The best cities to live in Europe

Europe is the world's deepest bench of livable cities — which makes "best" hard to pin down. This ranking is a transparent composite: each European city's cost, safety, healthcare, air quality, and walkability normalized into a single 0–100 livability score. It surfaces the strongest all-rounders rather than one writer's favourites.

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.

A composite is for discovery; you decide the weights. Someone chasing walkable buzz and someone chasing calm and clean air will rank these same cities very differently — which is exactly what the assessment does around your priorities.

Common questions

What is the best city to live in Europe?

There's no single answer — it depends what you weight. Our livability score blends cost, safety, healthcare, air, and walkability equally to surface strong all-rounders across Western, Southern, and Central Europe; the ranking above orders them. The best for you depends on which of those you care most about.

How is the European livability ranking calculated?

Each city's cost-of-living index, Numbeo safety and healthcare indices, average PM2.5 air quality, and walkability are normalized and blended into a single 0–100 score. It's a transparent, directional composite of our own data, not an official index.

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 →