Workers looking for an outstanding quality of life and low cost of living are flocking to Valencia, Spain, which has been ranked the No. 1 city for ex-pats to live and work abroad in 2022. That’s according to a survey of more than 12,000 respondents from InterNations, an online ex-pat community with more than 4.5 million global members.
Valencia earns the top spot for being “a safe place with an excellent climate, a vibrant nightlife and culture, a pleasant urban environment and great travel opportunities” while still being “fairly affordable,” says InterNations founder Malte Zeeck.
It’s pretty easy for remote workers from other European Union countries to move to Spain without applying for a visa or work permit, Zeeck adds. And it could become the next big hotspot among non-European remote workers, too: The Spanish parliament recently passed the so-called Startups Act, which includes creating a new type of visa for digital nomads expected to be available by January 2023.
Expats in second-place Dubai, meanwhile, enjoy a thriving social scene as well as good job prospects and a creative business culture. And newcomers to Mexico City rank it high as far as settling in and feeling at home, but low on environmental, climate, and safety measures.
Here are the top 10 cities for ex-pats living and working abroad, and how residents feel about their home away from home.
1. Valencia, Spain
- 85% are happy with life in general
- 83% are happy with the cost of living
- 55% say making new friends is easy
- 56% are happy with their job
- 76% are happy with their work-life balance
- 80% are happy with the quality of medical care
2. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- 73% are happy with life in general
- 38% are happy with the cost of living
- 43% say making new friends is easy
- 70% are happy with their job
- 61% are happy with their work-life balance
- 84% are happy with the quality of medical care
3. Mexico City, Mexico
- 84% are happy with life in general
- 67% are happy with the cost of living
- 69% say making new friends is easy
- 73% are happy with their job
- 71% are happy with their work-life balance
- 70% are happy with the quality of medical care
4. Lisbon, Portugal
- 86% are happy with life in general
- 69% are happy with the cost of living
- 49% say making new friends is easy
- 71% are happy with their job
- 72% are happy with their work-life balance
- 68% are happy with the quality of medical care
5. Madrid, Spain
- 77% are happy with life in general
- 69% are happy with the cost of living
- 53% say making new friends is easy
- 63% are happy with their job
- 70% are happy with their work-life balance
- 80% are happy with the quality of medical care
6. Bangkok, Thailand
- 79% are happy with life in general
- 69% are happy with the cost of living
- 54% say making new friends is easy
- 66% are happy with their job
- 68% are happy with their work-life balance
- 82% are happy with the quality of medical care
7. Basel, Switzerland
- 82% are happy with life in general
- 22% are happy with the cost of living
- 18% say making new friends is easy
- 86% are happy with their job
- 67% are happy with their work-life balance
- 85% are happy with the quality of medical care
8. Melbourne, Australia
- 69% are happy with life in general
- 36% are happy with the cost of living
- 46% say making new friends is easy
- 77% are happy with their job
- 72% are happy with their work-life balance
- 78% are happy with the quality of medical care
9. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- 68% are happy with life in general
- 36% are happy with the cost of living
- 41% say making new friends is easy
- 64% are happy with their job
- 51% are happy with their work-life balance
- 88% are happy with the quality of medical care
10. Singapore
- 73% are happy with life in general
- 24% are happy with the cost of living
- 48% say making new friends is easy
- 77% are happy with their job
- 58% are happy with their work-life balance
- 84% are happy with the quality of medical care
Global ex-pats on average
- 71% are happy with life in general
- 45% are happy with the cost of living
- 42% say making new friends is easy
- 64% are happy with their job
- 62% are happy with their work-life balance
- 72% are happy with the quality of medical care
The survey, conducted in February 2022 and released this week, asked ex-pats to rate their satisfaction across five main categories, including quality of life (like a healthy environment and robust public transit), ease of settling in (such as friendliness of local residents), personal finance (such as access to affordable health care), working abroad (such as job security and a stable local economy), and “ex-pat essentials,” which covers digital life, housing options, language barriers, and dealing with local government and administrative tasks.
Of the 50 cities included in the analysis, some of the least desirable relocation spots include Johannesburg, South Africa; Frankfurt, Germany; and Paris, France thanks to demanding work cultures and high costs of living.