Honolulu and San Francisco are considered the cities with the best quality of life in America (rank 24, score 102). Other high-scoring cities include Boston and Portland (both rank 41, score 99.5) and Winston Salem (rank 43, score 99). Seattle has dropped from position 36 to 44, mainly due to an increase in crime. Atlanta is the lowest-scoring city of those surveyed in America (rank 66, score 94.5).
Canada continues to score well with five cities in the top 30. Vancouver drops one place in the rankings to third position, but maintains its score of 106. Toronto is in 15th place (103.5), followed by Ottawa in 20th position (103) and Calgary and Montreal, both in 24th place (102).
Europe
Of the world´s top 50 cities for overall quality of life, 24 are in Europe. In Western Europe, Zurich and Geneva rank highest (both score 106.5), followed by Vienna (106) and Bern, Copenhagen, and Frankfurt (all at 105). Other high-scoring cities are Amsterdam and Munich (both score 104.5), and Brussels and Düsseldorf (both score 104).
Athens is the lowest-scoring city in Western Europe, although it has moved up a place to 78th position (85.5) due to improvements that have been made to the city in preparation for the Summer Olympic Games.
In Eastern Europe, Prague (89) and Budapest (88) score highest, followed by Ljubljana in Slovenia (84.5) and Vilnius in Lithuania (84). Closer to the bottom of the table are Kazan (48) and Novosibirsk (49), both in Russia. Istanbul in Turkey has dropped from position 91 last year to 105, due to political unrest and various terrorist attacks that occurred last year.
Asia/Pacific
Cities in the region range from one extreme to another. As last year, Australian and New Zealand cities score very highly. Sydney and Auckland are both in 5th position (105), while Melbourne moves up from 15th place last year to position 12 (104) due to improved law enforcement.
Singapore and Tokyo are both in 33rd position (score 101) while Yokohama and Kobe in Japan rank 35 and 38 with scores of 100.5 and 100, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, Karachi in Pakistan (rank 177, score 52) and Dhaka in Bangladesh (rank 194, score 45) continue to score poorly because of their poor infrastructure, and lack of internal stability and law enforcement.
Health and sanitation
In terms of health and sanitation, New Zealand, Japan, and Australia score highest in this region. Auckland and Wellington rank highest in positions 18 (score 115) and 27 (score 114), respectively, followed by Kobe and Omuta, both in position 30 (score 113), and Katsuyama in 39th place (score 112).
Adelaide, Osaka, and Yokohama share 41st place with a score of 110.5. Melbourne and Perth follow, both in 45th place with a score of 109.5.
Singapore and Sydney rank slightly lower in 60th place (score 105.5) because of higher levels of air pollution.
At the other extreme, Baku in Azerbaijan, Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Mumbai in India rank 215, 213, and 193 with scores of 25.5, 29, and 40, respectively.
Africa
Most cities in Africa have low quality-of-life scores due to lack of law enforcement, poor infrastructure, and unstable governments. Bangui in the Central African Republic is the lowest-scoring city in the region (28.5), followed by Brazzaville (29.5) and Pointe Noire (33.5) in Congo and Khartoum in Sudan (33.5).
The highest-scoring cities in the region remain in South Africa. Cape Town is ranked 80 (score 85) and Johannesburg is in position 85 (score 83.5).
Health and sanitation
In this region, the highest-scoring cities for health and sanitation are all in South Africa. Cape Town is in position 68 (99.5), followed by Port Elizabeth in 73rd place (97.5) and Johannesburg in 75th place (96.5). Brazzaville in Congo scores lowest (position 212, score 32).