Zurich comes second, followed by Auckland in New Zealand, Munich and then Düsseldorf, sharing fifth place with Vancouver.
Overall more than half of the top 25 cities in the Mercer 2011 Quality of Living Survey are in Europe. But researchers warn that economic instability and unemployment could have an impact on standards of living in Europe.
This year, the survey separately identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement effectiveness and the host country’s international relations. Luxembourg tops this personal safety ranking, followed by Bern, Helsinki and Zurich, all ranked at number two.
Mercer conducts the survey to help governments and multi-national companies compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. It provides information and hardship premium recommendations for major cities throughout the world ranked against New York as the base city.
Modern infrastructure
“European cities in general continue to have high standards of living, because they enjoy advanced and modern city infrastructures combined with high-class medical, recreational and leisure facilities,” said Slagin Parakatil, a senior researcher at Mercer.
"But economic turmoil, high levels of unemployment and lack of confidence in political institutions make their future positions hard to predict. Countries such Austria, Germany and Switzerland still fare particularly well in both the quality of living and personal safety rankings, yet they are not immune from decreases in living standards if this uncertainty persists."
The highest-ranked cities for personal safety and security are in politically stable countries with good international relations and relatively sustainable economic growth, Parakatil added, while low-scoring cities were located in countries with civil unrest, high crime levels and little law enforcement.
London is the highest-ranked UK city at 38, followed by Birmingham at 52, and Aberdeen at 54. Baghdad is the worst place to live, ranked 221 and is also the world’s least safe city.
In North America, Canadian cities dominate the top of the ranking with Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal all in the top five. Honolulu and San Francisco are top for the US, while Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe tops the South American table.
Auckland is the highest ranking city in the Asia Pacific region and is followed by Sydney, Wellington, Melbourne and Perth. The highest ranking Asian cities are Singapore and Tokyo.
| Rank |
City |
Country |
| 1 | Vienna | Austria |
| 2 | Zurich | Switzerland |
| 3 | Auckland | New Zealand |
| 4 | Munich | Germany |
| =5 | Düsseldorf | Germany |
| =5 | Vancouver | Canada |
| 7 | Frankfurt | Germany |
| 8 | Geneva | Switzerland |
| =9 | Bern | Switzerland |
| =9 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 11 | Sydney | Australia |
| 12 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 13 | Wellington | New Zealand |
| 14 | Ottawa | Canada |
| 15 | Toronto | Canada |
| 16 | Hamburg | Germany |
| 17 | Berlin | Germany |
| 18 | Melbourne | Australia |
| 19 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| 20 | Stockholm | Sweden |
