From waiting in L.A. traffic to dodging tourists in Paris or three roommates in New York City, urban life can certainly test your temper. But according to a new study, choosing to live in a city doesn’t always mean committing to a high-stress lifestyle—especially if you head to one particular European locale.
Money transfer service Remitly set out to find the world’s least stressful city to live in. Researchers looked at 170 locations around the globe, focusing on five key metrics to paint a picture of how stressful it is to live in each: the average time to travel 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles), annual pollution levels, cost of living index, health care quality and accessibility, and a crime index based on perceived safety and security citizens expressed on worldwide surveys. Data was pulled from TomTom, Numbeo, and IQAir.
The cities were then ranked on a scale from one to 10, with 10 being the highest level of resident stress. Eindhoven, Netherlands, proved to be the least-stressed city of them all, keeping its inhabitants cool and collected with a score of 2.34. The country swept the study in general, with Utrecht, Groningen, and Rotterdam also making the global top 10.
Eindhoven is in the North Brabant province of the southern Netherlands, just over an hour away from Amsterdam by train. With primarily modern architecture—and even some futuristic buildings—and a booming tech scene, the city is known for having a youthful, forward-thinking atmosphere. It has an industrious history as the founding place of centenarian electronics and technology company Philips, and today the Brainport Eindhoven region is a bustling hub for tech innovation.
Its no surprise Eindhoven snagged a competitive score in the pollution category, as the city aims to only use sustainably generated energy by 2045 and recently made strides towards the eco-conscious goal with the support of the European Union.
It takes residents just under 15 minutes to travel 10 kilometers in Eindhoven. According to Numbeo, the annual cost of living for a single person is only 13,645.2 euros a year (just under $16,000). Eindhovenaren also benefit from the Netherlands’ world-leading health care system.
Although the city’s tech presence is formidable, it still has plenty to enjoy when it comes to arts and culture, especially in the trendy Strijp-S district and during the yearly Dutch Design Week.
The remaining top-10 least-stressed spots were claimed by Canberra, Australia; Tallinn, Estonia; Trondheim, Norway; Bergen, Norway; Porto, Portugal; and Brisbane, Australia. No U.S. cities made the list.
As for the most stressful cities to live in, N.Y.C. has the dubious honor of being No. 1. Although the Big Apple had a strong showing in the clean air and health care access categories, it wasn’t enough to offset a skyrocketing cost of living, which is one of the highest in the world. It edged just ahead of runner-up Dublin with a 7.56 stress score compared to the Irish capitol’s 7.55.
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