Quality of living

City rankings

Apr 4th 2007
http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8956503

Zurich is the most pleasant city for expatriates, according to Mercer, a consulting firm. Its annual survey compares 39 measures in 215 cities, such as transport and crime. Singapore, Tokyo and London rank higher than New York. Baghdad is the world's worst place to live and work.

Highlights from the 2007 Quality of Living Survey

02 April 2007
http://www.mercerhr.com/referencecontent.jhtml?idContent=1128060

Canadian, European and Australian cities continue to dominate the rankings this year, which saw little significant movement among the top 50 cities. (See the 2007 Quality of Living press release for more details).

Zurich, Geneva, Vienna, Vancouver, and Auckland remain the top scoring cities on the Quality of Living index. One of this year's biggest improvements has been in Osaka, rising 8 places to 42 from 51. Improvement was also seen in Oslo, which climbed five places from 31 to 26.

The rankings are based on data collected between September and November 2006 and the data is regularly updated to take account of changing circumstances. Only 215 cities have been considered in the Quality of Living 2007 rankings and any assessment will be revised in the case of any new developments.

Top rankings for cities in Asia

The top five cities in Asia were:

Auckland (tied for 5th)
Sydney (tied for 9th)
Wellington (12th)
Melbourne (17th)
Perth (21st)

Osaka (tied for 42nd) was the lowest ranking Asian city in the top 50.

Top rankings for cities in Europe

The top five cities in Europe were:

Zurich (1st)
Geneva (2nd)
Vienna (tied 3th)
Dusseldorf (tied for 5th)
Frankfort (7th)

The lowest ranking European city in the top 50 was Milan (tied for 49th).

Top ranking for cities in the Americas

The top five cities in the Americas were:

Vancouver (3rd)
Toronto (15th)
Ottawa (tied for 18th)
Montreal (22nd)
Calgary (24th)

The lowest ranking Americas city in the top 50 was Seattle (tied for 49th).

Mercer Human Resource Consulting Worldwide Quality of Living Survey 2007 Top 50
		Base City: New York, USA (=100)

Rank 2007	*Rank 2006*	City	Country	Index 2007	*Index 2006*

1	1	ZURICH	Switzerland	108.1	108.2
2	2	GENEVA	Switzerland	108.0	108.1
3	3	VANCOUVER	Canada	107.7	107.7
3	4	VIENNA	Austria	107.7	107.5
5	5	AUCKLAND	New Zealand	107.3	107.3
5	6	DUSSELDORF	Germany	107.3	107.2
7	7	FRANKFURT	Germany	107.1	107.0
8	8	MUNICH	Germany	106.9	106.8
9	9	BERN	Switzerland	106.5	106.5
9	9	SYDNEY	Australia	106.5	106.5
11	11	COPENHAGEN	Denmark	106.2	106.2
12	12	WELLINGTON	New Zealand	105.8	105.8
13	13	AMSTERDAM	The Netherlands	105.7	105.7
14	14	BRUSSELS	Belgium	105.6	105.6
15	15	TORONTO	Canada	105.4	105.4
16	16	BERLIN	Germany	105.2	105.1
17	17	MELBOURNE	Australia	105.0	105.0
18	18	LUXEMBOURG	Luxembourg	104.8	104.8
18	18	OTTAWA	Canada	104.8	104.8
20	20	STOCKHOLM	Sweden	104.7	104.7
21	21	PERTH	Australia	104.5	104.5
22	22	MONTREAL	Canada	104.3	104.3
23	23	NURNBERG	Germany	104.2	104.1
24	25	CALGARY	Canada	103.6	103.6
24	26	HAMBURG	Germany	103.6	103.4
26	31	OSLO	Norway	103.5	102.8
27	24	DUBLIN	Ireland	103.3	103.8
27	27	HONOLULU, HI	United States	103.3	103.3
29	28	SAN FRANCISCO, CA	United States	103.2	103.2
30	29	ADELAIDE	Australia	103.1	103.1
30	29	HELSINKI	Finland	103.1	103.1
32	31	BRISBANE	Australia	102.8	102.8
33	33	PARIS	France	102.7	102.7
34	34	SINGAPORE	Singapore	102.5	102.5
35	35	TOKYO	Japan	102.3	102.3
36	37	LYON	France	101.9	101.6
36	36	BOSTON, MA	United States	101.9	101.9
38	37	YOKOHAMA	Japan	101.7	101.6
39	39	LONDON	United Kingdom	101.2	101.2
40	40	KOBE	Japan	101.0	101.0
41	44	BARCELONA	Spain	100.6	100.2
42	45	MADRID	Spain	100.5	100.1
42	51	OSAKA	Japan	100.5	99.6
44	41	WASHINGTON, DC	United States	100.4	100.4
44	41	CHICAGO, IL	United States	100.4	100.4
46	43	PORTLAND, OR	United States	100.3	100.3
47	53	LISBON	Portugal	100.1	98.9
48	46	NEW YORK CITY, NY	United States	100.0	100.0
49	51	MILAN	Italy	99.9	99.6
49	47	SEATTLE, WA	United States	99.9	99.9

Mercer Human Resource Consulting Worldwide Health and Sanitation Ranking* 2007 Top 50
	Base City: New York, USA (=100)

Rank 2007	City	Country	Index 2007

1	CALGARY	Canada	131.7
2	HONOLULU, HI	United States	130.3
3	HELSINKI	Finland	128.5
4	OTTAWA	Canada	127.2
5	MINNEAPOLIS, MN	United States	125.7
6	OSLO	Norway	125
6	STOCKHOLM	Sweden	125
6	ZURICH	Switzerland	125
9	KATSUYAMA	Japan	123.8
10	BERN	Switzerland	123.7
10	BOSTON, MA	United States	123.7
10	GENEVA	Switzerland	123.7
10	LEXINGTON, KY	United States	123.7
10	MONTREAL	Canada	123.7
10	NURNBERG	Germany	123.7
10	PITTSBURGH, PA	United States	123.7
10	VANCOUVER	Canada	123.7
18	AUCKLAND	New Zealand	123.1
18	WELLINGTON	New Zealand	123.1
20	DUBLIN	Ireland	122.9
21	AMSTERDAM	The Netherlands	122.4
21	TORONTO	Canada	122.4
23	LYON	France	122.3
24	COPENHAGEN	Denmark	122.2
25	KOBE	Japan	122
25	OMUTA	Japan	122
27	WASHINGTON, DC	United States	121
28	DUSSELDORF	Germany	120.9
28	FRANKFURT	Germany	120.9
28	LUXEMBOURG	Luxembourg	120.9
28	MUNICH	Germany	120.9
28	VIENNA	Austria	120.9
33	TSUKUBA	Japan	120.4
34	PORTLAND, OR	United States	119.7
35	ADELAIDE	Australia	119.5
36	BRUSSELS	Belgium	118.4
37	CLEVELAND, OH	United States	118.3
37	HAMBURG	Germany	118.3
37	SAN FRANCISCO, CA	United States	118.3
37	ST. LOUIS, MO	United States	118.3
37	WINSTON SALEM, NC	United States	118.3
42	YOKOHAMA	Japan	118.1
43	MELBOURNE	Australia	117.4
43	PERTH	Australia	117.4
45	BERLIN	Germany	117.1
46	YOKKAICHI	Japan	116.5
47	BRISBANE	Australia	116.2
48	GLASGOW	United Kingdom	115.7
49	SEATTLE, WA	United States	115.1
50	SINGAPORE	Singapore	114

What’s included in the Quality of Living Report?

Mercer’s Quality of Living Reports include:

A city-to-city index comparison (any city can be selected as a base)
An evaluation and commentary describing the quality-of-living rating for each of the 39 factors
The methodology for establishing quality-of-living differentials between cities
A Quality-of-Living Allowance Grid that allows you to translate the quality-of-living index into hardship allowances

Learn more

Quality of Living vs. the quality of life

The Quality of Living index is based on several criteria used to judge whether an expatriate is entitled to a hardship allowance. A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one, but it may be lacking the dynamic je ne sais quoi that makes people want to live in world-renowned cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London or New York. Sometimes you need a little spice to make a city exciting. But that "spice" may also give a city a lower ranking.

What makes one person's quality of life better or worse cannot be quantified in an objective index. Therefore, Mercer's Quality of Living report reflects only the tangible aspects of living in a city on expatriate assignments, and leaves the question of the quality of one's life to those living it!