Had enough of living in the U.S.? If so, U.K. insurance company William Russell has ranked 53 countries for which make the best residence for ex-patriates.
The categories include happiness and wellbeing, expatriate health, employment opportunities and quality of life.
Some sub-categories include amount of space, percentage of expatriates, life expectancy, number of hospitals and physicians, unemployment rate, per capita income, apartment costs, air quality and quality of parks.
One piece of advice: don’t move somewhere where you don’t speak the language. It will be more difficult to do everything from making friends to finding the restroom in public places.
In any case, the top 10 countries (counting down) are:
10. Latvia
9. Lithuania
8. Germany
7. The Netherlands
6. Australia
5. New Zealand
4. Austria
3. Norway
2. Sweden
1. Finland
And the bottom 10 are:
44. Turkey
45. South Africa
46. Thailand
47. China
48. Bangladesh
49. India
50. Iran
51. Egypt
52. Philippines
53. Nigeria
The survey offered the following details about the top five countries.
Finland: It has the highest quality of life score and the fourth highest employment score.
Sweden: It is ranks fourth for happiness and fifth for health. Its lowest rank is for employment--15th.
Norway: Norway places third for employment, fifth for happiness and sixth for quality of life. But it places only 28th for health.
Austria: Austria sits in the top 10 for each of the reports four main categories, with a sixth-place finish for health as its highest mark.
New Zealand: New Zealand tied for second for total happiness and sits ninth for quality of life. But it came in 25th for health and 26th for employment.
Five of the top 10 countries -- Finland, Sweden, Germany, Lithuania, and Latvia -- border on the Baltic Sea.
Alternatives to Living Overseas
Meanwhile, if you aren’t interested in living overseas, perhaps you’re living in an urban area and would prefer a suburban or rural area.
Personal-finance website WalletHub compiled a list of the best small cities. It compared more than 1,300 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 based on 43 key indicators of livability.
Those indicators include median income, cost of living, school-system quality, average commute time, restaurants per capita and crime rates.
The best cities are:
1. Lancaster, Pa.
2. Carmel, Ind.
3. Fair Lawn, N.J.
4. Lexington, Mass.
5. Brentwood, Tenn.
6. Melrose, Mass.
7. Zionsville, Ind.
8. Needham, Mass.
9. Portland, Maine
10. Westfield, Ind.
The bottom 10 starting with the worst are:
1. Bessemer, Ala.
2. Pine Bluff, Ark.
3. Fort Hood, Texas
4. West Memphis, Ark.
5. Alexandria, La.
6. Monroe, La.
7. Isla Vista, Calif.
8. Greenville, Miss.
9. East Point, Ga.
10. Albany, Ga.
