Vancouver, B.C. comes in 5th on Mercer's 2011 Quality of Living survey, while Seattle is ranked at 48 (just below New York City).
Vienna tops the list, followed by Zurich, Auckland, and Munich. Düsseldorf is tied with Vancouver.
Canada fares quite well on the list, with Ottawa and Toronto ranked 14th and 15th, and Montreal at 22.
Best in U.S.?
The highest rated US city is Honolulu at 29, followed by San Francisco at 30.
Mercer is a global human resources firm. The survey helps them advise clients on how to compensate employees on international assignments.
“Companies need to keep on top of current developments to ensure that their compensation packages remain competitive and continue to motivate expatriate employees. That means reviewing major events, such as social unrest, economic turmoil or natural disasters and their impact on the success of overseas placements,” Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer.
The firm also ranks cities by personal safety, but no US cities made the top 50. Canada scored well on that list, with Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver all tied for 17th place.
