their cultural and culinary attractions. — The Economist
Having seemingly cracked the 'perfect-city' formula, Vienna, once again, has topped a major global livability ranking. As The Economist reports, the Austrian capital scored a "near-perfect 99.1 out of 100," followed immediately by its perennial quality-of-life rival, Melbourne.
Unsurprisingly, the list of top-ranking locations contains familiar livability heavy hitters from Australia and Canada with a couple of Japanese cities entering the mix:
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Toronto, Canada
7. Tokyo, Japan
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Adelaide, Australia
The highest-ranking U.S. city was Honolulu at 22nd. Atlanta came in at 33rd, closely followed by Pittsburgh at 34th, Seattle at 36th, and Washington, D.C. at 40th.
The Global Liveability Index 2019. Video via The Economist Intelligence Unit on YouTube.
Dominating the bottom of the list of the 140 surveyed cities are rapidly urbanizing metro areas in developing countries where explosive population growth presents unique design and regulatory challenges:
1. Damascus, Syria
2. Lagos, Nigeria
3. Dhaka, Bangladesh
4. Tripoli, Libya
5. Karachi, Pakistan
6. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
7. Harare, Zimbabwe
8. Douala, Cameroon
9. Algiers, Algeria
10. Caracas, Venezuela
Click here to access the complete Global Liveability Index, compiled annually by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
We're #1!
1st in death of 10-24 year olds per capita
1st in health care costs
1st in anxiety disorders
1st in sending people to jail
1st in military spending
#2 and trying harder:
2nd in child poverty (just ahead of Romania)
2nd in vibrator ownership
in the top three:
3rd in poverty
gotta try harder:
33rd in acceptance of evolution
37th in upholding rule of law
41st in privacy
![Community-built market completed in northern Ghana by [a]FA](https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/dc/dc5b666d1adccc5af343c18ab8a74061.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=248&h=147 "Community-built market completed in northern Ghana by [a]FA")
All 7 Comments
At what rank sits the first US city?
We have updated the story to include the highest-ranking U.S. cities:
The highest-ranking U.S. city was Honolulu at 22nd. Atlanta came in at 33rd, closely followed by Pittsburgh at 34th, Seattle at 36th, and Washington, D.C. at 40th.
Thanks. I was not going to sign-up just to get the summary. So best the US can do is 22nd and 33rd... rough.
i'm always surprised that singapore isn't doing better on these livability indexes. they're trying so hard and should (theoretically) be slaying it year after year.
Singapore is pretty Authoritarian despite their pretty free markets.
I also find these rankings to be dubious Calgary 5th really??
how? are facts fake news??
Well I have been to Calgary, and was quite un-impressed. I live in Berlin and prefer it to Calgary hands down. I am not questions the "facts" I am questions which facts were used.
I thiink Munich and Copenhagen sould be neck and neck with Vienna. Just my 2 cents.
Calgary is not that bad... better than edmonton that's for sure... plus you're 30min from the rockies. Much cheaper to live in that vancouver or toronto.
I would not rank Calgary the 5th best place to live in the world though, I agree with Volunteer, Munich or Copenhagen should be ranked higher . As for Calgary, I would not even consider that anywhere near the top ten
^there must be some other factor that pushed Calgary above others. Could be as simple as cost of housing. Typically Victoria gets top ranks when looking at Canadian cities.
That is what I was trying to get across when I replied to b3tadine[sutures], I am not sure the kind of data used for these rankings are particularly telling of which cities are the more livable then others- it can be highly subjective.
livable from a tourist's POV is likely different than from a resident.
Well I know people that lived and then moved away from Calgary because it sucked so bad. I am sorry but no. 5 in the world- give me a break and no its not 30 min drive to the rockies it´s around 1.5 hours
It's less than 90min from Banff, so 30min will certainly get you into the rockies.
uhuh it took us two hours to get to Banff by car
^drive faster. 8-)
Our of all US cities I wouldn’t rank Honolulu as the most livable. I’m not surprised the US isn’t in top 20...but surely there are better US cities than Honolulu...like Charleston, NOLA, Austin, Etc...
what’s the difference between Toronto and NYC? Seem very similar
have you ever been to both?
Atlanta is not livable. At all. Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA, are probably the top US cities I would chose to live in that I know anything about.
We're #1!
1st in death of 10-24 year olds per capita
1st in health care costs
1st in anxiety disorders
1st in sending people to jail
1st in military spending
#2 and trying harder:
2nd in child poverty (just ahead of Romania)
2nd in vibrator ownership
in the top three:
3rd in poverty
gotta try harder:
33rd in acceptance of evolution
37th in upholding rule of law
41st in privacy
Ranking America
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