Travel

The World's Most Livable City Is...

Fans of breaded cutlets and chocolate cakes, rejoice!

November 23, 2018
Photo by Pixabay.com

Do you enjoy classical music, dreamy waltzes, crispy schnitzel, and heavenly chocolate layer cake? If so, you'll be happy to know that Vienna has claimed this year's title of the world's most livable city, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's annual index.

The capital of Austria topped the annual ranking of the world's most livable cities, ousting Melbourne, Australia, from its seven-year reign at No. 1. (The Australian city didn't drop far this year; it came in second place.)

Rounding out the top 10 list were cities with heavy representation from Australia, Canada, and Japan. Honolulu, Hawaii was deemed the most livable city in America, coming in at No. 23. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania followed at No. 32, with Washington, D.C. ranking at No. 37.

The Most Livable Cities in the World 2018:

  1. Vienna, Austria
  2. Melbourne, Australia
  3. Osaka, Japan
  4. Calgary, Canada
  5. Sydney, Australia
  6. Vancouver, Canada
  7. Toronto, Canada
  8. Tokyo, Japan
  9. Copenhagen, Denmark
  10. Adelaide, Australia

The Economist Intelligence Unit's annual list assesses 140 different cities based on factors like stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure, though we'd venture to say that the city's signature, dreamy Sachertorte alone is enough to get us booking our tickets, stat!

What do you think of the top 10 list? Share your thoughts with us below.

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Caroline May
    Caroline May
  • Bricktop Polford
    Bricktop Polford
  • Lia
    Lia
  • Maggie
    Maggie
Hana is a food writer/editor based in New York.

4 Comments

Caroline M. December 12, 2018
For incredibly cheap cost of living, stunning countryside and ancient culture, you can’t beat Bulgaria, where I have just moved to. It’s a very underrated country.
 
Bricktop P. November 25, 2018
Vienna is indeed gorgeous, but based on what I had at Hotel Sacher and Demel, Sachertorte is dry and very overrated. The whipped cream and the coffee were both outstanding though.
 
Lia November 24, 2018
I have never been to vienna but it sounds incredible! It makes me wonder why all the US cities are ranked low in terms of livability. Hopefully this is something we start to focus on in the future!
 
Maggie December 7, 2018
Might have something to do with cost of living versus return on investments. Many US cities are dealing with poverty en masse.

Also Trump.