Mercer Quality of Living Survey
The Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranks 221 cities from Vienna to Baghdad on quality of life.[1] Countries with cities commonly ranked in the top 50 include United States, Austria, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.[2]
In 2010, Vienna won the title as the highest ranked city, followed by Zürich (2), Geneva (3), jointly Vancouver (4) and Auckland (4), and Düsseldorf (5). Vienna has been ranked first for six consecutive years. The quality of living survey is conducted to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments.
The survey also identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based upon internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement and relationships with other countries. In this case, Luxembourg is top, followed by Bern, Helsinki and Zürich, all equally placed at number 2.
Scoring
The cities — 221 in total — were evaluated on 39 factors including political, economic, environmental, personal safety, health, education, transportation and other public service factors. Cities were compared to New York City which was given a base score of 100.
| 2015 Rank | 2014 Rank | 2012 Rank | 2010 Rank | City | Country | Index 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Vienna |  Austria |
108.6 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Zürich |  Switzerland |
108.0 |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | Auckland |  New Zealand |
107.4 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | Munich |  Germany |
107.0 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | Vancouver |  Canada |
107.4 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | Düsseldorf | Germany |
107.2 |
| 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Frankfurt | Germany |
107.0 |
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 3 | Geneva | Switzerland |
107.9 |
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | Copenhagen |  Denmark |
106.2 |
| 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Sydney |  Australia |
106.3 |
| 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Amsterdam |  Netherlands |
105.7 |
| 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | Wellington | New Zealand |
105.9 |
| 13 | 10 | 10 | 9 | Bern | Switzerland |
106.5 |
| 14 | 16 | 17 | Berlin | Germany |
105.0 | |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | Toronto | Canada |
105.3 |
| 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | Ottawa | Canada |
105.5 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | Melbourne | Australia |
104.8 | |
| 16 | 17 | 23 | Hamburg | Germany |
104.1 | |
| 19 | 19 | 19 | Luxembourg |  Luxembourg |
104.6 | |
| 19 | 19 | 20 | Stockholm |  Sweden |
104.5 | |
| 21 | 27 | 30 | Stuttgart | Germany |
103.3 | |
| 22 | 21 | 21 | Perth | Australia |
104.2 | |
| 22 | 22 | 15 | Brussels |  Belgium |
105.4 | |
| 24 | 23 | 23 | 21 | Montreal | Canada |
104.2 |
| 25 | 24 | 24 | Nuremberg | Germany |
103.9 | |
| 26 | 25 | 28 | Singapore |  Singapore |
103.5 | |
| 27 | 27 | 29 | 32 | San Francisco |  United States |
103.0 |
| 27 | 29 | 32 | Adelaide | Australia |
103.0 | |
| 27 | 29 | 34 | Paris |  France |
102.9 | |
| 30 | 26 | 26 | Canberra | Australia |
103.6 | |
| 31 | 32 | 24 | Oslo |  Norway |
103.9 | |
| 31 | 32 | 35 | Helsinki |  Finland |
102.6 | |
| 33 | 32 | 28 | Calgary | Canada |
103.5 | |
| 34 | 34 | 35 | 26 | Dublin |  Ireland |
103.6 |
| 34 | 35 | 37 | Boston | United States |
102.2 | |
| 36 | 28 | 31 | Honolulu | United States |
103.1 | |
| 37 | 37 | 36 | Brisbane | Australia |
102.4 | |
| 38 | 40 | 44 | Barcelona |  Spain |
100.6 | |
| 39 | 39 | 38 | Lyon | France |
101.9 | |
| 40 | 38 | 39 | London |  United Kingdom |
101.6 | |
| 41 | 41 | 41 | Milan |  Italy |
100.8 | |
| 41 | 43 | 44 | 45 | Lisbon |  Portugal |
100.3 |
| 43 | 42 | 45 | Chicago | United States |
100.3 | |
| 44 | 44 | 40 | Tokyo |  Japan |
101.4 | |
| 44 | 44 | 49 | New York City | United States |
100.0 | |
| 44 | 44 | 50 | Seattle | United States |
99.8 | |
| 47 | 48 | 41 | Kobe | Japan |
100.8 | |
| 48 | 49 | 41 | Yokohama | Japan |
100.8 | |
| 48 | Los Angeles | United States |
||||
| 50 | 43 | 45 | Washington, D.C. | United States |
100.3 |
Top cities by region
North America
| Rank | Overall Ranking 2010 | City | Quality of living |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Vancouver |
107.4 |
| 2 | 14 | Ottawa |
105.5 |
| 3 | 16 | Toronto |
105.3 |
| 4 | 21 | Montréal |
104.2 |
| 5 | 28 | Calgary |
103.5 |
Asia
| Rank | Overall Ranking 2010 | City | Quality of living |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 | Singapore |
103.5 |
| 2 | 40 | Tokyo |
101.4 |
| 3 | 41 | Yokohama |
100.8 |
| 4 | 41 | Kobe |
100.8 |
| 5 | 51 | Osaka |
100.5 |
Europe
| Rank | Overall Ranking | City | Quality of living |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Vienna |
108.6 |
| 2 | 2 | Zürich |
108.0 |
| 3 | 3 | Geneva |
107.9 |
| 4 | 6 | Düsseldorf |
107.2 |
| 5 | 7 | Munich |
107.0 |
Oceania
| Rank | Overall Ranking | City | Quality of living |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Auckland |
107.4 |
| 2 | 10 | Sydney |
106.3 |
| 3 | 12 | Wellington |
105.9 |
| 4 | 18 | Melbourne |
104.8 |
| 5 | 21 | Perth |
104.2 |
Middle East & North Africa
| Rank | Overall Ranking | City | Quality of living |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75 |  Dubai |
87.0 |
| 2 | 83 | Abu Dhabi |
84.1 |
| 3 | 100 |  Muscat |
81.7 |
Sub-Saharan Africa
| Rank | Overall Ranking | City | Quality of living |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 82 |  Port Louis |
87.7 |
| 2 | 86 |  Cape Town |
85.7 |
| 3 | 90 | Johannesburg |
83.3 |
| 2015 Rank (2012 Rank) | 2015 Overall Ranking (2012 Overall Ranking) | City |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | 78 (77) |  Montevideo |
| 2 (2) | 91 (81) |  Buenos Aires |
| 3 (3) | 93 (91) |  Santiago |
| 4 (4) | 95 (93) |  Panama City |
| 5 (7) | 106 (105) |  San José |
| 6 (5) | 107 (101) |  Brasília |
| 7 (6) | 135 (104) |  Monterrey |
| 8 (8) | 114 (111) |  Asunción |
| 9 (9) | 119 (112) | Rio de Janeiro |
| 10 (10) | 120 (115) | São Paulo |
| 11 (12) | 124 (121) |  Lima |
| 12 (11) | 126 (120) | Mexico City |
| 13 (-) | 127 (-) | Manaus |
| 14 (13) | 129 (125) |  Quito |
| 14 (14) | 109 (130) |  Bogotá |
| 15 (15) | 150 (140) |  Guatemala City |
See also
- World's most liveable cities
- Global Liveability Survey
- List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees
References
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External links
- Mercer's Quality of Living survey page
- 2011 Quality of Living Worldwide Survey – city rankings (press release ). Mercer.com. Archived from the original on 28.11.2012.
- 2011 Mercer Quality of Living Interactive World Map
- 2012 Quality of Living Worldwide Survey – city rankings (press release)
- Full rankings
