InterNations: Malaga Best City In The World To Live And Work In

InterNations is dubbed an “expat community” that works to connect people living outside their original homes. It recently ran a major survey among its members to ask their opinion of the best city in the world to live and work in. They surveyed 12,000 members around the world, representing 177 different nationalities and living in 181 countries. One city came out tops in the survey and that is Malaga on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. Of interest, Spain also featured in the second and third choices.

InterNations survey: Malaga named best city in the world to live and work in

Compiled by InterNations, the list features and ranks 49 cities globally and is based on the perception of expatriates experiencing the city. Forbes Magazine noted that Malaga’s allure has skyrocketed over the last two decades. While Malaga was once thought of as the place to fly into on a vacation in southern Spain, visitors’ opinions have changed.

To compile the list, InterNations surveyed more than 12,000 people living globally. The expats involved represent 177 different nationalities, living in a total of 181 countries. Meanwhile, the survey takes into account factors like quality of life, personal finances, ease of settling in and more.

Malaga, the capital city of the Malaga region lies on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. The city not only hit the top in the overall ranking, it also came tops in areas such as climate, friendliness and work-life balance. Those surveyed valued safety, the lively social life of the city, the cost of public transport and the ease of practicing sports.

However, the only black mark related to the local job market where Malaga dropped to forty-first place. Despite this, and as reported earlier, the city has been named the second-most best for digital nomads, who obviously aren’t seeking a job.

Other popular cities in Spain that made the list

It is clear that Spain is popular with the general foreign community, as second place went to Alicante and third place to Valencia. Moreover, the country’s capital, Madrid, comes in sixth place and was lauded for its financial and digital power and high quality of life. Moreover, the popular city of Barcelona was ranked in the survey in thirteenth place.

Where did the US come in the InterNations Survey?

The latest survey reveals that the United States is experiencing a lessening in popularity among expats. In the 2022 InterNations survey, Miami and New York City came out tops to live in.

However, in 2023, the Big Apple has plummeted to thirty-ninth place on the list. It seems the high cost of living, along with the hectic pace of life and personal and family balance resulted in this drop in appeal, despite the labor boom.

Heading back to the Mediterranean, Milan and Rome in Italy came last and second to last respectively, just behind Vancouver in Canada.

Overall rankings for best city to live and work in

The following lists the Top 20 from the InterNations survey and it is interesting to see the diversity: :

1. Malaga, Spain
2. Alicante, Spain
3. Valencia, Spain
4. Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
5. Abu Dhabi, UAE
6. Madrid, Spain
7. Mexico City, Mexico
8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
9. Bangkok, Thailand
10. Muscat, Oman
11. Dubai, UAE
12. Lisbon, Portugal
13. Barcelona, Spain
14. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
15. Nairobi, Kenya
16. Zurich, Switzerland
17. Athens, Greece
18. Stockholm, Sweden
19. Luxembourg
20. The Hague, the Netherlands

As more airlines offer direct flights from the US to Malaga, the city will no doubt continue to soar in popularity.