Best cities to live abroad, ranked
45 ranked lists built from the same data as our city pages. Each list filters the 188 best-known cities we rank, then orders them with the match model behind the quiz, run with a stated set of answers, and shows the figures behind every rank.
Where to live
- Best places to live in the worldTop 3: Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid
- Best cities to move abroad as a coupleTop 3: Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid
- Easiest countries to move toTop 3: Spain, Portugal, Chile
Retiring abroad
- Best places to retire in the worldTop 3: Porto, Barcelona, Lisbon
- Best places to retire abroad on a budgetTop 3: Porto, Funchal, Buenos Aires
- Best places to retire in EuropeTop 3: Porto, Barcelona, Lisbon
- Best places to retire in Latin AmericaTop 3: Santiago, Valparaíso, San José
On a budget
- Best cities for a couple on €2,500 a monthTop 3: Batumi, Kutaisi, Buenos Aires
- Best cities for a couple on €3,000 a monthTop 3: Lisbon, Porto, Split
- Best cities for a couple on €3,500 a monthTop 3: Kyoto, Osaka, Lisbon
By region
- Best places to live in EuropeTop 3: Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid
- Best places to live in Southern EuropeTop 3: Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid
- Best places to live in Western EuropeTop 3: Marseille, The Hague, Utrecht
- Best places to live in Eastern EuropeTop 3: Prague, Brno, Budapest
- Best places to live in Scandinavia and the NordicsTop 3: Malmö, Odense, Gothenburg
- Best places to live in AsiaTop 3: Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo
- Best places to live in Southeast AsiaTop 3: Chiang Mai, Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur
- Best places to live in Latin AmericaTop 3: Santiago, Valparaíso, San José
- Best places to live in South AmericaTop 3: Santiago, Valparaíso, Buenos Aires
- Best places to live in the CaribbeanTop 3: Bridgetown, Saint John’s, San Juan
- Best places to live in North AmericaTop 3: Washington, Vancouver, Philadelphia
- Best places to live in the Middle East and North AfricaTop 3: Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakesh
- Best places to live in AfricaTop 3: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria
By theme
- Cheapest cities to live abroadTop 3: Batumi, Kutaisi, Rosario
- Cheapest cities to live in EuropeTop 3: Batumi, Kutaisi, Split
- Cheapest warm cities in EuropeTop 3: Split, Funchal, İzmir
- Cheapest cities to live in AsiaTop 3: Kandy, Colombo, Islamabad
- Cheapest cities to live in Latin AmericaTop 3: Rosario, Córdoba, Medellín
- Warm, affordable cities to live abroadTop 3: Limassol, Nicosia, Marrakesh
- Best English-speaking cities to move toTop 3: Auckland, Wellington, The Hague
- Best cities in Europe where English is widely spokenTop 3: Valletta, The Hague, Utrecht
- Safest cities to live abroadTop 3: Kyoto, Split, Ljubljana
- Safest cities to live in EuropeTop 3: Split, Ljubljana, Lisbon
- Safest cities to live in AsiaTop 3: Kyoto, Taipei, Busan
- Safest cities in Latin AmericaTop 3: Santiago, San José, Buenos Aires
- Best cities for remote workers with fast internetTop 3: Santiago, Valparaíso, Marseille
- Best cities with a digital nomad visaTop 3: Barcelona, Madrid, Bucharest
- Best coastal cities to live inTop 3: Barcelona, Osaka, Lisbon
- Best coastal cities to live in EuropeTop 3: Barcelona, Lisbon, Porto
- Best big cities to live inTop 3: Tokyo, Santiago, Taipei
- Best small and mid-sized cities to live in abroadTop 3: Funchal, Porto, Split
- Best cities to live in with zero or very low income taxTop 3: Andorra la Vella, Monaco, Saint John’s
- Cities with the best healthcare to move toTop 3: Barcelona, Kyoto, Osaka
- Best warm, dry cities to live inTop 3: Limassol, Nicosia, Athens
- Best cities with a mild climateTop 3: Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid
Data tables
Visa income requirements by country vs the cost of livingThe income each residency route asks for, next to a couple's monthly costs, with a free CSV