Canadian city beats all other cities in U.S.
When it comes to the questions of the most liveable cities in the world, not one city in North America did better than Vancouver, based on a recent study.
Vancouver is the sole North American city to rank among the world's 10 most liveable cities in 2026, placing ninth overall out of 173 cities surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The cosmopolitan seaport city in British Columbia tallied a score of 96 out of 100. The city scored a perfect 100 for education, 95 for stability, 96 for healthcare, 97 for culture and environment, and 93 for infrastructure.
Copenhagen retained first place for the second consecutive year, followed by Vienna and Melbourne, with the remainder of the top ten made up of cities in Australia, Switzerland and Japan, the report said. Vancouver was the only Canadian entry and the only representative of North America in that group.
“All of the top 10 have perfect scores for education, with most also scoring 100 for healthcare provision,” read part of the report.
A previous survey also listed the top 10 Canadian cities that offer the most flexible work options.
Where do American cities rank?
Portland was the highest-ranked American city named in the report, placing 48th overall with a score of 90, after falling four spots from the previous year, the EIU said. No US city appeared anywhere near the top ten.
New York climbed three places to 66th overall, with a score of 87, driven entirely by gains in the stability category. The EIU attributed the improvement to "years of falling crime rates and a reduced risk of a major terrorist attack," though the report notes New York "remains the third-lowest-ranking US city" among those tracked.
North America's average liveability score across all cities in the region stood at 90.4, trailing Western Europe's regional average of 91.7 and falling well short of Vancouver's individual score of 96, the report found. The gap reinforces Vancouver's position as a comparative outlier within its own region.
The EIU's index scores cities across five weighted categories: stability and culture and environment at 25 per cent each, healthcare and infrastructure at 20 per cent each, and education at 10 per cent, based on more than 30 individual indicators.
Different Canadian cities have also previously been named among the top cities when it comes to work-life balance, ‘workations’, and quality-of-living.
