A good life does not require a lot of money: the rating of the most optimal cities
An analysis was conducted on the extent to which the quality of life and the cost of living are balanced in the world's major cities. A new infographic prepared by Visual Capitalist compares the cost of living and the quality of life in 100 of the world's major cities.
A big budget is not required for a good life: ranking of the most optimal cities
The analysis is based on the Quality of Life Index data from the Numbeo platform for August 2026.
The 100 cities in the infographic are ranked according to their position among a total of 306 cities included in the Numbeo database.
The authors attempted to evaluate the quality of life and the cost of living separately. For this reason, indicators directly related to prices were excluded from the quality of life calculation. This prevents the cheapness or high cost of living from affecting the result twice.
In assessing the quality of life, factors such as the level of safety, access to healthcare services, the situation regarding transport and traffic congestion, air pollution, and climate were taken into account.
According to the results of the analysis, 18 cities entered the most attractive group with a high quality of life and relatively optimal cost of living. Among them, European cities occupied a significant place.
In particular, Vienna, Porto, Split, Valencia, Prague, Lisbon, Bratislava, Riga, and Varna were noted among the cities with the most optimal ratio between quality of life and costs.
This result is consistent with European countries regularly occupying high positions in other international quality of life rankings as well.
The analysis emphasizes that the quality of life is not determined solely by population income. Relatively affordable healthcare, developed public transport, compact urban infrastructure, and a high level of safety can significantly increase the comfort of daily life.
At the same time, the expenses of the population do not necessarily have to be as high as in some major US cities. In some cases, living in European cities can be cheaper than in the US. This difference is especially visible when healthcare services and expenses for daily needs are taken into account.
However, the authors also noted that this advantage does not apply equally to all European cities. The cost of living can vary drastically depending on the country and city.
Five Russian cities were also included in the top one hundred of the ranking. These are Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaliningrad, and Yekaterinburg.
At the same time, it is recommended not to take the research results as an absolute indicator. This is because the Numbeo index relies mainly on data provided by users.