Where in Europe Can You Get the Best Quality of Life for Less?
Key Takeaways:
- Osijek, Croatia, stands out as one of Europe’s best-value cities, combining exceptionally high quality of life with relatively low living costs.
- Cities in Spain, Croatia, and Central Europe offer attractive combinations of affordability and livability.
- Many Northern and Western European cities score highly for quality of life, but come with substantially higher living costs.
How do 125 European cities compare when it comes to quality of life and everyday expenses?
This visualization by Valerii Emelianov compares 125 European and CIS cities using August 2026 data from Numbeo’s Quality of Life Rankings. Cities are plotted by regional percentiles for living costs and quality of life, with price-linked components removed from the latter to avoid double-counting affordability.
Which European Cities Offer the Best Value?
The following table compares quality of life and living costs across 125 cities, based on Numbeo data compiled by Valerii Emelianov.
| City | Cost of Living (Percentile) | Livability (Percentile) | Cost of Living Index | Quality of Life Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Osijek | 27.6 | 98.8 | 49.3 | 195.5 |
 Porto | 32.4 | 93.2 | 52.3 | 179.7 |
 Plzen | 36.0 | 87.6 | 53.8 | 190.8 |
| Rijeka | 39.6 | 91.6 | 55.3 | 181.7 |
 Valencia | 34.4 | 84.4 | 53.6 | 182.0 |
| Malaga | 33.2 | 78.8 | 53.0 | 178.2 |
| Split | 45.2 | 94.0 | 58.6 | 175.4 |
 Vilnius | 37.2 | 81.2 | 54.5 | 183.0 |
 Kaliningrad | 17.2 | 55.6 | 42.0 | 150.3 |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 14.0 | 51.6 | 40.7 | 147.6 |
| Kaunas | 34.4 | 71.6 | 53.6 | 179.5 |
 Timisoara | 16.0 | 50.8 | 41.7 | 164.7 |
 Ljubljana | 48.4 | 83.6 | 60.2 | 178.3 |
| Brno | 38.0 | 70.8 | 54.8 | 172.3 |
| Prague | 44.4 | 76.4 | 58.3 | 176.1 |
| Cluj-Napoca | 24.0 | 54.0 | 47.9 | 158.8 |
| Zagreb | 41.2 | 69.2 | 55.9 | 178.1 |
 Lviv | 3.6 | 38.8 | 32.6 | 136.8 |
| Madrid | 49.2 | 75.6 | 60.4 | 178.3 |
 Tallinn | 54.8 | 90.0 | 65.8 | 191.9 |
 Tashkent | 2.8 | 36.4 | 32.0 | 142.4 |
| Lisbon | 42.0 | 64.4 | 57.2 | 156.4 |
 Villach | 56.4 | 82.0 | 66.2 | 198.5 |
 Plovdiv | 20.0 | 45.2 | 43.7 | 156.9 |
 Leipzig | 58.0 | 77.2 | 67.7 | 200.3 |
 Eindhoven | 65.6 | 96.4 | 72.2 | 216.3 |
 Gothenburg | 57.2 | 66.8 | 66.7 | 203.1 |
 Bratislava | 46.8 | 52.4 | 59.1 | 155.7 |
 Novi Sad | 25.2 | 43.6 | 48.6 | 147.2 |
| Groningen | 74.4 | 97.2 | 73.8 | 205.8 |
 Minsk | 5.2 | 24.4 | 34.1 | 139.8 |
 Trieste | 54.0 | 58.8 | 65.7 | 171.4 |
 Riga | 42.8 | 47.6 | 57.4 | 159.8 |
 Gent | 70.8 | 86.8 | 73.5 | 208.4 |
| Varna | 26.8 | 42.0 | 49.1 | 147.1 |
| Nuremberg | 63.6 | 72.4 | 71.4 | 199.7 |
| The Hague | 81.2 | 99.6 | 76.1 | 225.4 |
| Vienna | 80.0 | 98.0 | 75.9 | 200.2 |
 Liverpool | 62.8 | 70.0 | 70.8 | 195.5 |
 Banja Luka | 21.2 | 35.6 | 44.9 | 137.1 |
| Stuttgart | 69.2 | 73.2 | 72.8 | 207.0 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 58.8 | 60.4 | 68.9 | 194.6 |
 Poznan | 22.8 | 38.0 | 47.5 | 159.9 |
 Helsinki | 83.6 | 95.6 | 77.2 | 199.1 |
| Utrecht | 82.0 | 90.8 | 76.6 | 211.0 |
 Yerevan | 20.0 | 31.6 | 43.7 | 124.4 |
| Dusseldorf | 77.2 | 79.6 | 74.4 | 200.4 |
| Glasgow | 62.0 | 62.0 | 70.6 | 190.4 |
 Baku | 6.8 | 14.8 | 34.5 | 117.7 |
| Edinburgh | 80.0 | 82.8 | 75.9 | 195.9 |
| Graz | 66.8 | 66.0 | 72.6 | 191.4 |
| Hamburg | 70.0 | 67.6 | 73.0 | 190.1 |
| Rotterdam | 86.0 | 94.8 | 79.2 | 208.4 |
| Kazan | 9.2 | 18.0 | 37.3 | 125.5 |
| Kharkiv | 0.4 | 8.4 | 27.8 | 125.1 |
| Belfast | 64.4 | 61.2 | 71.7 | 189.2 |
 Tbilisi | 12.4 | 20.4 | 40.3 | 119.3 |
| Iasi | 18.0 | 23.6 | 42.2 | 140.5 |
| Frankfurt | 74.4 | 65.2 | 73.8 | 199.2 |
| Odessa | 1.6 | 7.6 | 31.4 | 112.7 |
| Sarajevo | 18.8 | 22.8 | 43.6 | 134.0 |
| Krasnodar | 10.0 | 13.2 | 37.6 | 125.3 |
| Munich | 87.6 | 88.4 | 80.9 | 197.5 |
| Genoa | 52.4 | 44.4 | 63.4 | 163.5 |
| Gdansk | 30.8 | 34.0 | 51.3 | 153.5 |
| Amsterdam | 90.0 | 89.2 | 82.6 | 202.8 |
| Rome | 51.6 | 42.8 | 61.7 | 147.1 |
| Lodz | 24.0 | 26.8 | 47.9 | 153.1 |
 Luxembourg | 89.2 | 85.2 | 82.3 | 208.2 |
| Leeds | 60.0 | 49.2 | 69.4 | 181.1 |
| Wroclaw | 30.0 | 32.4 | 50.6 | 151.2 |
 Chisinau | 13.2 | 15.6 | 40.6 | 126.4 |
 Astana | 7.6 | 10.8 | 35.9 | 128.5 |
 Toulouse | 65.6 | 54.8 | 72.2 | 182.0 |
| Kiev | 4.4 | 6.8 | 33.9 | 119.8 |
 Cork | 78.0 | 62.8 | 74.6 | 192.6 |
 Nicosia | 47.6 | 39.6 | 59.2 | 154.5 |
 Copenhagen | 90.8 | 86.0 | 90.2 | 198.5 |
| Warsaw | 38.8 | 33.2 | 55.0 | 152.9 |
 Reykjavik | 95.6 | 92.4 | 105.0 | 198.0 |
| Dnipro | 1.6 | 2.8 | 31.4 | 104.7 |
 Trondheim | 92.4 | 80.4 | 92.4 | 197.4 |
| Limassol | 55.6 | 41.2 | 66.0 | 158.9 |
| Krakow | 31.6 | 25.2 | 52.1 | 148.0 |
| Rostov-on-Don | 6.0 | 5.2 | 34.4 | 113.0 |
| Florence | 68.0 | 50.0 | 72.7 | 153.2 |
| Barcelona | 50.8 | 37.2 | 61.5 | 150.1 |
| Bergen | 94.0 | 78.0 | 96.1 | 196.9 |
 Budapest | 40.4 | 28.4 | 55.7 | 140.7 |
 Thessaloniki | 43.6 | 29.2 | 57.9 | 132.1 |
| Saint Petersburg | 14.8 | 9.2 | 41.4 | 120.7 |
| Cambridge | 82.8 | 57.2 | 76.7 | 189.3 |
 Skopje | 11.6 | 6.0 | 39.4 | 117.2 |
| Oslo | 94.8 | 74.0 | 97.9 | 186.0 |
| Bristol | 72.8 | 46.0 | 73.7 | 176.6 |
| Cologne | 76.4 | 48.4 | 74.1 | 180.0 |
| Berlin | 75.6 | 46.8 | 73.9 | 170.7 |
| Moscow | 26.0 | 12.4 | 49.0 | 123.2 |
 Zurich | 99.6 | 74.8 | 124.9 | 196.0 |
| Bucharest | 22.0 | 10.0 | 47.2 | 133.0 |
| Sofia | 36.0 | 18.8 | 53.8 | 139.8 |
| Belgrade | 29.2 | 11.6 | 50.5 | 121.9 |
| Novosibirsk | 8.4 | 0.4 | 36.9 | 96.5 |
| Geneva | 98.0 | 68.4 | 110.8 | 196.0 |
| Stockholm | 88.4 | 56.4 | 82.1 | 174.6 |
| Stavanger | 93.2 | 63.6 | 93.5 | 197.4 |
| Athens | 46.0 | 22.0 | 59.0 | 128.0 |
| Yekaterinburg | 10.8 | 1.2 | 39.3 | 99.9 |
| Bologna | 60.0 | 34.8 | 69.4 | 147.4 |
| Almaty | 16.0 | 2.0 | 41.7 | 97.3 |
| Lausanne | 96.4 | 59.6 | 109.6 | 188.8 |
| Antwerp | 68.0 | 40.4 | 72.7 | 168.1 |
| Bern | 97.2 | 58.0 | 110.5 | 192.1 |
| Turin | 53.2 | 21.2 | 64.1 | 142.9 |
| Manchester | 61.2 | 30.0 | 70.1 | 161.4 |
| Basel | 98.8 | 53.2 | 112.2 | 194.1 |
 Tirana | 28.4 | 3.6 | 50.3 | 97.0 |
| Lyon | 72.8 | 30.8 | 73.7 | 162.9 |
| Birmingham | 71.6 | 27.6 | 73.6 | 175.1 |
| Naples | 50.0 | 4.4 | 61.1 | 119.8 |
| Dublin | 85.2 | 26.0 | 78.7 | 151.9 |
| Brussels | 78.8 | 19.6 | 74.7 | 152.0 |
| Milan | 84.4 | 14.0 | 78.1 | 119.9 |
| Paris | 86.8 | 16.4 | 80.5 | 138.8 |
| London | 91.6 | 17.2 | 90.6 | 138.5 |
Croatia’s Osijek ranks in the 98.8th percentile for quality of life but just the 27.6th percentile for living costs. Porto, Rijeka, Split, and Plzen also stand out for their favorable balance between affordability and livability.
In Spain, Valencia and Malaga combine strong quality-of-life scores with moderate living costs. The country’s universal healthcare, Mediterranean climate, and lifestyle amenities add to its appeal.
Meanwhile, Dutch cities such as The Hague, Groningen, and Eindhoven cluster near the top for livability, although their higher expenses place them firmly in the premium category.
Why Does Europe Score Highly for Quality of Life?
Public healthcare, social protections, transportation infrastructure, and worker benefits all contribute to living standards across Europe.
According to Eurostat, average life satisfaction across the EU reached 7.2 out of 10 in 2024. Finland led with 7.8, followed by Romania and Slovenia at 7.7.
These findings provide broader context for Europe’s strong showing in global quality-of-life rankings, although national life satisfaction and city-level livability indices measure different aspects of well-being.
The Trade-Off Between Affordability and Lifestyle
London, Paris, and Brussels fall into the chart’s high-cost, lower-quality quadrant, while Vienna and Copenhagen combine high expenses with excellent livability.
For remote workers, destinations in Spain, Portugal, and Croatia can be particularly attractive. The European Youth Portal discusses the appeal of digital nomadism, although rising housing costs can create challenges for local residents.
Ultimately, the chart highlights an important distinction: some smaller and mid-sized European cities offer living standards comparable to those of more expensive metropolitan centers, but at considerably lower costs.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
For another perspective on what makes cities attractive places to live, explore The Cities with the Best Work-Life Balance in the World on Voronoi.