Vancouver ranks 5th best city in the world for quality of living
If you need any more convincing that Vancouver is a great place to live, our city has just been ranked fifth best for quality of life among 231 cities in the world, according to Mercer.
Mercer ranks quality of living based on the following ten criteria:
- Political and social environment
- Economic environment
- Socio-cultural environment
- Medical and health considerations
- Schools and education
- Public services and transportation
- Recreation
- Consumer goods
- Housing
- Natural environment
World rankings
European cities dominated the quality of life rankings, making up eight of the top ten best cities to live in in the world. Vancouver was the only North American city to make the list, ranking fifth, placing just in front of Dusseldorf and just behind Munich. Vienna, Austria, topped the list for the eighth year in a row.
Top 10 cities ranked for quality of life:
- Vienna, Austria
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Munich, Germany
- Vancouver, Canada
- Dusseldorf, Germany
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Basel, Switzerland
North American ranking
Though it was sparring with European cities when it came to the worldwide rankings, Vancouver came out on top of the regional pile as it topped the quality of life rankings for North America. Vancouver was the only Canadian city to make the top-ten list, with Toronto and Ottawa coming in 16th and 18th places respectively.
Vancouver also ranked as the top North American city for infrastructure, coming in ninth place.