Finding your ideal climate: the best weather to live in
CityLivably Editorial Team · Built on World Bank, WorldClim, USGS and FEMA/INFORM open data · Updated 2026
Climate shapes daily happiness and energy bills. Here's how we score it from real data — and the cities with the most comfortable year-round weather.
Best climate cities
- Punta del Este, Uruguay — climate 100/100, summer 22.0°C
- Maldonado, Uruguay — climate 100/100, summer 21.9°C
- Melo, Uruguay — climate 100/100, summer 23.6°C
- Porto, Portugal — climate 100/100, summer 19.7°C
- Hobart, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 16.4°C
- Bendigo, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 21.0°C
- City of Port Phillip, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 20.4°C
- Ballarat, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 18.0°C
- Bhisho, South Africa — climate 100/100, summer 21.4°C
- Herceg Novi, Montenegro — climate 100/100, summer 23.7°C
- Albufeira, Portugal — climate 100/100, summer 23.5°C
- Santander, Spain — climate 100/100, summer 19.7°C
- Bilbao, Spain — climate 100/100, summer 19.8°C
- Donostia / San Sebastián, Spain — climate 100/100, summer 19.6°C
- Perpignan, France — climate 100/100, summer 23.2°C
- Geelong, Australia — climate 100/100, summer 19.7°C
- Boquete, Panama — climate 100/100, summer 20.9°C
- La Plata, Argentina — climate 100/100, summer 23.0°C
- Cork, Ireland — climate 100/100, summer 15.2°C
- Dubrovnik, Croatia — climate 100/100, summer 24.0°C
- Mbombela, South Africa — climate 100/100, summer 23.2°C
- Braga, Portugal — climate 100/100, summer 20.0°C
- Coimbra, Portugal — climate 100/100, summer 21.8°C
- Leiria, Portugal — climate 100/100, summer 20.9°C
How we score climate
We use each city's WorldClim v2.1 monthly mean temperatures, then penalise extreme summer heat, harsh winters and too-cool summers to get a 0–100 comfort score — not a brochure adjective.
Why these numbers are trustworthy
Every figure on this page is reproducible from open, citable sources rather than crowd-sourced guesses: cost from the World Bank price level (PPP ÷ exchange rate), climate from WorldClim v2.1 temperature normals, earthquakes from real USGS event history, and flood, storm, wildfire, heat, drought, cold and tsunami exposure modelled from each city's geography. We score 1,103 cities across 68 countries on the same 0–100 scales, so comparisons are like-for-like. The numbers are planning indicators, not promises — verify rent, visas, healthcare and tax for your own situation before you move, and treat the modelled hazard tiers as a relative guide between cities rather than an absolute forecast.
FAQ
What is the best climate to live in?
Mild, dry, temperate climates score highest — see the best-climate ranking.
Is the climate data real?
Yes — actual recorded temperatures and rainfall, not estimates.