Best Cities for Expats

The Best Cities for Expats ranking is built on a single principle: pick the indicator that most directly captures the underlying question, normalise it to a 0-100 scale, and rank consistently. Expat score weighs safety, lifestyle, healthcare, and job market — the four factors most cited by expat surveys. The ranking is recomputed every time the underlying city dataset changes, so the order you see is always derived from the current numbers — not a cached editorial opinion.

The ranking includes every city we cover, so the leaderboard mixes premium global metros with mid-tier and affordable alternatives. That is deliberate: the goal is not to crown the "richest" city — it is to surface the city that most cleanly satisfies the criterion in the title.

1. Singapore, Singapore. Hyper-efficient city-state — top transport, low crime, premium housing. On the metrics that drive this ranking, Singapore pairs a livability score of 90 with a job market score of 88 and a safety score of 94. Cost-of-living index 85, 1BR rent $3,200. This is the city to beat in best cities for expats.

2. Zurich, Switzerland. Financial centre with the world's highest salaries — and matching costs. Close behind on the ranked dimension while differentiating on lifestyle depth (lifestyle 88, cost 90, rent $2,700).

3. Tokyo, Japan. Largest metro on earth — safe, efficient, surprisingly affordable for residents. Rounds out the podium with a credible scorecard — livability 88, transport 98, climate 70, cost index 72.

Rankings are useful for shortlisting, not for deciding. A top-10 finish here means a city clears the bar on this dimension — but the right city for you depends on the basket of dimensions, weighted to your life. Use this list to draw a shortlist of three to five cities, then run each through our cost-of-living calculator, comparison tool, and suburb guide before committing.

Pay particular attention to the trade-offs. The top performers on this dimension sometimes underperform on cost-of-living or housing. The point of cross-checking against our other rankings is to make those trade-offs visible before you sign a lease.