The 20 global cities with the best quality of life

European cities rank highly in quality-of-life rankings. MEDITERRANEAN/Getty Images Cities in the US rank high globally in terms of economics, but they have some ground to cover in quality of life, according to a new report.For its 2026 Global Cities Index, economic advisory firm Oxford Economics ranked 1,000 cities across the globe based on five categories: economics, human capital, environment, and quality of life.Every category is viewed from an economic lens, even quality of life, where indicators include income equality and housing expenditure, among others."The Global Cities Index records the progress cities are making across a comprehensive range of metrics," Mark Britton, managing director of city services at Oxford Economics, said in the report. "Sitting alongside our forecasts and scenario models, its ability to highlight how paths change under different conditions and its capacity for comparability shows you not just where cities stand today, but also where they are heading."The overall list features several US cities in the top 20 — eight, to be exact, with New York taking the No. 1 spot. However, when highlighting quality of life specifically, only one US city made the cut.Quality of life, which accounts for 25% of a city's overall score, wasn't a bright spot for the US, but plenty of other cities excelled in that category. See which cities ranked highest in quality of life, according to Oxford Economics. 20. Venice, Italy Venice, Italy. adisa/Getty Images Overall score: 51.2Quality of life score: 86.3 19. Stuttgart, Germany Stuttgart, Germany. Cyril Gosselin/Getty Images Overall score: 70.7Quality of life score: 86.5 18. Prague Prague. rusm/Getty Images Overall score: 78.1Quality of life score: 86.9 17. Sydney Sydney. zetter/Getty Images Overall score: 88.3Quality of life score: 87.2 16. Munich Munich. Nikada/Getty Images Overall score: 85Quality of life score: 87.3 15. Berlin Berlin. Nikada/Getty Images Overall score: 84.6Quality of life score: 87.7 14. Zurich Zurich. pawel.gaul/Getty Images Overall score: 89.1Quality of life score: 87.7 13. San Jose, United States San Jose. f11photo/Getty Images Overall score: 89.6Quality of life score: 87.9 12. Linz, Austria Linz, Austria. Mariendom Overall score: 70.6Quality of life score: 88 11. Basel, Switzerland Basel, Switzerland. @ Didier Marti/Getty Images Overall score: 79.6Quality of life score: 88 10. Paris Paris. Fani Kurti/Getty Images Overall score: 93.4Quality of life score: 88.1 9. Ghent, Belgium Ghent, Belgium. MEDITERRANEAN/Getty Images Overall score: 74.9Quality of life score: 88.4 8. Dresden, Germany Dresden, Germany. Achim Thomae/Getty Images Overall score: 59.4Quality of life score: 88.5 7. Luxembourg Luxembourg. rusm/Getty Images Overall score: 82.5Quality of life score: 89 6. Oslo, Norway Oslo, Norway. MEDITERRANEAN/Getty Images Overall score: 89.1Quality of life score: 89.3 5. Bern, Switzerland Bern, Switzerland. joe daniel price/Getty Images Overall score: 78.2Quality of life score: 89.8 4. Grenoble, France Grenoble, France. RossHelen/Getty Images Overall score: 67.7Quality of life score: 90.8 3. Singapore Singapore. primeimages/Getty Images Overall score: 82.1Quality of life score: 91.6 2. Bergen, Norway Bergen, Norway. Thomas Roell/Getty Images Overall score: 80Quality of life score: 94.3 1. Canberra, Australia Canberra, Australia. HADI ZAHER/Getty Images Overall score: 79.4Quality of life score: 100 Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Jordan Pandy reports on real estate for Business Insider. He writes about domestic and international relocation trends, real estate as a business, and the luxury sector.He also has stories focusing on property technology and, in 2022, moderated a panel on fractional investing at the real estate technology conference Blueprint. Before Business Insider, he covered luxury real estate in South Florida for The Real Deal.He holds a Master's degree in Magazine Writing from New York University and a Bachelor's degree in English from Florida State University. He is based in Washington, DC. Travel Europe Cities More