Revealed: World’s Best Cities For Raising A Family In 2020

Emma LondonStats GateJanuary 22, 2020

Helsinki has been crowned the best city in the world for raising a family in 2020, according to a new study, while Quebec in Canada and Oslo placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Munich comes 4th in the ranking, Copenhagen 5th, and San Francisco a lowly 24th, while Stockholm ranks 6th for family living in comparison with 150 cities globally. London ranks 55th in this table.

The rest of the overall top 10 comprises Reykjavik (7th), Calgary (8th), Montreal (9th) and Gothenburg in Sweden (10th).

Where’s the best city in the world to raise a family?

Researchers analyzed 150 international cities and thirteen factors including housing affordability, living costs by income, unemployment (%), education, safety, mobility, air quality (µg/m3), healthcare, kids’ activities, paid parental leave (days), family inclusivity, neighborhood safety, and family-friendliness. For the survey parents were asked to indicate how they felt about their children’s safety in the community and if their city was a good place for families in general.

Singapore comes 23rd, Vancouver comes 35th, New York comes 69th, Sydney comes 47, Los Angeles comes 73rd and Miami come 98th. Among the worst cities for raising a family, according to the study, are Istanbul (150th) – which comes last in the table, Kuwait City (149th), Izmir (148th), and Ankara (147th).

Best cities in the world for raising a family in 2020

Rank	City	Country	Score	Housing affordability	living costs by income	unemployment (%)	education	Safety	Mobility	Air Quality (µg/m3)	Healthcare	Kids Activities	Paid Parental Leave (Days)	Family Inclusivity	Neighbourhood Safety	Family-Friendliness
1	Helsinki	Finland	100	76.29	91.71	9.2	92.54	88.7	77.3	19.11	84.4	71.15	1190	100	89	95
2	Quebec	Canada	99.06	99.81	86.3	3.8	95.23	92.5	73.02	18	76.32	78.66	364	100	94	92
3	Oslo	Norway	98.13	84.6	94.95	2.3	89.08	87.3	75.95	22.49	85.97	68.67	707	100	87	96
4	Munich	Germany	96.75	83.49	100	3.77	90.06	90.4	79	21.38	73.33	78.16	467	100	83	94
5	Copenhagen	Denmark	96.53	80.6	94.88	4.4	89.08	93.6	98.09	26.54	73.47	78.79	364	100	81	92
6	Stockholm	Sweden	96.15	84.22	97.04	5.9	87.46	91.3	94.29	26.14	81.14	68.26	490	100	82	89
7	Reykjavik	Iceland	94.4	87.07	91.55	3.1	84.69	95	92.23	15.06	85.65	62.65	273	100	90	81
8	Calgary	Canada	93.69	95.19	88.33	7.7	95.99	89.1	72.08	10.74	78.18	67.91	364	100	90	90
9	Montreal	Canada	92.08	81.32	88.08	6.1	95.23	89.5	73.22	15.67	75.34	77.53	364	100	91	87
10	Gothenburg	Sweden	91.26	88.89	95.42	7.1	87.46	85.5	90.62	18.6	81.24	53.54	490	100	85	92
11	Tokyo	Japan	91.23	58.39	89.05	2.8	93.67	91.7	88.37	28.28	82.8	81.01	770	9.53	98	90
12	Osaka	Japan	90.68	82.84	87.07	3.2	93.67	91.1	83.66	31.97	77.1	59.91	770	9.53	96	90
13	Stuttgart	Germany	90.3	89.92	93.02	4.2	88.83	88.3	72.41	24.42	71.59	65.01	467	100	74	90
14	Ottawa	Canada	89.67	87.64	84.42	4.6	92.79	90.5	64.99	11	77.78	60.78	364	100	87	91
15	Hamburg	Germany	89.11	88.62	93.22	6.33	88.71	84.4	68.68	21.21	72.4	76.38	467	100	82	94
16	Hanover	Germany	88.73	98.38	89.55	6.62	87.14	85.7	79.16	22.39	72.53	64.42	467	100	76	85
17	Frankfurt	Germany	88.52	86.1	90.84	5.38	88.94	87.7	84.29	26.61	72.1	57.59	467	100	77	87
18	Uppsala	Sweden	88.23	88.88	91.84	5.7	87.46	86.4	89.07	24.34	81.6	32.34	490	100	88	92
19	Dresden	Germany	87.76	90.8	86.18	6.1	90.4	88.3	77.43	26.52	74.6	64.81	467	100	73	70
20	Berlin	Germany	87.64	82.75	88.75	8.13	88.94	85.9	77.37	24.16	71.19	89.43	467	100	74	82
21	Malmo	Sweden	87.62	93.18	94.25	13.9	87.46	83.9	92.36	19.6	81.84	56.36	490	100	83	95
22	Adelaide	Australia	86.85	92.96	95.01	5.84	87.56	89.8	55.66	16.66	84.28	60.14	140	100	87	90
23	Singapore	Singapore	86.6	63.78	88.39	2.1	98	95.3	100	30	67.6	81.52	119	1	97	89
24	San Francisco	US	86.38	81.83	90.55	2.68	85.53	83.3	79.96	15.77	65.44	98.39	117	100	85	79
25	Dusseldorf	Germany	86.02	85.72	86.77	6.73	88.49	88.2	81.93	25.67	72.45	56.86	467	100	79	87
26	Leipzig	Germany	85.08	91.85	80.38	6.74	90.4	85.5	78.9	25.86	71.09	61.73	467	100	80	83
27	Boston	US	84.96	77.82	82.77	3.11	92.33	87	81.55	12.32	73.98	76.41	0	100	78	86
28	San Diego	US	84.75	80.53	90.59	3.3	85.53	86.8	62.27	15.05	68.65	93.85	117	100	74	92
29	Vienna	Austria	84.64	74.07	88.88	12.3	86.82	89.6	74.27	25.73	79.05	79.16	481	100	89	92
30	Seattle	US	84.43	87.73	87.99	3.88	87.28	84.3	66.25	11.97	72.09	87.08	0	100	87	90
31	Cologne	Germany	83.79	88.4	86.42	7.85	88.49	85.4	75.33	24.47	72.39	58.37	467	100	79	85
32	Perth	Australia	83.39	90.31	83.4	6.29	89.26	87.5	62.87	16.77	85.24	60.15	140	100	90	87
33	Antwerp	Belgium	83.39	93.9	83.14	4.4	88.78	83.3	56.19	26.75	76.33	78.99	361	100	73	69
34	Toronto	Canada	83.26	65.57	71.14	6	92.79	90.8	63.34	14.33	77.94	83.8	364	100	93	89
35	Vancouver	Canada	83.04	62.29	79.32	4.4	95.61	88.3	58.29	12.26	77.72	69.25	364	100	87	88
36	Zurich	Switzerland	82.95	89.83	81.51	3.8	89.45	87.8	70.36	20.43	82.77	63.06	98	68.38	98	90
37	Basel	Switzerland	82.87	95.3	73.52	3.6	89.45	91.2	64.79	20.1	82.23	66.21	98	68.38	95	91
38	Wellington	New Zealand	82.8	81.46	85.8	4.63	89.34	91.5	54.85	12.9	73.51	60.94	126	100	92	94
39	Brisbane	Australia	82.69	84.58	85.18	4.43	87.05	89.4	63.09	15.84	85.7	51.01	140	100	89	90
40	Strasbourg	France	82.48	91.9	80.73	7.5	88.34	84.8	66.59	25	74.17	56.54	490	100	92	87
41	Essen	Germany	82.38	100	85.47	10.6	88.49	85.1	80.28	24.03	74.76	44.2	467	100	81	75
42	Minneapolis	US	82.34	88.57	85.35	2.68	87.44	85.5	67.91	12.18	74.33	62.43	0	100	89	92
43	Portland	US	82.24	87.44	84.96	3.79	86.2	87.3	64.84	10.44	68.7	75.02	0	100	88	93
44	Bremen	Germany	82.06	93.52	82.17	9.3	88.26	84.6	69.33	20.39	71.39	58.13	467	100	82	90
45	Omaha	US	81.93	93.56	90.5	2.87	86.94	84.4	63.13	15.47	64.11	64.85	0	100	92	89
46	Dortmund	Germany	81.82	94.42	84.05	10.26	88.49	84.8	80.63	24.35	73.06	46.64	467	100	75	92
47	Sydney	Australia	81.46	58.64	79.85	4.35	87.94	89.1	65.18	16.56	85.33	90.86	140	100	91	85
48	Austin	US	81.08	87.7	94.49	2.92	85.7	86.7	53.59	14.3	56.33	76.74	0	100	81	91
49	Denver	US	80.96	88.58	89.76	3.01	86.86	83.8	61.67	11.02	67.83	66.9	0	100	92	84
50	Melbourne	Australia	80.83	67.5	81.81	5.41	88.74	86.8	75.63	18.75	84.01	70.94	140	100	92	91
51	Lyon	France	80.78	82.78	89.93	8	87.78	82.2	65.44	22	72.11	58.15	490	100	76	91
52	Christchurch	New Zealand	80.68	95.95	82.51	3.7	89.34	88.2	54.55	20.85	74.98	42.81	126	100	88	93
53	Geneva	Switzerland	80.11	83.97	81.23	4.5	89.45	89.1	63.79	20.75	81	65.9	98	68.38	87	89
54	Tampa	US	79.69	90.3	91.25	3.4	86.03	84.9	61.31	12.37	63.64	70.8	0	84.6	84	81
55	London	UK	79.54	57.7	72.54	4.75	89.51	84.3	76.6	15.76	71.34	98.28	287	100	89	79
56	Chicago	US	79.46	81.4	83.16	4.16	86.28	83.8	83.88	21.54	62.94	90.95	0	100	65	72
57	Charlotte	US	79.39	92	94.51	3.63	85.62	84.3	61.31	15.07	57.06	63.62	0	92.3	85	91
58	Amsterdam	Netherlands	79.08	64.15	62.56	3.8	89.77	89.4	85.66	23.06	83.46	78.74	115	100	91	89
59	Colorado Springs	US	78.86	90.97	86.61	3.68	86.86	84.3	55.87	10.71	65.69	62	0	100	92	90
60	Tallinn	Estonia	78.86	67.33	65.47	4.8	92.84	82.7	54.88	13.95	53.43	61.38	1176	67.55	96	91
61	Virginia Beach	US	78.77	94.71	91.26	3.33	87.03	83.1	54.86	12.95	65.47	65.23	0	84.6	70	92
62	Rotterdam	Netherlands	78.72	71.45	70.97	4.3	89.77	87.7	82.18	23.71	85.31	58.35	115	100	83	94
63	Oakland	US	78.49	82.97	92.44	2.68	85.53	81.2	50.69	15.77	70.45	67.14	117	100	84	87
64	Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	77.95	74.16	83.6	5.6	85.13	85.6	43.37	22.04	84.09	56.22	479	100	90	93
65	Dallas	US	77.94	88.88	92.17	3.49	85.7	83.3	65.2	15.84	55.18	72.2	0	100	62	81
66	Washington	US	77.75	85.08	91.24	3.37	83.29	84	67.5	14.68	54.11	82.71	0	100	73	69
67	Atlanta	US	77.55	89.45	93.56	3.69	86.11	81.1	69.34	16.61	51.23	71.98	0	100	71	74
68	Utrecht	Netherlands	77.42	78.85	65.19	3.4	89.77	88.9	77.89	19.88	84.13	56.13	115	100	76	78
69	New York	US	77.35	66.67	72.03	4.02	86.03	82.2	86.15	16.27	66.43	98.53	180	100	81	67
70	Pittsburgh	US	77.28	90.82	83.89	4.28	86.86	86.1	68.83	19.24	64.06	61.88	0	100	70	75
71	Madrid	Spain	77.22	57.38	79.8	11.5	90.43	86.2	93.62	18.68	73.11	84.27	127	100	81	86
72	Phoenix	US	77.16	89.92	87.4	4.14	85.95	82.4	58.42	13.53	58.8	67.74	0	100	92	88
73	Los Angeles	US	76.77	72.72	87.36	4.21	85.53	81.3	56.45	19.93	64.8	100	117	100	60	82
74	Toulouse	France	76.77	88.21	78.99	8.1	87.78	81.9	62.53	19.17	73.58	49.19	490	100	73	84
75	Prague	Czechia	76.76	36.91	63.51	1.93	86.52	89	83.98	26.78	63.38	95.26	770	76.08	82	78
76	Edinburgh	UK	76.56	75.61	67.29	4	88.25	85.1	72	13.54	63.05	68.01	287	100	93	86
77	San Jose	US	76.46	85.8	96.25	2.64	85.53	85.9	48.58	27	68.23	51.05	117	100	86	68
78	Jacksonville	US	76.46	94.98	91.98	3.33	86.03	81.1	55.41	14.59	65.22	56.81	0	84.6	82	84
79	Paris	France	76.32	51.98	75.6	7	88.71	85.2	74.72	27.75	72.16	89.96	490	100	62	77
80	Oklahoma City	US	75.66	95.56	87.39	3.28	85.2	83	58.84	17.08	50.62	61.39	0	100	81	85
81	San Antonio	US	75.52	88.19	88	3.33	85.53	82.1	58.52	16.25	56.46	76.6	0	100	70	69
82	Louisville	US	75.49	94.54	95.2	3.84	85.78	80.8	61.61	21.18	51.46	64.34	0	84.6	74	80
83	Indianapolis	US	75.45	90.27	88.97	3.19	87.19	79.9	63.22	16.99	54.8	61.48	0	100	68	89
84	Bristol	UK	75.11	77.59	70.53	3.8	87.9	83.4	63.71	17.7	73.35	58.21	287	100	82	89
85	Sacramento	US	74.89	86.67	86.21	3.72	85.53	83.9	58.63	13.53	68.06	52.36	117	100	63	72
86	Bordeaux	France	74.8	82.38	75.87	8.8	87.78	83.3	58.85	22.33	73.91	49.02	490	100	83	88
87	Columbus	US	74.79	94.21	88.54	3.77	86.86	79	60.56	19.27	57.67	69.88	0	84.6	72	79
88	Liverpool	UK	74.13	87.12	71.59	3.5	87.02	82.1	58.24	14.02	63.81	54.92	287	100	86	84
89	Houston	US	74.11	88.5	91.19	4.28	85.7	80.8	52.91	16	56.45	73.07	0	100	68	71
90	Nashville	US	73.66	86.62	88.11	2.75	85.62	82.1	52.03	14.68	49.6	65.91	0	100	78	86
91	Barcelona	Spain	73.59	45.07	74	8.22	88.27	86	90.15	24.4	72.84	87.35	127	100	85	91
92	Glasgow	UK	73.21	84.23	75.96	5.9	88.33	82.3	61.7	22.94	63.06	51.09	287	100	79	83
93	Philadelphia	US	73.16	81.31	80.61	4.23	86.86	74.9	69.47	18.9	63.27	85.32	0	100	78	75
94	Auckland	New Zealand	73.08	56.82	80.3	4.18	89.34	86.8	49.56	14.25	73.3	63.28	126	100	90	90
95	Milwaukee	US	73.05	83.69	76.27	3.13	86.94	79.3	62.81	15.26	68.82	65.25	0	100	81	85
96	Tulsa	US	72.95	94.73	85.76	3.6	85.2	80.5	60.46	16.99	49.25	57.63	0	100	80	82
97	Las Vegas	US	72.74	90.16	86.7	4.78	85.12	80.5	53.21	14.11	53.9	74.21	0	100	74	70
98	Miami	US	72.57	76.27	86.38	3.69	86.03	82.5	64.89	11.4	63.11	62.72	0	84.6	75	78
99	Leeds	UK	72.33	82.89	73.71	3.9	87.57	82.4	59.32	21.52	60.83	48.46	287	100	81	88
100	Montpellier	France	72.03	82.56	75.63	12.8	87.97	80.4	61.56	20	74.19	52.74	490	100	85	83
101	Nantes	France	72.03	85.54	71.52	7.2	86.85	81.9	64.01	19.33	73.09	38.83	490	100	74	72
102	Nice	France	72.02	72.75	78.54	9.7	85.35	82.2	59.1	28.5	74.83	54.56	490	100	83	90
103	Lille	France	71.38	81.63	76.68	12	87.41	81.8	66.06	22	74.89	38.57	490	100	78	90
104	Tucson	US	71.15	89.51	80.64	4.39	85.95	82.1	54.92	10.99	57.45	61.1	0	84.6	82	80
105	Baltimore	US	71.01	89.34	87.76	4.18	86.2	76.1	63.81	17.65	63.82	67.09	0	100	53	48
106	Cleveland	US	70.64	84.08	78.58	5.03	86.86	80.6	69.5	19	59.91	58.09	0	84.6	86	86
107	Seoul	South Korea	70.61	45.71	79.01	4.76	91.85	87.5	94.11	46	69.4	81.27	93	32.62	93	71
108	Wichita	US	70.55	93.57	83.53	3.7	86.53	79.9	53.68	16.85	57.92	49.91	0	84.6	84	82
109	Cardiff	UK	70.36	85.9	67.32	5.1	84.03	83.8	58.62	18.95	63.39	51.76	287	100	84	87
110	Fresno	US	70.31	89.72	79.78	7.39	85.53	81.3	56.16	27.95	70.09	44.92	117	100	89	91
111	Albuquerque	US	70.14	92.37	88.43	4.55	84.29	75.5	54.23	11.94	51.5	62.95	0	100	75	78
112	Milan	Italy	69.43	57.6	74.51	6.4	89.49	82.4	71.04	37.13	80.01	70.28	337	60.68	84	76
113	Bratislava	Slovak Republic	69.18	60.28	70.68	2.88	81.3	87.6	51.68	27.14	43.36	60.7	1148	24.92	87	89
114	Kansas City	US	68.99	92.86	84.32	3.38	86.53	70.1	55.45	16.25	60.46	59.7	0	84.6	90	83
115	Marseille	France	68.96	85.17	73.29	10.9	87.22	79.4	52.11	28.67	73.49	46.67	490	100	76	86
116	Memphis	US	68.73	91.37	85.92	4.13	85.62	72.3	53.14	17.08	45.54	67.07	0	100	95	77
117	Manchester	UK	68.58	65.34	71	4.5	88.21	80.4	71.34	17.58	61.41	53.23	287	100	66	87
118	Honolulu	US	68.5	55.5	81.4	2.14	85.37	83	54.47	7.88	74.14	64.83	0	100	65	75
119	Brussels	Belgium	68.09	52.77	77.19	13.38	88.78	86.3	66.32	25.59	75.19	69.69	361	100	59	76
120	Dublin	Ireland	68.06	41.05	70.69	5.33	90.02	84	61.65	15.66	74.61	70.82	182	100	81	89
121	Birmingham	UK	67.65	77.69	65.21	5.8	88.03	79.9	70.05	18.54	60.89	49.94	287	100	71	82
122	Ljubljana	Slovenia	65.01	64.63	61.96	8.75	90.02	90.2	42.17	24.88	66.82	63.34	385	59.85	88	89
123	New Orleans	US	64.71	82.72	82.36	4.51	84.2	76	61.12	13.91	47.35	65.47	0	100	54	58
124	Taipei	Taiwan	64.42	31.23	70.16	1.83	92.73	85.8	75.79	28.24	55.86	55	61	100	97	82
125	Lisbon	Portugal	63.84	34.29	62.57	7.4	87.7	88.6	62.78	15	53.19	83.66	367	100	68	81
126	Budapest	Hungary	62.25	38.61	57.93	3.1	83.51	83.6	35.05	29	36.89	88.38	1127	75.25	77	74
127	Warsaw	Poland	61.62	44.11	65	2.4	88.97	87.5	65.84	33.25	41.16	78.27	378	26.58	80	87
128	Detroit	US	60.96	74.62	68.51	4.23	85.95	73.5	56	18.3	55.91	75.32	0	100	72	54
129	Rome	Italy	59.95	51.21	70.04	9.8	85.5	79.8	44.11	27.89	77.56	86.49	337	60.68	71	73
130	Porto	Portugal	58.23	36.62	50.57	7.4	87.7	86.5	61.07	15.07	54.07	69.59	367	100	73	84
131	Tel Aviv	Israel	57.18	67.1	70.99	3.8	83	84.1	29.63	48.36	51.13	71.75	98	74.42	63	88
132	Jerusalem	Israel	56.8	73.58	73.98	6.3	83	82.3	28.32	45.13	50.13	72.44	98	74.42	57	87
133	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	53.41	51.37	90.35	0.5	82.81	88.6	63.12	123.2	6.78	87	45	1	93	87
134	Bucharest	Romania	52.4	76.51	60.4	1.45	76.54	83	5.73	30.83	27.42	57.91	887	24.92	88	81
135	Zagreb	Croatia	51.26	63.8	47.11	4.92	83.62	80.4	31.04	35.81	55.4	63.5	448	76.08	64	78
136	Vilnius	Lithuania	49.43	62.59	51.69	7.6	83.56	80.3	34.15	26.56	37.33	60.17	462	59.03	89	80
137	Riga	Latvia	46.91	70.74	34.06	6.5	85.77	81.3	30.96	33.98	36.25	68.6	668	16.4	83	75
138	Moscow	Russia	44.81	28.28	46.96	2.45	86.76	75.3	39.21	32.5	19.49	94.87	686	16.4	89	79
139	Sofia	Bulgaria	44.73	68.65	40.81	2	76.92	83.3	22.52	43.39	24.65	68.51	790	16.4	69	73
140	Naples	Italy	43.95	61	64.65	24.2	79.89	78	48.51	34.94	76.43	56.86	337	60.68	69	72
141	Doha	Qatar	42.25	79.77	94.51	0.1	70.82	85.5	13.03	167.63	41.77	58.94	50	1	88	90
142	Santiago	Chile	41.6	68.27	37.64	7.3	77.54	79.4	52.31	64.41	29.11	77.74	217	76.08	71	70
143	Buenos Aires	Argentina	40.95	83.11	42.24	10.78	82.38	72.9	49.6	26.15	1	62.62	92	100	87	79
144	Athens	Greece	38.56	53.13	49.15	19.5	80.5	73.7	30.42	39.98	63.45	91.58	304	76.08	55	64
145	Mexico City	Mexico	23.56	27.01	57.21	4.63	71.65	62.3	25.86	42.24	12.53	83.69	91	100	42	64
146	Manama	Bahrain	21.98	48.95	70.29	3.9	79.8	71.3	1	115.08	11.2	56.48	60	1	83	85
147	Ankara	Turkey	19.3	65.29	15.37	10.1	74.02	73.4	53.12	76.97	19.27	78.83	119	9.53	74	79
148	Izmir	Turkey	14.68	57.27	5.54	13.7	74.02	76	56.67	48.51	20.04	71.62	119	9.53	52	78
149	Kuwait City	Kuwait	12.93	1	64.96	2.07	67	80.4	21.46	164.63	34.77	56.8	70	16.4	81	72
150	Istanbul	Turkey	1	22.51	1	12.4	74.02	65.2	27.03	53.37	19.2	95.71	119	9.53	75	71

When it comes to paid parental leave, Helsinki sits at the top of this table, too, with 1,190 days. It’s followed by Tallinn in Estonia (2nd, 1,176), Bratislava in the Slovak Republic (3rd, 1,148), Budapest in Hungary (4th, 1,127), Bucharest in Romania (5th, 887), Sofia in Bulgaria (6th, 790), Tokyo (7th, 770), Osaka (8th, 770), Prague (9th, 770) and Oslo (10th, 707).

In the education ranking, it’s Singapore that takes the top spot on the podium, followed by Calgary (2nd), Vancouver (3rd), Quebec (4th), Montreal (5th), Tokyo (6th), Osaka (7th), Tallinn (8th), Toronto (9th) and Ottawa (10th).

Emma London

Emma London is a columnist and member of the CEOWORLD magazine editorial board. She's one of the magazine's founding editors and leads global newsroom coverage and management. Having lived in five different countries — the United States, Canada, Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom - Emma is obsessed with how tech empowers people from all walks of life. She is fluent in Spanish.

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