Finding your ideal climate: the best weather to live in
CityLivably Editorial Team · Built on World Bank, WorldClim, USGS and FEMA/INFORM open data · Updated 2026
Climate shapes daily happiness and energy bills. Here's how we score it from real data — and the cities with the most comfortable year-round weather.
The most comfortable climates avoid extreme summer heat, harsh winters and chilly summers. Herceg Novi scores highest in our data. We compute climate from WorldClim monthly temperature normals.
Best climate cities
- Herceg Novi, Montenegro — climate 100/100, summer 23.7°C
- Porto, Portugal — climate 100/100, summer 19.7°C
- Santander, Spain — climate 100/100, summer 19.7°C
- Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain — climate 100/100, summer 19.6°C
- Hobart, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 16.4°C
- Bendigo, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 21.0°C
- Geelong, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 19.7°C
- City of Port Phillip, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 20.4°C
How we score climate
We use each city's WorldClim v2.1 monthly mean temperatures, then penalise extreme summer heat, harsh winters and too-cool summers to get a 0–100 comfort score — not a brochure adjective.
FAQ
What is the best climate to live in?
Mild, dry, temperate climates score highest — see the best-climate ranking.
Is the climate data real?
Yes — actual recorded temperatures and rainfall, not estimates.
Built on open data: World Bank (cost), WorldClim (climate), USGS/FEMA/INFORM (disaster risk). Transparent, verifiable estimates.