Best Places to Live in Italy: The Quality of Life Index 2019

For the second year in a row, Milan is the best place to live in Italy. This is according to Il Sole 24’s annual Quality of Life Index.

Bolzano, Trento, Aosta, and Trieste round out the top five. All four of these cities ranked in the top 10 last year. Venice ranked ninth this year — a surprise, since Venice did not even rate in the top 25 last year

Meanwhile, Florence and Rome experienced modest climbs, up to 15th and 18th from 22nd and 21st the year before.

Other surprises from the list include Bologna moving down seven spots from last year. Belluno, which earned the top spot two years ago and ranked 4th last year, is in 51st place in this year’s list. What the heck happened in Belluno? Visit the index to find out.

This year, as Il Sole 24 marks 30 years of publishing its livability index, it has increased the number of ranking factors from 36 to 90. These factors are grouped into six themes; wealth and consumption; business and work; demography and society; environment and services; justice and security; and free time. And while there is one overall winner, it’s instructive to look at which cities won for particular ranking factors.

Il Sole 24 has created a beautiful, searchable data visualization that lets you check out where each city has ranked on the list over the past 30 years.

Have fun playing around with this tool. Or, just check out this year’s top 25 below:

Top 25 Italian Cities in 2019-2020: Quality of Life Index

1. Milan
2. Bolzano
3. Trento
4. Aosta
5. Trieste
6. Monza e Brianza
7. Verona
8. Treviso
9. Venice
10. Parma
11. Vicenza
12. Brescia
13. Pordenone
14. Bologna
15. Florence
16. Udine
17. Rimini
18. Rome
19. Modena
20. Cagliari
21. Cuneo
22. Reggia Emilia
23. Padova
24. Cremona
25. Forli-Cesena

Each year, the Italian paper Il Sole 24 releases a ranking of 110 Italian cities according to a number of factors including artistic patrimony, public transportation, availability and affordability of fresh food, crime, housing prices, youth unemployment, and more.

Milan was ranked the number one most livable city in Italy in 2018-19.

I first wrote about the index for an Italy Roundtable post after getting letters from several readers, especially aspiring retirees, asking me where in Italy is the best place to move.

Post first published on December 16, 2019