by Copenhagen, Denmark
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New York is known for its ‘tres-and-grid culture’ – but it may be one of the best cities for work-life balance.
That’s according to a new report from MoneyNerd, which ranked 25 of the largest cities around the world on factors such as cost of living, average salary, number of job opportunities and more.
The personal finance website used data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Happiness Report, Glassdoor, LinkedIn and more to find out which cities have the happiest residents and offer the most access to well-paying job opportunities.
Copenhagen ranked No. 1 city in the world for having a good work-life balance and having a competitive salary. Denmark’s capital had an overall average salary of $44,474 combined with a high work-life balance of 8.6 out of 10 points.
Amsterdam and New York followed close behind in second and third place respectively.
Here are the top five cities in the world for work-life balance and salary, according to MoneyNerd:
Average salary: $44,474
Assessment of work-life balance: 8.6 out of 10
Happiness rating: 7.6 out of 10
Average salary: $44,367
Assessment of work-life balance: 8.3 out of 10
Happiness rating: 7.4 out of 10
Average salary: $71,401
Assessment of work-life balance: 5.2 out of 10
Happiness rating: 7 out of 10
Average salary: $46,196
Assessment of work-life balance: 8.5 out of 10
Happiness rating: 7.4 out of 10
Average salary: $82,191
Assessment of work-life balance: 7.7 out of 10
Happiness rating: 7.5 out of 10
Oslo and Copenhagen have consistently ranked as some of the best cities for work-life balance in other reports, praised for being safe, affordable cities that offer attractive benefits to workers, including an abundance of remote, flexible jobs and generous parental leave policies.
Despite being one of the most expensive places to live, New York had a higher work-life balance than other global cities, such as Hong Kong and Dubai, largely because New Yorkers earn more.
Although New York and Zurich have similar high living costs and happiness scores, New York ranks higher than the largest city in Switzerland because it has more vacancies in more industries.
Meanwhile, Beijing, Lisbon and Budapest are some of the worst cities for work-life balance, according to MoneyNerd. These three cities had lower average annual wages than other places as well as fewer job vacancies, according to MoneyNerd’s research.
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