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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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U.S. cities are nowhere to be found near the top of this year’s newly released list of the most liveable places in the world, lagging behind European, Australian and Japanese rivals. The most liveable city in the U.S., Honolulu, is 25th in the global rankings.
According to the latest edition of EIU’s annual Global Liveability Index, Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, is the world’s most liveable city in 2026, edging Austria’s Vienna and Australia’s Melbourne, which are in second and third place, respectively.
The rest of the top 10 is dominated by cities in wealthy Western countries—with the exception of Japan—with Australia’s Sydney ranking fourth, Switzerland’s Zurich and Geneva fifth and sixth, Japan’s Osaka seventh, Australia’s Adelaide eighth, Canada’s Vancouver ninth and Japan’s Tokyo 10th.
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Iran’s capital, Tehran, entered the bottom 10 this year as a result of the war started by the U.S. and Israel in late February. On the list of the least liveable city was another city currently at war, Ukraine’s Kyiv, while the very bottom place was taken by a city that is still recovering from a long-dragged civil war, Syria’s Damascus.
U.S. cities are nowhere to be found near the top or bottom, occupying instead an awkward middle. After Honolulu, Atlanta followed in 29th place, Pittsburgh in 30th, Seattle in 33rd and Washington, D.C. in 38th. All top 10 most liveable U.S. cities were in the global top 50—though some saw their scores fall between 2025 and 2026.
Portland ranked 48th, having slid by four positions compared to last year. Saipan, the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, was 87th after falling four places.
New York was among the cities that reported the biggest move up in terms of liveability over the past year, jumping three places to 66th, even as it remains the third-lowest-ranking U.S. city behind Detroit and Lexington, Kentucky.
What Are U.S. Cities Doing Wrong?
The verdict of EIU, part of The Economist Group, on U.S. cities is clear: The country does not offer the best living conditions in the world, though they are by far not the worst, either. Overall, North America remained the second-most liveable region in the world, with an average score of 90.4, after western Europe, with a score of 91.7.
Liveability is assessed in terms of the challenges that might be presented to a person's lifestyle in any given location, with a total of 173 cities being ranked across five categories—stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
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Stability, which accounts for 25 percent of a city's total score, weighs in the prevalence of petty crime and violent crime, the threat of terror, military conflict and civil unrest or conflict. Healthcare (20 percent) considers the availability and quality of public and private healthcare, the availability of over-the-counter drugs, and general healthcare indicators.
Culture and environment (25 percent) takes into account the humidity/temperature in a city, the discomfort of climate to travellers, the level of corruption, social or religious restrictions, the level of censorship, food and drinks, and the availability of sports and cultural events.
Education (20 percent) takes into account the availability and quality of private education, as well as public education indicators. Infrastructure (another 20 percent) assesses a city’s quality of road network, public transport, international links, the availability of good quality housing, the quality of energy and water provision, and of telecommunications.
American cities don’t lose because they’re culturally lacking compared to their counterparts in the so-called old continent. In fact, EIU noted that U.S. cities generally perform strongly in culture, environment, education and infrastructure, as confirmed by the solid 100 scored by the top 10 U.S. cities in the education category.
The gap is mainly driven by safety, social stability and healthcare affordability—areas in which many European, Canadian, Australian and Japanese cities outperform them.
New York, for example, rose in liveability this year because of the gains it has made in the stability category, after years of falling crime rates and lower risks of terrorist attacks.
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But EIU’s index rewards smaller cities with lower crime rates, terrorism and security concerns, congestion and crowding, and less pronounced housing affordability pressures. Considering that the U.S. is still in the throes of a housing affordability crisis that is particularly pronounced in dense, expensive coastal cities like New York, it is easy to understand why the country struggled to make it to the top of the index.
That is partly why “smaller American cities continue to be the best places to live in the U.S.,” according to EIU’s report.
Issues including social unrest and weak gun-control laws, which affect perceptions of safety and stability, are also holding back U.S. cities according to the EIU, as it is the rising cost of healthcare, which has skyrocketed in recent years.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Dave Siminoff.
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