These Are the World’s Most Livable Cities in 2022
With rising rents and overall costs of living in most U.S. cities these days, it’s understandable if you’ve got your eye on greener pastures. But affordability isn’t the only factor that makes a city inherently livable, as evidenced by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which just released its annual report of the world’s most livable cities.
You might be surprised (or perhaps unsurprised) to learn that zero U.S. cities made the cut — in fact, the top 10 list is dominated by locations in western Europe and Canada, with Osaka, Japan and Melbourne, Australia taking the final spot in a tie ranking. Though Auckland, New Zealand had reigned supreme for two years in a row, top honors for 2022 went to Vienna, which boasts high rankings for stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure, as the researchers noted in their report.
Vienna, which is both the Austrian capital and the nation’s largest city, makes for a great place to visit, live, and work, offering ample green spaces to explore (including lakes, beaches, and vineyards), cheap and efficient public transport, and a low crime rate. Its population is around two million people, making it far less crowded than many metropolitan areas around the world.
The EIU report looked at 172 cities overall, assigning each city a score between 1 and 100. A score of 1 is “intolerable,” according to the EIU, while 100 is “ideal.” Vienna scored an impressive 99.1 ranking.
Curious about the top 10 cities that made the cut? Check out the list in full with each city’s ranking.
- Vienna, Austria (99.1)
- Copenhagen, Denmark (98.0)
- TIE — Zurich, Switzerland (96.3)
- TIE — Calgary, Canada (96.3)
- Vancouver, Canada (96.1)
- Geneva, Switzerland (95.9)
- Frankfurt, Germany (95.7)
- Toronto, Canada (95.4)
- Amsterdam, Netherlands (95.3)
- TIE — Osaka, Japan (95.1)
- TIE — Melbourne, Australia (95.1)