(NewsNation) — Copenhagen, Denmark, just took the crown as the world’s most liveable city.
The Danish capital knocked Vienna, Austria, off its throne after three years at the top of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s most liveable cities rankings.
The EIU’s 2025 index, released Tuesday, scored 173 cities across five main categories: Stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Copenhagen earned a perfect score of 100 for stability, education and infrastructure, further cementing Western Europe’s grip on the top of the rankings. Vienna, along with Zurich and Geneva, also landed in the top five.
Three Australian cities — Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide — cracked the top ten, joined by nearby Auckland, New Zealand. Vancouver was the lone North American city to make the cut, coming in at No. 10.
Overall, global liveability remained flat over the past year, with an average city score of 76.1 out of 100.
Stability scores continued to decline amid geopolitical tensions, but the report noted those losses were offset by modest gains in health care, education and infrastructure.
Where do U.S. cities rank?
Honolulu, Hawaii, was the highest-ranked U.S. city on the list, coming in No. 23, followed by Atlanta at No. 29.
Smaller cities tend to perform well on the index due to lower crime levels and fewer terrorism threats. New York City ranked 69th, for example.
Miami and Portland, Oregon, tied for 44th — up three spots from last year. Charlotte and Indianapolis also climbed three places, landing at 50th.
Declining health care scores for the four Canadian cities included in the index helped drag down the overall average for North America compared to a year ago — a regional dip that researchers said could continue.
“With the Trump administration in the U.S. proposing to cut public spending on education and health care, the region remains susceptible to further downgrades in future editions,” researchers wrote in the report.
On the other end of the rankings, Damascus, Syria, was ranked the world’s least livable city, scoring particularly low for stability and health care.
Tripoli, Lybia; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Karachi, Pakistan and Algiers, Algeria, also ranked in the bottom five.
These are the 10 most livable cities in 2025.
10 – Vancouver, Canada
- Index: 95.8
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 95.8
- Culture and environment: 97.2
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 92.9
9 – Adelaide, Australia
- Index: 95.9
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 100.0
- Culture and environment: 91.4
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 96.4
7 – Auckland, New Zealand (tie)
- Index: 96.0
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 95.8
- Culture and environment: 97.9
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 92.9
7 – Osaka, Japan (tie)
- Index: 96.0
- Stability: 100.0
- Health care: 100.0
- Culture and environment: 86.8
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 96.4
6 – Sydney, Australia
- Index: 96.6
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 100.0
- Culture and environment: 94.4
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 96.4
5 – Geneva, Switzerland
- Index: 96.8
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 100.0
- Culture and environment: 94.9
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 96.4
4 – Melbourne, Australia
- Index: 97.0
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 100.0
- Culture and environment: 95.8
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 96.4
2 – Zurich, Switzerland (tie)
- Index: 97.1
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 100.0
- Culture and environment: 96.3
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 96.4
2 – Vienna, Austria (tie)
- Index: 97.1
- Stability: 95.0
- Health care: 100.0
- Culture and environment: 93.5
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 100.0
1 – Copenhagen, Denmark
- Index: 98.0
- Stability: 100.0
- Health care: 95.8
- Culture and environment: 95.4
- Education: 100.0
- Infrastructure: 100.0
