Vol. 06 / 2025RankingsUpdated May 2026
№ 00 — The Rankings

The 25 Best Cities for Quality of Life in 2026

Quality of life ranked across safety, healthcare, climate, density, transit, and green space. Vienna at 9.4, Copenhagen at 9.3, Zurich at 9.2.

Vienna, AustriaThe 2026 quality of life leader at 9.4 on the Atlas composite.
№ 01 — The top 3

Vienna, Copenhagen, Zurich

Vienna tops the 2026 quality of life leaderboard at 9.4. Copenhagen at 9.3. Zurich at 9.2. These three have ranked top 3 on the Mercer and EIU lists for over a decade; the Atlas composite weights public transit, healthcare access, safety, parks and green space, air quality, and the working hour to disposable income ratio.

№ 02 — The 25 city ranking

The full table

1 Vienna 9.4. 2 Copenhagen 9.3. 3 Zurich 9.2. 4 Geneva 9.1. 5 Munich 9.0. 6 Helsinki 9.0. 7 Stockholm 8.9. 8 Oslo 8.9. 9 Vancouver 8.8. 10 Auckland 8.8. 11 Wellington 8.7. 12 Melbourne 8.7. 13 Sydney 8.6. 14 Tokyo 8.5. 15 Singapore 8.5. 16 Amsterdam 8.4. 17 Hamburg 8.4. 18 Berlin 8.3. 19 Edinburgh 8.3. 20 Tallinn 8.2. 21 Toronto 8.2. 22 Dublin 8.1. 23 Frankfurt 8.0. 24 Brisbane 8.0. 25 Calgary 7.9.

№ 03 — Methodology

The 6 working weights

Safety 20 percent. Healthcare 18 percent. Transit and walkability 18 percent. Air quality and green space 16 percent. Working hours to disposable income ratio 14 percent. Education access 14 percent. The full methodology covers the weights and the underlying data sources.