Where should I live? A quiz that ranks 915 cities on what you want

Each question has a few answers to pick from, and for most of them you also set how much that factor matters to you, so a factor you barely care about moves the ranking less.

• Cost of living: What cost of living are you after? (Keep it affordable, Balance cost & quality, Pay for the right place)
• Taxes: What's the most tax you'd accept? (Zero or very low tax, Low to medium tax, High tax is fine)
• Climate: How do you want the weather? (Warm & dry, Warm & tropical, Mild all year, Four seasons, Cold & crisp)
• Geography & region: Where should the city sit? (By the sea, Mountains & nature, No strong preference)
• Urban density: How big a city feels right? (Big-city energy, Mid-size & walkable, Calm & small)
• Language & culture: Do you need to get by in English? (English widely spoken, Happy to learn the language)
• Religion & tolerance: What social climate do you want? (Open & secular, Traditional is fine, No preference)
• Political climate: What political climate do you want? (Strong, stable democracy, Not a deciding factor)
• Safety: How safe does it need to feel? (Very safe, Reasonably safe)
• Healthcare: What kind of healthcare do you expect? (Top-tier care, Solid public system)
• Infrastructure & internet: How much do you rely on fast, reliable internet? (Fast & reliable, always, Good enough is fine)
• Proximity to home: How close to home do you want to stay? (Within reach of home)

You also tell us where you live now and which passport you hold, and pick rough bands for your savings and income. Those feed the residency check below and the distance-from-home question.

Every city carries one 0 to 100 figure per factor, built from public data: measured climate averages, city size, distance to the coast and terrain for each city, and country-level figures for cost (scaled for city size), safety, healthcare, English, political climate and internet speed. Your answers set a target and a weight for each factor, and the closest fits rank highest. The about page lists every source.

Two filters change the list itself. Taxes work as a dealbreaker: the tax question has no weight, and a city whose tax tier sits above the most you said you would accept is ruled out. Residency is checked from your passport, where you live and the budget bands you pick: where a long-term route looks hard, the city's match drops by up to half, and a city below our bar moves to a separate not-realistic list that says why. Short-stay visa rules are shown per city and do not change the ranking.

Since the quiz asks where to move, cities in the country you live in now are left out of your results, with one tap to include them.

Most people take the quiz on their own, and the ranking then follows your answers only. If you are deciding with someone, send them a private link when you finish. They answer the same questions without seeing yours, and we merge both sets of weights into one ranking that shows where you agree and where you differ.

Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).

When you finish, you see how many cities pass your filters for tax, passport and budget. The full results list the ranked cities, why each one fits, living costs, climate and visa and residency notes for each. The payment is once per project: a partner who joins later sees the same results at no extra cost. There is no subscription.

The quiz uses the same figures as the public pages, so you can look around before you answer:

• 45 ranked lists of the best places to live, by region, budget, climate and safety
• 455 city comparisons with cost, climate, tax and residency side by side
• City pages with the cost of living, tax tier, climate and residency routes for each city
• A sample result for a sample couple, to see what the full results look like

How long does it take? About four minutes for the 12 questions. You do not need an account to answer.

Can it say where I am allowed to live? It estimates how realistic long-term residency is for your passport and budget, from published residency routes. Treat it as a first filter and confirm the rules with the destination's immigration authority before you plan around a city.

Does it cover the whole world? It ranks 915 cities in 183 countries. Where a country has no figure for a factor, that factor is scored conservatively and the city carries a “Limited data” note.