Tourists may view Amsterdam with particularly starstruck eyes, but the Dutch city with the best quality of life is actually… The Hague! 🥳
Published by Numbeo, the list estimates the overall quality of life for hundreds of cities worldwide.
Of those hundreds of cities, The Hague managed to rank the highest. 🤯
How is the list compiled?
We won’t bore you with the maths behind it, but Numbeo calculates the quality of life indices for every country by accounting for several factors.
These include a city’s house price-to-income ratio, as well as its purchasing power, pollution, cost of living, safety, and healthcare indices.
As seen in the tweet above by The Hague’s municipality, forward-thinking cities tend to rank very highly.
What other cities offer the best quality of life in 2023?
Given that the Netherlands recently ranked number one for the countries with the highest quality of life in the world, we’re not surprised by this latest win! 😉
However, whilst The Hague may have nabbed the crown, it faced heavy competition from several other European (and Australian!) cities.
| City | Rank |
|---|---|
| The Hague | 1 |
| Eindhoven | 2 |
| Vienna | 3 |
| Canberra | 4 |
| Zurich | 5 |
| Rotterdam | 6 |
| Luxembourg | 7 |
| Helsinki | 8 |
| Adelaide | 9 |
| Reykjavik | 10 |
Amsterdam, meanwhile, lagged at number 14 — after Copenhagen, Geneva, and Edinburgh.
What do you think of The Hague ranking number one for quality of life? Tell us in the comments below!
I’m going for the weather, the ocean, and cuisine + being near everything fun, including mountains, beach, and winter sports. So, my choice is where Harry and Megan hang out…Santa Barbara, California.
I Live there and i agree its the best city to live. Course if you need sunshine all year its not but all other things its amazing
I have been living all over the world in many different countries and cities/villages, but i have to admit that the Haque is, by far, the best place to live, especially at places like Vruchtenbuurt and Bomenbuurt areas. Still affordable prices there and a great quality of live near clean beaches, dunes and harbour- and citylife with great buildings in the city centre. Also lots of parks and good bicyclepaths. Great schools such as the International school and European school and lovely golfcourses and other sportfacilities. Affordable prices at many different supermarkets inspite of inflation worldwide. You will never regret to live at the Hague! Have fun!
Some things that may contribute to quality of life, like population density or weather, are subjective, and most countries offer a reasonable variety of both based upon specific locations. However, many things that contribute to quality of life are really not subjective. Essentially everyone prefers less crime, less poverty, less homelessness, less hunger, less pollution, less inequality, better healthcare, better education, better public transport, more green space, more tolerance, more civility, more respect. As an expat having visited more than 100 cities in more than 50 countries, I chose The Hague as my place to call home, for exactly these reasons. The Dutch like to complain, but I believe they know deep down, just how lucky they are.