Trying to determine the world’s best cities can be a monumental task. There are so many, each with individual characters, that seem desirable to visit or even move to. Each year, marketing and branding company Resonance does its best to do that heavy lifting with its World’s Best Cities list. The list looks at areas with a population of 1 million or more and determines the top 100 cities with data from Google, Tripadvisor and Instagram to measure “quality of place when it comes to experiential factors.” Those factors include things that attract people aged 25 to 44 to come spend money and possibly start up a business. These were things like the percentage of tree cover (trees at least 16 feet tall with a canopy of greater than 50 percent), the cost to rent a typical one-bedroom, and the mileage of biking trails. Besides simple statistical metrics, and in an effort to capture picks that weren’t restricted to the study’s list, participants were also asked open-ended questions like, “What three towns would you want to live in someday?” or “Which do you think offer the best job opportunities?” Russian cities have been omitted from this list since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The top U.S. city on this list is New York, which comes in No. 2 worldwide, right after London and beating out Paris. It surprises few since it’s an epic city many fantasize about visiting or living in. New York has bounced back from the pandemic, has tons of Broadway shows and sporting events, and recently completed renovations at the three airports that serve it.
The second U.S. city is San Francisco, which is No. 12 worldwide. The report mentions that although it’s deeply affected by the addiction and homelessness crises, it is “getting up off the mat” and reclaiming its status as a coveted city. It’s the global home of AI (if we think that’s good) and is rolling out bike and pedestrian infrastructure in this city with incredible bay and ocean views.
The third U.S city is Los Angeles, at No. 14 worldwide. Sports are on the rise here with the new SoFi stadium and the plans to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the Olympics and Paralympics in 2028. Museums are reopening and expanding, and transportation/rail projects for LAX and Brightline make moving around more efficient.
Here is the full list of World’s Best Cities:
1. London
2. New York
3. Paris
4. Tokyo
5. Singapore
6. Rome
7. Madrid
8. Barcelona
9. Berlin
10. Sydney
11. Amsterdam
12. San Francisco
13. Dubai
14. Los Angeles
15. Toronto
16. Seoul
17. Chicago
18. Vienna
19. Seattle
20. Milan
21. Boston
22. Vancouver
23. Miami
24. Stockholm
25. Melbourne
26. Oslo
27. Munich
28. Istanbul
29. Las Vegas
30. Helsinki
31. Atlanta
32. Bangkok
33. Prague
34. Washington, D.C.
35. Montreal
36. Beijing
37. Orlando
38. St. Louis
39. Portland
40. Houston
41. Dublin
42. Osaka
43. Philadelphia
44. Denver
45. Copenhagen
46. San Diego
47. Auckland
48. Frankfurt
49. Zurich
50. Kuala Lumpur
51. Minneapolis
52. Ottawa
53. Austin
54. Calgary
55. Dallas
56. Brussels
57. Lisbon
58. Honolulu
59. Detroit
60. Krakow
61. Shanghai
62. San Jose
63. New Orleans
64. Nashville
65. Edmonton
66. Salt Lake City
67. Baltimore
68. Bordeaux
69. Gothenburg
70. Cleveland
71. Valencia
72. Glasgow
73. Doha
74. Warsaw
75. Sao Paulo
76. Taipei
77. Tucson
78. Pittsburgh
79. Charlotte
80. Lyon
81. Nagoya
82. Porto
83. Perth
84. Bilbao
85. Cape Town
86. Sapporo
87. Athens
88. Hamburg
89. Phoenix
90. Brisbane
91. Tampa
92. Naples
93. Richmond
94. Birmingham
95. Raleigh
96. Rochester
97. Hong Kong
98. Nantes
99. Toulouse
100. Rio de Janeiro