Best places to live

Ranked by overall livability — cost, climate and disaster safety combined. Top pick: Swords, Ireland.

Best places to live — top 12

#	City	Country	Livability	Livability	Cost	Climate	Safety
1	Swords	Ireland	77	77	52	98	83
2	Dundalk	Ireland	77	77	52	97	85
3	Herceg Novi	Montenegro	77	77	54	100	79
4	Porto	Portugal	76	76	54	100	77
5	Santander	Spain	76	76	49	100	81
6	Donostia / San Sebastián	Spain	76	76	49	100	81
7	Hobart	Australia	76	76	48	100	83
8	Bendigo	Australia	76	76	50	100	82
9	Geelong	Australia	76	76	48	100	82
10	City of Port Phillip	Australia	76	76	50	100	81
11	Ballarat	Australia	76	76	50	100	81
12	Galway	Ireland	76	76	50	99	83
13	Cork	Ireland	76	76	49	100	82
14	Limerick	Ireland	76	76	50	99	83
15	Waterford	Ireland	76	76	51	99	81
16	Budva	Montenegro	76	76	54	98	78
17	Cetinje	Montenegro	76	76	54	98	80
18	Tivat	Montenegro	76	76	56	98	78
19	Albufeira	Portugal	75	75	54	100	75
20	Tavira	Portugal	75	75	54	98	75
21	Logroño	Spain	75	75	49	98	82
22	Bilbao	Spain	75	75	47	100	82
23	Rouen	France	75	75	50	95	83
24	Angers	France	75	75	49	98	81
25	Le Mans	France	75	75	49	97	81
26	Perpignan	France	75	75	50	100	78
27	Caen	France	75	75	50	98	81
28	Southampton	United Kingdom	75	75	48	98	81
29	Tallaght	Ireland	75	75	50	96	82
30	Dubrovnik	Croatia	75	75	53	100	76
31	Kotor	Montenegro	75	75	57	92	79
32	Braga	Portugal	74	74	48	100	78
33	Coimbra	Portugal	74	74	49	100	78
34	Leiria	Portugal	74	74	49	100	78
35	Setúbal	Portugal	74	74	50	100	75
36	Viseu	Portugal	74	74	50	100	77
37	Queluz	Portugal	74	74	50	100	75
38	Faro	Portugal	74	74	51	100	75
39	Lagos	Portugal	74	74	52	100	74
40	Pamplona	Spain	74	74	48	96	81
41	Tarragona	Spain	74	74	49	100	77
42	Lleida	Spain	74	74	49	99	79
43	Perugia	Italy	74	74	50	97	77
44	Toulouse	France	74	74	46	99	80
45	Nantes	France	74	74	47	99	80
46	Bordeaux	France	74	74	48	99	80
47	Rennes	France	74	74	48	98	80
48	Orléans	France	74	74	50	95	81
49	Clermont-Ferrand	France	74	74	49	94	81
50	Amiens	France	74	74	49	94	81

Climate real (WorldClim); cost real (World Bank); hazard tiers indicative. livability=0.35*cost+0.30*climate+0.35*safety; cost=country PPP index x city-size premium (real population); safety=0.55*disaster_safety+0.45*crime_safety - urban-crime penalty (city size); disaster_safety=100-sum(hazard_weight*tier)/5*100 over 8 hazards (real earthquake/heat/cold + modelled flood/storm/wildfire/drought/tsunami); crime_safety=100-homicide*3

FAQ

What is the #1 best places to live?

Swords, Ireland — see the full ranking of 1103 cities.

How is this ranked?

From open data: climate (WorldClim), cost (World Bank), disaster risk (USGS/FEMA/INFORM), combined into a livability score.

Open the full city sorter →