Vienna remained at the top of the Quality of Living Rankings in 2015, boasting the best quality of living for expatriates. Mercer’s Quality of Living Rankings cover 230 prevalent destinations for globally mobile talent and are based on our Quality of Living Survey.
The Quality of Living Survey assesses quality of living conditions to help multinational companies and other employers fairly compensate employees when placing them on international assignments. Mercer compiles Quality of Living Reports and Location Evaluation Reports for each city, providing an overview of conditions and hardship premium recommendations.
According to Mecer, Durban ranks 85th out of 230 cities, with Cape Town (91st) placing just above Johannesburg (94th). Durban is unchanged from the previous ranking by Mercer, with Cape Town falling down one spot from 90th.
| 2015 City Rankings | ||
| Rank | City | Country |
| 1 | Vienna | Austria |
| 2 | Zurich | Switzerland |
| 3 | Auckland | New Zealand |
| 4 | Munich | Germany |
| 5 | Vancouver | Canada |
| 6 | Dusseldorf | Germany |
| 7 | Frankfurt | Germany |
| 8 | Geneva | Switzerland |
| 9 | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 10 | Sydney | Australia |
| 11 | Amsterdam | Netherlands |
| 12 | Wellington | New Zealand |
| 13 | Bern | Switzerland |
| 14 | Berlin | Germany |
| 15 | Toronto | Canada |
| 16 | Hamburg | Germany |
| 16 | Melbourne | Australia |
| 16 | Ottawa | Canada |
| 19 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
| 19 | Stockholm | Sweden |
| 21 | Stuttgart | Germany |
| 22 | Brussels | Belgium |
| 22 | Perth | Australia |
| 24 | Montreal | Canada |
| 25 | Nurnberg | Germany |
| 26 | Singapore | Singapore |
| 27 | Adelaide | Australia |
| 27 | Paris | France |
| 27 | San Francisco | United States |
| 30 | Canberra | Australia |
| 31 | Helsinki | Finland |
| 31 | Oslo | Norway |
| 33 | Calgary | Canada |
| 34 | Boston | United States |
| 34 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 36 | Honolulu | United States |
| 37 | Brisbane | Australia |
| 38 | Barcelona | Spain |
| 39 | Lyon | France |
| 40 | London | United Kingdom |
| 41 | Lisbon | Portugal |
| 41 | Milan | Italy |
| 43 | Chicago | United States |
| 44 | New York City | United States |
| 44 | Seattle | United States |
| 44 | Tokyo | Japan |
| 47 | Kobe | Japan |
| 48 | Los Angeles | United States |
| 48 | Yokohama | Japan |
| 50 | Washington | United States |
| 51 | Madrid | Spain |
| 52 | Birmingham | United Kingdom |
| 52 | Rome | Italy |
| 54 | Pittsburgh | United States |
| 55 | Glasgow | United Kingdom |
| 55 | Philadelphia | United States |
| 57 | Aberdeen | United Kingdom |
| 58 | Osaka | Japan |
| 59 | Leipzig | Germany |
| 60 | Minneapolis | United States |
| 61 | Nagoya | Japan |
| 62 | Dallas | United States |
| 63 | Belfast | United Kingdom |
| 64 | Houston | United States |
| 65 | Miami | United States |
| 66 | Atlanta | United States |
| 67 | St. Louis | United States |
| 68 | Prague | Czech Republic |
| 69 | Pointe-a-Pitre | Guadeloupe |
| 70 | Detroit | United States |
| 70 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
| 72 | San Juan | Puerto Rico |
| 72 | Seoul | South Korea |
| 74 | Dubai | United Arab Emirates |
| 75 | Budapest | Hungary |
| 75 | Ljubljana | Slovenia |
| 77 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates |
| 78 | Montevideo | Uruguay |
| 79 | Vilnius | Lithuania |
| 79 | Warsaw | Poland |
| 81 | Bratislava | Slovakia |
| 82 | Port Louis | Mauritius |
| 83 | Taipei | Taiwan |
| 84 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia |
| 85 | Athens | Greece |
| 85 | Durban | South Africa |
| 87 | Limassol | Cyprus |
| 88 | Tallinn | Estonia |
| 89 | Riga | Latvia |
| 90 | Busan | South Korea |
| 91 | Buenos Aires | Argentina |
| 91 | Cape Town | South Africa |
| 93 | Santiago | Chile |
| 94 | Johannesburg | South Africa |
| 95 | Panama City | Panama |
| 96 | Victoria | Seychelles |
| 97 | Zagreb | Croatia |
| 98 | Cheonan | South Korea |
| 99 | Taichung | Taiwan |
| 100 | Wroclaw | Poland |
| 101 | Shanghai | China |
| 102 | Bandar Seri Begawan | Brunei |
| 103 | Johor Bahru | Malaysia |
| 104 | Muscat | Oman |
| 105 | Tel Aviv | Israel |
| 106 | San Jose | Costa Rica |
| 107 | Brasilia | Brazil |
| 108 | Doha | Qatar |
| 109 | Monterrey | Mexico |
| 110 | Bucharest | Romania |
| 111 | Noumea | New Caledonia |
| 112 | Nassau | Bahamas |
| 113 | Tunis | Tunisia |
| 114 | Asuncion | Paraguay |
| 115 | Sofia | Bulgaria |
| 116 | Rabat | Morocco |
| 117 | Bangkok | Thailand |
| 118 | Beijing | China |
| 119 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil |
| 120 | Sao Paulo | Brazil |
| 121 | Guangzhou | China |
| 122 | Amman | Jordan |
| 122 | Istanbul | Turkey |
| 124 | Lima | Peru |
| 125 | Kuwait City | Kuwait |
| 126 | Mexico City | Mexico |
| 127 | Manaus | Brazil |
| 128 | Casablanca | Morocco |
| 129 | Quito | Ecuador |
| 130 | Manama | Bahrain |
| 131 | Bogota | Colombia |
| 132 | Colombo | Sri Lanka |
| 133 | Chengdu | China |
| 133 | Windhoek | Namibia |
| 135 | Santo Domingo | Dominican Republic |
| 136 | Manila | Philippines |
| 137 | Nanjing | China |
| 138 | Hyderabad | India |
| 139 | Shenzhen | China |
| 140 | Jakarta | Indonesia |
| 141 | Belgrade | Serbia |
| 142 | Xi’an | China |
| 142 | Chongqing | China |
| 144 | Gaborone | Botswana |
| 145 | Pune | India |
| 146 | Bangalore | India |
| 147 | Port of Spain | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 147 | Qingdao | China |
| 149 | Lusaka | Zambia |
| 150 | Guatemala City | Guatemala |
| 151 | Chennai | India |
| 152 | Mumbai | India |
| 153 | Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam |
| 154 | Hanoi | Vietnam |
| 154 | New Delhi | India |
| 156 | Kingston | Jamaica |
| 156 | La Paz | Bolivia |
| 156 | Shenyang | China |
| 159 | Skopje | Macedonia |
| 160 | Kolkata | India |
| 161 | Sarajevo | Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 162 | Dakar | Senegal |
| 163 | Riyadh | Saudi Arabia |
| 164 | Libreville | Gabon |
| 165 | Accra | Ghana |
| 166 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
| 167 | Moscow | Russia |
| 168 | Jilin | China |
| 169 | Kampala | Uganda |
| 170 | Cairo | Egypt |
| 171 | Vientiane | Laos |
| 172 | San Salvador | El Salvador |
| 173 | Managua | Nicaragua |
| 174 | Saint Petersburg | Russia |
| 175 | Almaty | Kazakhstan |
| 176 | Kiev | Ukraine |
| 177 | Blantyre | Malawi |
| 178 | Maputo | Mozambique |
| 179 | Caracas | Venezuela |
| 180 | Tirana | Albania |
| 181 | Beirut | Lebanon |
| 182 | Cotonou | Benin |
| 183 | Yerevan | Armenia |
| 184 | Banjul | Gambia |
| 184 | Tegucigalpa | Honduras |
| 186 | Nairobi | Kenya |
| 187 | Algiers | Algeria |
| 188 | Djibouti | Djibouti |
| 189 | Kigali | Rwanda |
| 189 | Minsk | Belarus |
| 191 | Islamabad | Pakistan |
| 192 | Yaounde | Cameroon |
| 193 | Havana | Cuba |
| 194 | Tbilisi | Georgia |
| 195 | Phnom Penh | Cambodia |
| 196 | Douala | Cameroon |
| 197 | Baku | Azerbaijan |
| 198 | Dar es Salaam | Tanzania |
| 199 | Lahore | Pakistan |
| 200 | Luanda | Angola |
| 201 | Yangon | Myanmar |
| 202 | Karachi | Pakistan |
| 203 | Tehran | Iran |
| 204 | Lome | Togo |
| 205 | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia |
| 206 | Harare | Zimbabwe |
| 206 | Tashkent | Uzbekistan |
| 208 | Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan |
| 209 | Abidjan | Côte d’Ivoire |
| 210 | Ashkhabad | Turkmenistan |
| 211 | Dhaka | Bangladesh |
| 211 | Lagos | Nigeria |
| 213 | Abuja | Nigeria |
| 214 | Dushanbe | Tajikistan |
| 215 | Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso |
| 216 | Tripoli | Libya |
| 217 | Antananarivo | Madagascar |
| 217 | Niamey | Niger |
| 219 | Bamako | Mali |
| 220 | Damascus | Syria |
| 221 | Nouakchott | Mauritania |
| 222 | Conakry | Guinea |
| 223 | Kinshasa | Congo, Democratic Republic of |
| 224 | Brazzaville | Congo, Republic of |
| 225 | Sana’a | Yemen |
| 226 | N’Djamena | Chad |
| 227 | Khartoum | Sudan |
| 228 | Port au Prince | Haiti |
| 229 | Bangui | Central African Republic |
| 230 | Baghdad | Iraq |