The best cities to live in Asia

Asia's cities range from ultra-modern and orderly to cheap and chaotic, which makes a transparent ranking useful. This one blends each Asian city's cost, safety, healthcare, air quality, and walkability into a single 0–100 livability score — a consistent way to compare places that otherwise feel impossible to put side by side.

CityLivability score (0–100)

Ranked from our city + feasibility data (banded, directional). Visa and tax rules change — verify current rules before you move. Updated 2026-06.

Air quality and cost pull hardest in Asia's rankings, and they often trade against the buzz of the bigger metros. The composite finds the all-rounders; the assessment re-weights them around what you'd actually trade.

Common questions

What is the best city to live in Asia?

It depends what you weight, but our livability composite (cost, safety, healthcare, air, walkability) tends to favour the cleaner, safer, well-run cities of East and Southeast Asia — the ranking above orders them. Air quality is often the deciding swing factor in the region.

Which Asian cities are best for expats?

Cities in Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore combine high livability with established long-stay routes and expat communities, though they trade off sharply on cost. Each city's page covers the visa and tax reality for its country.

Which of these fits you?

A list is a place to start, not a way to choose. The assessment reads every city through your relocation profile — and surfaces the ones that fit the life you’re trying to build.

Take the assessment →