Demographics
Does a City’s Population Size Impact its Quality of Life?
Does a City’s Population Size Impact its Quality of Life?
City living isn’t everyone’s cup of tea—the world’s most populous cities especially can be hectic, noisy, and busy.
Yet, despite the chaos of urban life, cities offer inhabitants a number of comforts and conveniences that are harder to find in smaller towns. That’s why more people are moving into urban areas around the world.
But do these conveniences reflect in people’s quality of lives?
According to research compiled by Elaine Siu, bigger doesn’t always mean better—at least when it comes to population size. This interactive visualization takes a deep dive into this dataset.
Measuring Quality of Life
Siu uses data from Numbeo’s 2022 Quality of Life Index to compare the quality of life in nearly 200 different cities around the world. For the purposes of this research, Siu used cities with metropolitan area populations of over 500,000.
The index measures quality of life using eight different metrics:
- Cost of Living
- Purchasing Power
- Property Price to Income Ratio
- Pollution
- Traffic Commute Time
- Safety
- Healthcare
- Climate
A majority of the metrics (six of the eight) seemed to correlate with population size, suggesting that the bigger a city’s population is, the lower its quality of life in those metrics.
Here’s a look at the full list of cities included in the study, along with their overall quality of life scores and their metro area populations:
City | Quality of Life Index | Metro Area Population |
---|---|---|
Adelaide, Australia | 212.14 | 1,355,522 |
The Hague (Den Haag), Netherlands | 204.88 | 709,388 |
Perth, Australia | 198.37 | 2,092,649 |
Zurich, Switzerland | 198.14 | 1,419,621 |
Basel, Switzerland | 197.58 | 566,503 |
Brisbane, Australia | 196.06 | 2,472,222 |
Charlotte, NC, United States | 194.31 | 2,701,046 |
Seattle, WA, United States | 194.3 | 4,018,762 |
Oklahoma City, OK, United States | 192.79 | 1,441,647 |
Austin, TX, United States | 192.56 | 2,352,426 |
Geneva, Switzerland | 192.15 | 626,618 |
Quebec City, Canada | 192.11 | 837,814 |
Columbus, OH, United States | 191.34 | 2,151,017 |
San Diego, CA, United States | 188.18 | 3,286,069 |
San Antonio, TX, United States | 188.14 | 2,601,788 |
Copenhagen, Denmark | 187.89 | 1,370,131 |
San Jose, CA, United States | 187.16 | 1,952,185 |
Edinburgh, United Kingdom | 185.01 | 548,206 |
Sydney, Australia | 184.52 | 5,056,571 |
Melbourne, Australia | 183.06 | 5,150,766 |
Kansas City, MO, United States | 181.28 | 2,199,490 |
Albuquerque, NM, United States | 181.09 | 918,259 |
Helsinki, Finland | 180.21 | 1,327,762 |
Vienna, Austria | 180.01 | 1,960,023 |
Glasgow, United Kingdom | 179.79 | 1,688,907 |
Gothenburg, Sweden | 179.12 | 624,780 |
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 178.96 | 2,964,382 |
Calgary, Canada | 178.34 | 1,611,475 |
Amsterdam, Netherlands | 178.17 | 1,165,898 |
Ottawa, Canada | 177.09 | 1,422,635 |
Portland, OR, United States | 176.92 | 2,511,612 |
Dallas, TX, United States | 175.71 | 7,759,615 |
Jacksonville, FL, United States | 175.25 | 1,637,666 |
Munich, Germany | 174.98 | 1,566,128 |
Boston, MA, United States | 174.52 | 4,899,932 |
Muscat, Oman | 174.07 | 1,622,620 |
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 173.13 | 1,539,830 |
Frankfurt, Germany | 173.06 | 791,232 |
Vancouver, Canada | 172.66 | 2,631,690 |
Stuttgart, Germany | 172 | 634,740 |
Rotterdam, Netherlands | 171.72 | 1,014,675 |
Milwaukee, WI, United States | 171.44 | 1,566,487 |
Edmonton, Canada | 171.23 | 1,518,921 |
Indianapolis, IN, United States | 171.2 | 2,126,804 |
Houston, TX, United States | 170.9 | 7,206,841 |
Valencia, Spain | 170.88 | 836,857 |
Tucson, AZ, United States | 168.76 | 1,052,030 |
Denver, CO, United States | 167.36 | 2,972,566 |
Hamburg, Germany | 166.71 | 1,788,170 |
Vilnius, Lithuania | 165.74 | 540,775 |
Oslo, Norway | 164.94 | 1,071,062 |
Nashville, TN, United States | 164.87 | 2,012,476 |
Bristol, United Kingdom | 164.74 | 700,630 |
Atlanta, GA, United States | 163.99 | 6,144,050 |
Berlin, Germany | 163.74 | 3,570,750 |
Sacramento, CA, United States | 163.54 | 2,411,428 |
Washington, DC, United States | 162.88 | 6,356,434 |
Queretaro, Mexico | 162.06 | 1,389,302 |
Stockholm, Sweden | 161.54 | 1,679,050 |
Auckland, New Zealand | 161 | 1,652,341 |
Cologne, Germany | 160.82 | 1,136,992 |
Baltimore, MD, United States | 160.36 | 2,838,327 |
Tokyo, Japan | 160.27 | 37,274,000 |
Belfast, United Kingdom | 159.26 | 638,717 |
Prague, Czech Republic | 158.87 | 1,318,085 |
San Francisco, CA, United States | 157.57 | 4,623,264 |
Zagreb, Croatia | 157.5 | 684,254 |
Madrid, Spain | 157.33 | 6,713,557 |
Porto, Portugal | 157.26 | 1,320,347 |
Antwerp, Belgium | 155.3 | 1,052,622 |
Toronto, Canada | 155.02 | 6,312,974 |
Singapore, Singapore | 154.54 | 6,039,577 |
Philadelphia, PA, United States | 154.13 | 6,228,601 |
Montreal, Canada | 153.76 | 4,276,526 |
Doha, Qatar | 153.1 | 651,799 |
Phoenix, AZ, United States | 151.95 | 4,946,145 |
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 150.72 | 7,538,200 |
Lisbon, Portugal | 150.09 | 2,986,162 |
Birmingham, United Kingdom | 149.32 | 2,645,598 |
Manama, Bahrain | 148.96 | 688,558 |
Lyon, France | 148.34 | 1,747,575 |
Las Vegas, NV, United States | 148.17 | 2,292,476 |
Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel | 147.84 | 4,343,584 |
Manchester, United Kingdom | 147.47 | 2,770,434 |
Riga, Latvia | 145.54 | 624,925 |
Bursa, Turkey | 145.27 | 2,054,748 |
Cape Town, South Africa | 145.05 | 4,800,954 |
Chicago, IL, United States | 144.81 | 9,509,934 |
Jeddah (Jiddah), Saudi Arabia | 144.4 | 4,780,740 |
Barcelona, Spain | 143.73 | 5,658,472 |
Brussels, Belgium | 143.12 | 2,109,631 |
Genoa, Italy | 142.82 | 675,464 |
Coimbatore, India | 142.77 | 2,934,621 |
Hamilton, Canada | 142.74 | 775,751 |
Bangalore, India | 141.67 | 13,193,035 |
Dublin, Ireland | 140.93 | 1,255,963 |
Curitiba, Brazil | 140.07 | 3,770,919 |
Los Angeles, CA, United States | 139.75 | 12,997,353 |
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia | 139.25 | 1,252,917 |
Durban, South Africa | 139.09 | 3,199,329 |
Islamabad, Pakistan | 139 | 1,198,035 |
Bologna, Italy | 139 | 811,707 |
Pune, India | 138.28 | 6,987,077 |
Taipei, Taiwan | 137.81 | 2,742,379 |
New York, NY, United States | 137.32 | 19,768,458 |
Brasilia, Brazil | 135.44 | 4,803,877 |
Winnipeg, Canada | 133.69 | 832,944 |
Pretoria, South Africa | 133.25 | 2,739,768 |
Warsaw, Poland | 133.21 | 1,794,532 |
Detroit, MI, United States | 133.05 | 4,365,205 |
Johannesburg, South Africa | 132.58 | 6,065,354 |
Izmir, Turkey | 131.52 | 3,056,149 |
Turin, Italy | 131.35 | 1,798,471 |
Lviv, Ukraine | 129.85 | 721,383 |
Poznan, Poland | 129.38 | 525,919 |
Wroclaw, Poland | 128.45 | 642,497 |
Guadalajara, Mexico | 128.14 | 5,339,583 |
Chiang Mai, Thailand | 127.81 | 1,197,931 |
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates | 127.77 | 1,785,684 |
Budapest, Hungary | 127.23 | 1,775,207 |
Ankara, Turkey | 126.93 | 5,309,690 |
London, United Kingdom | 126.14 | 9,540,576 |
Monterrey, Mexico | 125.76 | 5,036,535 |
Campinas, Brazil | 125.75 | 3,384,564 |
Seoul, South Korea | 125.66 | 9,975,709 |
Lodz, Poland | 124 | 666,032 |
Krakow (Cracow), Poland | 123.44 | 769,595 |
Paris, France | 123.02 | 11,142,303 |
Sofia, Bulgaria | 122.03 | 1,286,789 |
Medellin, Colombia | 121.78 | 4,067,758 |
Montevideo, Uruguay | 119.58 | 1,767,243 |
Yerevan, Armenia | 119.46 | 1,092,028 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico | 118.97 | 2,442,512 |
Florianopolis, Brazil | 118.92 | 1,277,547 |
Milan, Italy | 118.57 | 3,149,223 |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 117.7 | 8,419,566 |
Bucharest, Romania | 117.58 | 1,785,294 |
Kuwait City, Kuwait | 116.64 | 3,238,523 |
Athens, Greece | 115.69 | 3,153,781 |
Quito, Ecuador | 115.33 | 1,928,296 |
Thessaloniki, Greece | 115.32 | 813,793 |
San Jose, Costa Rica | 115.02 | 1,441,324 |
Chennai, India | 114.51 | 11,503,293 |
Amman, Jordan | 114.37 | 2,209,584 |
Ahmedabad, India | 113.04 | 8,450,228 |
Hyderabad, India | 112.53 | 10,534,418 |
Tbilisi, Georgia | 112.19 | 1,080,349 |
Panama City, Panama | 110.94 | 1,937,963 |
Rome, Italy | 109.98 | 4,297,877 |
Belgrade, Serbia | 109.82 | 1,405,192 |
Kharkiv, Ukraine | 109.51 | 1,423,343 |
Shenzhen, China | 109.11 | 12,831,330 |
Baku, Azerbaijan | 109.1 | 2,401,108 |
Moscow, Russia | 108.32 | 12,640,818 |
Minsk, Belarus | 107.79 | 2,048,574 |
Porto Alegre, Brazil | 107.74 | 4,185,488 |
Belo Horizonte, Brazil | 107.2 | 6,194,292 |
Kiev (Kyiv), Ukraine | 106.88 | 3,010,209 |
Odessa (Odesa), Ukraine | 106.41 | 1,007,989 |
Lahore, Pakistan | 106.01 | 13,541,764 |
Hong Kong, Hong Kong | 103.85 | 7,643,256 |
Santiago, Chile | 103.1 | 6,856,939 |
Skopje, North Macedonia | 101.02 | 605,996 |
Kolkata, India | 99.37 | 15,133,888 |
Buenos Aires, Argentina | 99.23 | 15,369,919 |
Saint Petersburg, Russia | 97.91 | 5,535,556 |
Dnipro, Ukraine | 97.76 | 946,574 |
Istanbul, Turkey | 96.13 | 15,636,243 |
Guatemala City, Guatemala | 95.46 | 3,036,405 |
Yekaterinburg, Russia | 94.29 | 1,521,136 |
Hanoi, Vietnam | 93.75 | 5,067,352 |
Mumbai, India | 89.39 | 20,961,472 |
Bogota, Colombia | 88.27 | 11,344,312 |
Tirana, Albania | 88.09 | 511,559 |
Mexico City, Mexico | 85.94 | 22,085,140 |
Almaty, Kazakhstan | 84.53 | 1,958,135 |
Recife, Brazil | 83.22 | 4,220,458 |
Nairobi, Kenya | 81.75 | 5,118,844 |
Novosibirsk, Russia | 81.71 | 1,686,236 |
Cairo, Egypt | 81.6 | 21,750,020 |
Karachi, Pakistan | 79.91 | 16,839,950 |
Bangkok, Thailand | 79.74 | 10,899,698 |
Sao Paulo, Brazil | 78.54 | 22,429,800 |
Kathmandu, Nepal | 78.08 | 1,521,057 |
Lima, Peru | 77.67 | 11,044,607 |
Delhi, India | 77.27 | 32,065,760 |
Shanghai, China | 76.62 | 28,516,904 |
Jakarta, Indonesia | 74.13 | 11,074,811 |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 70.28 | 13,634,274 |
Caracas, Venezuela | 69.32 | 2,956,813 |
Colombo, Sri Lanka | 66.85 | 625,637 |
Beirut, Lebanon | 66.54 | 2,433,155 |
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 66.41 | 9,077,158 |
Beijing, China | 58.96 | 21,333,332 |
Tehran, Iran | 56.28 | 9,381,546 |
Dhaka, Bangladesh | 56.18 | 22,478,116 |
Lagos, Nigeria | 48.22 | 15,387,639 |
Manila, Philippines | 46.08 | 14,406,059 |
It’s worth noting that the negative correlation between the quality of life and population size only appeared in cities above the median population of 2.4 million people, indicating that the size of a city doesn’t appear to impact quality of life until a certain tipping point. Then, above the median, there’s a blatant downward trend.
However, Tokyo is an anomaly—its quality of life is much higher than it’s metropolitan population would predict.
Zooming in on Tokyo
Despite being the world’s largest urban area, Tokyo compares favorably compared to other top megacities across the index. When ranked among the top five megacities, it places in first for Purchasing Power, Safety, Traffic Commute Time, Cost of Living, Healthcare, and Pollution.
What’s so special about Tokyo? One major thing going for the Japanese city is its immaculate public transport system. The city’s transport is so efficient, the city’s rail service once issued a public apology after a train left the station 25 seconds earlier than its scheduled departure.
Another factor that makes Tokyo so livable is its relatively affordable housing, at least compared to other big cities like New York and Hong Kong. This is partly because of the city’s flexible land zoning system, which makes it relatively easy for developers to build housing and mix-use communities.
As our world becomes increasingly more urbanized, and cities around the world continue to increase in size, will they be able to emulate Tokyo’s growth? And if not, what other city design trends and innovations can cities utilize to raise quality of live?

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Demographics
Charted: How American Life Expectancy Compares to Its Peers
American life expectancy is falling behind peer nations—see the long term trend in this infographic.

How American Life Expectancy Compares to Its Peers
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- American life expectancy at birth is falling further behind that of comparable nations
- The gap has increased from 2.2 years in 2000, to 4.1 years in 2023
For decades, Americans could expect to live about as long as their peers in other wealthy countries—but today, that story is changing.
Based on a 2025 analysis by Peterson-KFF, American life expectancy is now lagging significantly behind comparable nations, with the gap growing wider than ever before.
From chronic diseases to healthcare disparities, multiple factors are contributing to Americans dying younger. In this infographic, we take a look at how the U.S. stacks up—and how quickly it’s falling behind.
Data and Discussion
The data we used to create this graphic is included in the table below.
The comparable country group is based on averages across 11 nations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
Year | U.S. (yrs) | Comparable Country Average (yrs) |
---|---|---|
1980 | 73.7 | 74.6 |
1981 | 74.1 | 74.8 |
1982 | 74.5 | 75.1 |
1983 | 74.6 | 75.3 |
1984 | 74.7 | 75.7 |
1985 | 74.7 | 75.7 |
1986 | 74.7 | 76 |
1987 | 74.9 | 76.4 |
1988 | 74.9 | 76.5 |
1989 | 75.1 | 76.7 |
1990 | 75.4 | 76.9 |
1991 | 75.5 | 77.1 |
1992 | 75.8 | 77.3 |
1993 | 75.5 | 77.4 |
1994 | 75.7 | 77.8 |
1995 | 75.8 | 77.8 |
1996 | 76.1 | 78.1 |
1997 | 76.5 | 78.4 |
1998 | 76.7 | 78.6 |
1999 | 76.7 | 78.7 |
2000 | 76.8 | 79 |
2001 | 77 | 79.3 |
2002 | 77 | 79.4 |
2003 | 77.2 | 79.5 |
2004 | 77.6 | 80.1 |
2005 | 77.6 | 80.2 |
2006 | 77.8 | 80.6 |
2007 | 78.1 | 80.8 |
2008 | 78.2 | 81 |
2009 | 78.5 | 81.2 |
2010 | 78.7 | 81.4 |
2011 | 78.7 | 81.6 |
2012 | 78.8 | 81.6 |
2013 | 78.8 | 81.8 |
2014 | 78.9 | 82.1 |
2015 | 78.7 | 81.9 |
2016 | 78.7 | 82.2 |
2017 | 78.6 | 82.3 |
2018 | 78.7 | 82.3 |
2019 | 78.8 | 82.6 |
2020 | 77 | 82 |
2021 | 76.4 | 82.2 |
2022 | 77.5 | 82.2 |
2023 | 78.4 | 82.5 |
Higher Spending, Lower Life Expectancy
According to Peterson-KFF, the U.S. has the lowest life expectancy among large, wealthy countries despite outspending its peers on healthcare.
In 2023, health spending per capita in the U.S. climbed to $13,432, versus $7,393 for the same 11 nation peer group.
This disconnect suggests inefficiencies, unequal access, and other systemic problems in the U.S. healthcare system are preventing resources from translating into longer, healthier lives.
Chronic Diseases Drag American Life Expectancy Down
A key factor behind the stagnation of life expectancy in the U.S. is the rising prevalence of chronic diseases.
This includes kidney disease, which in 2021 claimed 41 lives per 100,000 in the U.S., versus just 28 per 100,000 for the comparable country group.
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