George Town has been ranked the 26th-best city in the world to live in. The ranking from Swiss-based wealth and lifestyle researcher Patrician, which is aimed at high-net-worth international residents, judges cities on three pillars – wealth, life and place.
“Seven Mile Beach in front, the world’s hedge funds behind,” read the report’s summary of George Town. “The most tax neutral serious jurisdiction on earth, with the schools and the flights to match.”
Wealth
George Town scored highly in the “Wealth” pillar, where it was ranked as the ninth most competitive city. A breakdown of the wealth pillar reveals how George Town performed in each sub-category.
Cayman’s lack of direct taxation meant George Town shared the top ranking in the “Income kept” category. The high number of wealthy people and luxury property market meant George Town also got 7/10 for resident wealth. George Town also ranked well for rule of law, which measures government effectiveness and political stability, although its “Control of Corruption” only scored at 60.2 out of 100.
Life
The index’s “Life” pillar measures factors such as safety, freedom, schools and ease of residency, with George Town ranking 35/100 for the life pillar.
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Within the life pillar, George Town’s best-performing category was “Route In”, which refers to the well-established residency path available to persons of independent means. The city also scores highly for “Freedom” where Patrician gives it the UK’s 92/100 Freedom House ranking.
George Town has a safety score of 8/10, while its schools do surprisingly well – for such a small jurisdiction – with 7/10. However, the 5/10 for air links, while good for a small island city, sees it lose ground to larger rivals like London.
George Town’s poorest performance came in the “Place” pillar, which measures mostly subjective factors, such as culture, dining and beauty. The city scored 87th out of 100 for place, which dragged down its overall position in the report.
It might surprise some residents, but George Town scored highly for beauty, with 8/10. While the city itself isn’t renowned for its architecture, a large chunk of Seven Mile Beach lies within the official George Town limits.
Cayman’s 2,800 hours of sunshine – out of an index limit of 3,000 hours – is decent, though 36 cities ranked higher. The place category that really dragged on George Town’s score was “Culture and Dining”, where it was awarded 5/10. This category looks for Michelin-starred restaurants, major museums, operas and festivals. That might rankle some given that Michelin doesn’t award stars in the Caribbean.