Europe’s Best Cities To Raise A Family (2024)

With the ongoing rise of remote work predicted to accelerate over the next few years, this shift opens up a world of opportunities one can look toward when it comes to where they choose their ‘home base’.

To this day, parents often struggle with a healthy balance between work and providing their children with the best quality of life. The increase in working from home and employer flexibility eases this pressure somewhat and allow parents or those looking to start a family to choose where is best to raise their children.

Looking to inspire parents and parents-to-be seeking a change of scenery while also considering a child’s opportunity to thrive, our latest study reveals the top European cities to raise a family.

Analyzing over 130 European cities across three categories, ‘Education’, ‘Health and Safety’, and ‘Leisure and Lifestyle’, we’ve scored each city based on a combination of factors including teacher to student ratios, educational attractions, recreational spaces, free healthcare, length of maternity/paternity leave and more.

The top contenders

Ranking top is Funchal, found on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Scoring well across all three categories, the city offers the continent’s second best ‘Health and Safety’ prospects, third for ‘Education’ and seventh for ‘Leisure and Lifestyle’. Funchal’s ‘chart-topping’ performance is particularly owed to it having the lowest crime rate of all, low air pollution levels and a cheaper cost of living. Portugal’s student to teacher ratio also falls just shy of the top ten in Europe, ranking 11th.

Following Funchal, ranking as Europe’s second best location to raise a child, is the northern Italian city of Trieste. The port city may be small in size but its abundance of educational attractions, recreational spaces, and free healthcare make it a mighty contender in the run for a child’s education and wellbeing.

Congratulations are in order for Portugal, as a second Portuguese city features in the top three - Lisbon is the third best city for raising children in Europe. Aside from the country’s great teaching staff offer, Lisbon also scores well for boasting one of the top five best air quality levels, a wealth of educational attractions and one of Europe’s top ten highest percentages of those in post-compulsory education.

Placing fourth is Iceland’s Reykjavik, possessing the continent’s best teacher to student ratio. The city also secures itself the second ‘best choice of sports and leisure facilities’ title, while the country’s 280 days of paid maternity leave is beaten only by three others in Europe. Prague in the Czech Republic follows suit in fifth, largely owed to it being home to the second-highest number of museums, with a whopping 373 on offer!

Also placing in Europe’s top ten cities to raise children are Ireland’s city of Galway, Aarhus in Denmark, Finnish capital Helsinki, Edinburgh, Scotland and finally, Austrian city, Graz.

Europe’s Best Cities To Raise A Family (1)

Winning best ‘quality of education’ are…

A good education, plays a huge role in a child’s personal, social and cultural development. As an e-learning platform, Preply are proud to be a testament of that fact through the providing of tutoring for children around the world, in subjects they need more support in.

Italy, Portugal and Iceland are top scoring countries for ‘best quality of education’ prospects. Both first and second places in the ‘Education’ category go to Italian cities, Florence and Trieste respectively.

Unsurprisingly, Renaissance birthplace Florence is one of the richest cities where educational attractions are concerned, in light of its wealth of museums and historical landmarks (per capita). Both cities also score well thanks to Italy’s top five annual public expenditure on education.

Portuguese cities Funchal and Lisbon both rank highly once again for educational prospects (third and fifth respectively), confirming yet again why both cities win big in the overall stakes. Placing as fourth best for quality educational, is the Icelandic city of Reykjavik.

Europe’s Best Cities To Raise A Family (2)

Health (and safety) is wealth in…

Northern Europe definitely seems to have health and safety as a top priority, as Trondheim in Norway scores highest and theDanish city of Arhus scores fifth. While healthcare in Norway is mostly paid for, as opposed to Denmark’s free healthcare, Trondheim is among the top five best for air quality levels, while Arhus boasts one of the top ten lowest crime rates.

The top five for health and safety prospects are completed by the Portuguese city of Funchal in third, and Switzerland’s Basel and Bern in third and fourth.

Although all five Swiss cities in the study singlehandedly make up for the top five cities with the highest cost of living and healthcare is paid for, the Basel’s and Bern’s high score is owed to theirlow crime rates and low air pollution levels.

Europe’s Best Cities To Raise A Family (3)

‘Leisure and lifestyle’ prospects are aplenty in…

Education is important but providing a child with a happy balance of ‘work vs. play’ is also vital. Analysing leisure and lifestyle factors, the Brits seem to be luckiest as two UK locations score among the top five - Aberdeen in first and Newcastle Upon Tyne scoring third.

More specifically, with the UK’s paid maternity leave (39 weeks) being the fifth longest in Europe, combined with Aberdeen’s and Newscastle’s great choice of parks and leisure facilities (per capita), both cities are highly regarded for the prospect of providing a child with a nurturing lifestyle.

Sandwiched between the UK cities in second place is the city of Lisbon, offering good options where reasonable cost of living, recreational spaces and parental leave are concerned. Following in fourth and fifth in the category are Italy’s idyllic city of Cagliari and historical Bratislava, Slovakia.

Europe’s Best Cities To Raise A Family (4)

Unluckily, higher crime rates, pollution levels and a lack of choice of education attractions compared to other cities, ranking lowest overall are the city of London, UK, followed by fellow British city of Coventry and Polish city, Katowice.

Overall, our study reveals a real variety of promising cities in which to raise a child. Top contenders are found in Southern Europe (Portugal and Italy), Northern Europe (UK, Finland, Iceland, Denmark) and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic) so parents looking to relocate have a variety of options and landscapes to choose from. Offering best choice overall is Portugal, with Funchal ranking top and second Portuguese city, Lisbon, placing in the top ten too. Whilst those with specific priorities should look to Florence (Italy) for best ‘Education’, Trondheim (Norway), for top ‘Health & Safety’ and finally Aberdeen (UK) for the best ‘Leisure & Lifestyle’.

Methodology: Scoring and ranking of 131 European cities based on a combination of factors spanning the Education, Health and Safety, and Leisure and Lifestyle categories.

Sources include Numbeo (Crime Index), IQAIR (Air quality), Tripadvisor (number of landmarks, museums, sports centers, parks), various sources via Google (healthcare accessibility, length of paternal leave), and the European Commission Index (post compulsory education rates 2018, teacher to student ratios 2019 and education expenditure 2019). Data normalised to account for population differences (per capita).

Europe’s Best Cities To Raise A Family (2024)

FAQs

Where is the best place to raise children in Europe? ›

Sweden is one of the best European countries to raise a family. Swedes are among the world's most giving people, providing roughly 1% of their annual gross domestic product to humanitarian aid projects.

What is the best city to raise a family? ›

Main Findings
CityFinal RankQuality of life
Warwick, RI133
Charleston, WV272
Fort Lauderdale, FL335
Yonkers, NY416
31 more rows
Jan 4, 2023

What is the best country to raise a family in the world? ›

In Unicef's 2020 analysis of children's wellbeing, Japan ranks number one for physical health, which looks at child mortality and obesity.

Which city in Europe is the best to live? ›

  1. London. As the “capital of capitals” (both in Europe and globally) deftly negotiates the uncharted, perilous terrain of a post-Brexit and pandemic world, London reigns as Europe's best city. ...
  2. Paris. ...
  3. Amsterdam. ...
  4. Barcelona. ...
  5. Zürich. ...
  6. Madrid. ...
  7. Berlin. ...
  8. Rome.

Where to move with kids in Europe? ›

Where in Europe offers families the best quality of life?
RankCapitalCountry
1BernSwitzerland
2ViennaAustria
3LuxembourgLuxembourg
4HelsinkiFinland
6 more rows
Mar 10, 2023

What country raises the happiest children? ›

Dutch kids are a marvel: cycling around town, hanging onto the back of their parents' bike, and eating hagelslag like there's no tomorrow. No wonder they're among the happiest children in the world — but why is that?

What is the safest city to raise a family? ›

Best Places to Raise a Family
Overall RankCityTotal Score
1Fremont, CA73.71
2Overland Park, KS71.35
3Irvine, CA69.78
4Plano, TX68.34
46 more rows
May 30, 2023

Where is the safest place to raise kids? ›

The HomeSnacks list of Best States to Raise a Family in America for 2022 is topped by Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Nebraska, and Iowa. It was Vermont's health and safety index and Maine's clean air and water, schools, and safety that gained each one its top spot.

Where is the best place to live and grow a family? ›

Massachusetts once again topped the chart, helped by a second-place score in Education and Child Care, and a high Health and Safety score. North Dakota placed fourth, up from ninth last year, with the top scores in Socioeconomics and Education and Child Care.

Which country has the happiest parents? ›

Here's what the parents do differently. Children in the Netherlands are among the happiest in the world, research has suggested, and experts say that there could be a number of reasons why this is the case.

What countries have the happiest parents? ›

"In fact, in some countries, such as Norway and Hungary, parents are actually happier than non-parents." That is also true, on average, of parents in such places as Portugal, Finland, Sweden and Spain.

Which country is better for kids? ›

Vietnam is one of the best countries to travel with kids and you'll be sure to enjoy your family vacation here. Vietnam would be a great place to take toddlers and babies too!

Where is the happiest place to live in Europe? ›

Aalborg. This lesser known Danish industrial city takes the crown as the happiest city to live in Europe, surpassing Denmark's capital by a fairly significant margin. Nearly three-quarters of residents are the very satisfied with their life, 72%, with just 2% not very satisfied and 1% not at all satisfied.

What is the best European country for Americans to live in? ›

Spain. There are numerous reasons why, for many American expats, Spain tops the list of best countries in Europe to live in. For a start, the country boasts a diverse and rich culture and quality of life, with something to offer everyone.

What is the best European country for Americans to move to? ›

If you can handle the cold, Germany and the Netherlands are two of the most popular countries for expats, both offering international communities and unique residency options. Switzerland: Although many European countries offer a better quality of life than the U.S., Switzerland takes the cake.

What is the easiest European country for US citizens to move to? ›

Spain is one of the easiest European countries to move to as a US citizen. Since you are from an English-speaking country you can easily get a temporary visa via the North American Language and Cultural Assistant program.

Which country is the easiest to move to Europe? ›

Which countries give easy residency? In Europe, countries that give residence permits easily are Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro and Malta.

What is the cheapest European country to move to? ›

Cheapest European Countries to Live
  • Turkey.
  • Romania.
  • Poland.
  • Hungary.
  • Slovakia.
  • Czechia.
  • Montenegro.
  • Latvia.

What is the parenting style in Europe? ›

In Europe, parents in general are less hands on with their kids. They're not on top of them 24/7, as often referred to as “helicopter” parenting. Europeans sort of just go with the flow when it comes to being with their kids and are more encouraging of independent play.

Why Dutch kids are so happy? ›

According to the study, Dutch infants' relatively calm demeanor were due in part to a more regulated sleep schedule and lower intensity activities. American parents are known to emphasize the importance of stimulation, exposing their children to a wide variety of new experiences.

Which country respect their parents most? ›

Chinese children care for their parents in old age.

As in Korea, Chinese families traditionally view filial piety and respect for one's elders as the highest virtue, deriving from the Confucian tradition.

What is the number 1 safest city? ›

Frisco, Texas, part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex has been ranked the number 1 safest city to live in the U.S. It boasts the fourth-lowest violent crime rate and the sixth-lowest property crime rate.

What country is the safest and most peaceful place to raise a family? ›

Iceland is the world's most peaceful country, making it a top option for the safest place to live. The Woodlands, just outside of Houston, Texas, is ranked the best city to live in America.

What state is #1 to raise children? ›

Massachusetts topped the list for the best state to raise a family. The New England state earned a total score of 66.14. It ranked second in both education & child care and affordability. The state is home to some of the country's best schools, including Harvard and MIT.

Where is the safest place to live in USA? ›

35 Safest Places to Live in the U.S. in 2023
  • Cincinnati, Ohio. ...
  • Corpus Christi, Texas. ...
  • Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina. ...
  • Austin, Texas. ...
  • Columbus, Ohio. ...
  • Colorado Springs, Colorado. ...
  • Fort Worth, Texas. ...
  • Arlington, Texas. Insider Monkey's Crime Rate Per 100,000 Estimate: 6,245.
Mar 26, 2023

What is the best state in the US to raise a family? ›

By Tom Shea and Marc Fortier • Published January 10, 2023 • Updated on January 10, 2023 at 8:43 am. In fact, Massachusetts was named the best state in the U.S. to raise a family, according to a WalletHub study.

Where is the best place to live to start over? ›

St Louis, Missouri is the top-rated city in the U.S. for people looking to start over. New York City is the most difficult city to move to for a fresh start. Hartford, Connecticut has the best social scene score. Birmingham, Alabama has the best cost of living score compared to other cities we studied.

Where is the best place for cost of living? ›

10 best and cheapest countries to live in
  • Vietnam.
  • Costa Rica.
  • Bulgaria.
  • Mexico.
  • South Africa.
  • China.
  • South Korea.
  • Thailand.
Feb 2, 2023

What is the 1 best place to live? ›

Topping the 2023-24 list: Green Bay, Wisconsin. The magazine called Green Bay "The perfect mix of big-city amenities complemented with a Midwestern, small-town feel."

What is the happiest country in Europe? ›

The report, which draws on global survey data from people in more than 150 countries, placed Finland in the top position for the sixth year in a row, with a happiness score significantly ahead of all other countries. Why do people in Nordic countries consistently rank as the happiest and what can we learn from them?

What is the happiest state in the US? ›

What are the happiest states in the US? The happiest states in the US are Massachusetts, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Minnesota, California, Hawaii, and Vermont.

Which country moms are the best? ›

According to a new study, Norwegian moms have it best. Save the Children released their 13th annual State of the World's Mothers report on Tuesday. The study takes a look at several factors including maternal health, education and economic status, as well as the health and nutrition of their children.

Which nationality are the best parents? ›

Best Countries for Raising Kids
  • Denmark.
  • Norway.
  • Sweden.
  • Finland.
  • Canada.
  • Switzerland.

Which country smiles the most? ›

Studies are clear about one thing: throughout the world, Americans tend to smile the most! It's not that other countries don't have plenty to smile about, it's that people tend to smile as much as they are conditioned to through socialization and culture.

What is the most satisfied country in the world? ›

Finland is the No. 1 happiest country in the world for the sixth year in a row. Finland has been the happiest country in the world since 2016. The World Happiness Report released its annual ranking of the happiest countries in the world and for the sixth year in a row Finland has landed in the top spot.

Which country is best than USA? ›

Best Countries Rankings
  • #1. Switzerland.
  • #2. Germany.
  • #3. Canada.
  • #4. United States.
  • #5. Sweden.
Sep 27, 2022

Which country is best to live in future? ›

The world's best country to live in is Sweden, as it ranked highest on the world report Quality of Life Index that measured attributes ranging from economic stability and progressivism to innovation and geographical attractions.

What's the rarest country to be born in? ›

On the other side of the scale, the CIA estimates Monaco has the lowest birth rate in the world at 6.63 average annual births per 1,000 people per year.

What is the most relaxed city in Europe? ›

We at SpaSeekers have conducted research into some of the most popular European city destinations and ranked them by how relaxing they are. Copenhagen was revealed to be the most relaxing city break that Europe has to offer, while Sofia, Amsterdam, and Paris aren't advised if you're looking for a tranquil break.

Which US city is ranked the happiest city to live? ›

Cities across the United States vary greatly in their environment, income, citizens' overall well-being and community. For 2023, California dominated the list of the happiest cities in America, while Fremont, California, topped the list for the second year in a row.

Where is the happiest and healthiest place to live? ›

The cities were scored based on 43 key indicators of health, including fruit and vegetable consumption and vaccination rates. The site dubbed Fremont, Calif., the happiest city nationwide, based on 30 indicators of happiness, including depression rate, income growth rate and average amount of leisure time per day.

Which European country is most welcoming to Americans? ›

Poland. About 73% of respondents gave the United States a favorable response. This favorability rating is the highest in Europe. Poland's positive attitudes toward the United States is rooted in President Reagan's stance against the USSR and America's help when Poland left the Soviet bloc.

Is it cheaper to live in Europe or America? ›

Overall, Europe has a lower cost of living due to lower healthcare expenses, a weakening euro currency, and low inflation. Europeans, however, tend to pay more of their income to taxes, and average wages tend to be lower than in America.

Is it hard for an American to move to Europe? ›

Yes, US citizens can move to Europe, but how easy it would be depends on which European country you want to live in. Every country has its own immigration rules. You'll need either a work permit (for a job in your target country), or another kind of residence visa.

What city is best for American expats in Europe? ›

Madrid has good leisure activities and a welcoming culture

Madrid comes in just ahead of Lisbon in the rankings for quality of life, and is similarly loved for its sunny climate. The Spanish city is one of the best rated for nightlife and culture and is considered the most welcoming expat destination.

What is the easiest country to move to from America? ›

According to the 2022 Global Peace Index, Portugal stands sixth globally. Portugal has a warm climate and a much lower cost of living than the US, which makes it one of the easiest countries to immigrate to from the US.

What is the best European country for an American family to move to? ›

Switzerland: Although many European countries offer a better quality of life than the U.S., Switzerland takes the cake. It's globally ranked for its safety, infrastructure and natural beauty. All of this, of course, comes at a cost: Switzerland is one of the world's most expensive countries to live in.

Which country has the best child care system? ›

Denmark is recognised as the best country for childcare. Both women and men can take maternity leave on equal terms. The country pays high taxes, but most of it goes to social services, such as education and health care. Norway is named the most environmentally friendly country.

Where is the best place to raise kids in the country? ›

Our Rankings For The Best US Cities To Raise A Family
RankCity, StateDistinguishing Factor
1Brownsville, TexasLower cost of living
2Ann Arbor, MichiganHighly ranked public school districts
3Naples, FloridaLow crime
4Boise, IdahoFamily-friendly amenities
6 more rows
Nov 18, 2022

What European country is easy for Americans to move to? ›

Spain is one of the easiest European countries to move to as a US citizen. Since you are from an English-speaking country you can easily get a temporary visa via the North American Language and Cultural Assistant program.

Where is the safest place to live in Europe? ›

Switzerland ranks as the safest place in Europe. With very low homicide, assault and road fatalities, travellers are likely to be very safe in this country. Switzerland also has a very low risk of natural disasters and one of the lowest levels of corruption perception in Europe.

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