Some cities fared better than others with the global pandemic and Boston is one of them, according to The Economist’s 2021 Livability Index’s ranking of the most livable cities in the world.
Boston was one of the biggest movers up the rankings of The Economist’s 2021 Livability Index in the last six months.
This year’s report took into account the disruption caused by the pandemic as it examined 140 cities worldwide. Each city was scored on its stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.
While European cities slipped in this year’s rankings, several U.S. cities were on the rise over the past six months as social restrictions were lifted, including Boston.
Boston joins the ranks of 10 cities that were the biggest movers up the ranks in the past six months. Beantown had an overall Livability Index rating of 83.8, ranking No. 34 and moving up 18 spots.
The highest U.S. city on the list was Honolulu Hawaii, ranking in at No. 14.
Six of this year’s top 10 cities are in Australia and New Zealand where border closures and controls allowed those residents to live relatively normal lives, according to the report.
The top 10 cities in this year’s report were:
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Osaka, Japan
- Adelaide, Australia
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Tokyo, Japan
- Perth, Australia
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Melbourne, Australia
- Brisbane, Australia