Expats say these are the best cities to live and work

For the second year in a row, international expats named Taipei as the best city in the world to live and work with aspects like finance, housing and healthcare all taken into account.

The annual Expat Insider survey from InterNations, an online community for expats, named Taipei as the best city for international workers. More than 20,000 expats took part in the survey and ranked 82 cities in terms of metrics like job opportunities, affordable housing and healthcare, ease of settling in, work-life balance and overall quality of life. Taipei scored high marks across the board. A respondent from Paraguay described “the convenience of everything: access to food, great transportation, and cheap medical services” as a highlight of life in the Taiwanese city.

Kuala Lumpur was ranked in second place; noted as the easiest city to get settled, as well as one of the best worldwide when it comes to finance and housing. A British expat praised the “availability of nice places to live at a reasonable cost.” While Ho Chi Minh City, where the local cost of living, in general, is nearly double the global average, was ranked as third.

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Singapore came in fourth place, followed by the Canadian city of Montréal in fifth. European cities complete the top ten: Lisbon (6th); Barcelona (7th), Zug (8th); The Hague (9th) and Basel (10th). Lisbon and Barcelona, particularly, were singled out for being easy places in which to get settled.

A separate list, that scored cities on affordability, ranked Ho Chi Minh City as the best city for expats on a budget. Nearly all respondents (96%) agreed their disposable household income is enough, or even more than enough, to cover daily costs. Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok also scored well among budget-conscious expats, placed in third and fourth place respectively.

On the opposite end of the scale, Dublin, San Francisco and Vancouver scored the lowest in terms of affordability. A Portuguese expat described the rental market in Dublin as “so bad it makes me consider leaving the country,” while a Kenyan survey respondent found the housing situation in Vancouver “frustrating.”

For a more detailed look at the reports, see here.

This article was first published on www.lonelyplanet.com.

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