10 Cities Offering The Highest Quality Of Life For Expats: Vienna And Zurich Tops 2017 Ranking

Notably, Vienna, the capital of Austria, has topped the list of cities offering the highest quality of life for expatriates, curated by New York-based human resources consulting firm Mercer, while Baghdad is again considered the worst place to live. Chad’s capital Ndjamena came in second to last.

Earlier this year, Vienna also ranked as the 41st most expensive city for rent in the world and 16th most attractive city in the world for university students. The majority of cities on the top 10 on the list are European, with Zurich (at No. 2), Munich (at No. 4), Dusseldorf (at No. 6), Frankfurt (at No. 7), Geneva (at No. 8), Copenhagen (at No. 9), and Basel (at No. 10).

Auckland (at No. 3) and Vancouver (at No. 5 are the only two non-European cities at the top 10 of the list.

London (at No. 40) was the highest ranking U.K. city, followed by Edinburgh (45), Birmingham (53), Glasgow (53), Aberdeen (58), and Belfast (66).

In the US, San Francisco (40) ranks highest ahead of Boston (35), Honolulu (36), New York (44), and Seattle (45).

At 25 Singapore was the highest ranked city in Asia

10 Cities Offering The Highest Quality Of Life For Expats:

1. Vienna, Austria 🇦🇹
2. Zurich, Switzerland 🇨🇭
3. Auckland, New Zealand 🇳🇿
4. Munich, Germany 🇩🇪
5. Vancouver, Canada 🇨🇦
6. Dusseldorf, Germany 🇩🇪
7. Frankfurt, Germany 🇩🇪
8. Geneva, Switzerland 🇨🇭
9. Copenhagen, Denmark 🇩🇰
10. Basel, Switzerland 🇨🇭

The survey of 231 cities helps companies and organizations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff. It uses dozens of criteria such as political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation and transport.