Ista

Actually, Australia's done really well - six cities in the top 40 in the world, pretty impressive. And it's great that a big company like Mercer is recognising that as people (and companies) will take note.

I also think that Germany and Switzerland (and other countries) have done really well but since this forum isn't about them, I haven't focused on that!

Ista

It's interesting that Canada totally dominates the North American city rankings, far more so than the US cities - I'd definitely like to visit Vancouver!

ABCDiamond

Must be something to do with the language

The 'English' speaking Cities rankings...

1 - 107.4 - Vancouver Canada
1 - 107.4 - Auckland New Zealand
3 - 106.3 - Sydney Australia
4 - 105.9 - Wellington New Zealand
5 - 105.5 - Ottawa Canada
6 - 105.3 - Toronto Canada
7 - 104.8 - Melbourne Australia
8 - 104.2 - Perth Australia
8 - 104.2 - Montreal Canada
10 - 103.6 - Canberra Australia
10 - 103.6 - Dublin Ireland
12 - 103.5 - Calgary Canada
13 - 103.1 - Honolulu United States
14 - 103.0 - Adelaide Australia
14 - 103.0 - San Francisco United States
16 - 102.4 - Brisbane Australia
17 - 102.2 - Boston United States
18 - 101.6 - London United Kingdom
19 - 100.3 - Chicago United States
19 - 100.3 - Washington United States
21 - 100.0 - New York City United States
22 - 99.8 - Seattle United States

canadaeh

2 out of 7, so thats 28%

ABCDiamond

Actually 2 out of 8, 25% As I said pretty close

Auckland
Sydney

Wellington
Melbourne
Perth
Canberra
Adelaide
Brisbane

canadaeh

So Oceania at 25% and Europe at 27%.... are we saying Europe is better?

Close... but better

ABCDiamond

It depends on what part of Europe, and of course what part of Australia

Russia is in Europe, and I am sure many people would prefer Moscow to Sydney.

canadaeh

But WA is in Australia, and I know many poeple who'd prefer Moscow to Perth. WA is like Australia's Russia.

ABCDiamond

Precisely

We should stick to Cities, not continents, countries or States

It was interesting though that Perth beat Montreal, Canberra and Honolulu.

commonwealth

these rankings make no sense. there's probably very minimal differences among the top cities in terms of living standards. as long as you live in these top cities, it's how you live your life that makes the real difference.

Dylan T

Well said!

Ista

There is minimal difference. If you look at the top 10 cities, they only vary by 2.3 points.

caliburn

Can anyone tell me why more US cities are not in this list? Why US cities are considered to be lower in quality of living surveys? Whats perceived to be wrong with the US? Please educate me.

gelato

It's strange that so few US cities make the list. I was an exchange student in Austin, Texas and LOVED it. Great place to live. Fab live music, great arts scene, lots of great places to go out. Wonderful food, margaritas, only a few hours drive and you're in Mexico. Also beautiful big houses which are not too expensive. People from all over the world and a lot of hispanic culture which made it fun. Also lots of tech jobs and govt jobs - and both a lake and a river with great places to go swimming nearby. Only bad part was the extreme heat in the summer and the fact that George W Bush was the governor of Texas at the time.

Ista

It's important to remember that this is only a snapshot of the full rankings and so only shows the top 50 cities, whereas the full survey ranks 420 cities in total. There are seven US cities in the top 50, the top being Honolulu at no 31. However, look at the score that Honolulu got: 103.1, compared to the no1, Vienna, with 108.6 - there isn't THAT much between them.

Having a look through the list of criteria here, perhaps some US cities have lost points on things like public transport or natural disasters or crime. Those are just guesses though, the full reports would tell you more!