Desert and semi-arid cities

Dry year-round — desert or steppe (Koppen B). Across 115 such cities in our data, the most livable is Zacatecas, Mexico (70/100).

Desert and semi-arid cities — top 12 by livability

#	City	Country	Livability	Cost	Climate	Safety	Summer°C	Winter°C
1	Zacatecas	Mexico	70	49	100	65	20.4°C	12.2°C
2	Polokwane	South Africa	70	48	100	67	21.0°C	11.6°C
3	Castelló de la Plana	Spain	69	49	95	66	25.0°C	10.3°C
4	San Miguel de Allende	Mexico	69	49	100	62	20.1°C	12.8°C
5	Neuquén	Argentina	69	48	100	64	22.8°C	5.9°C
6	Guelmim	Morocco	69	49	96	66	24.7°C	13.4°C
7	Zaragoza	Spain	68	46	97	64	24.6°C	6.6°C
8	Albacete	Spain	68	49	94	65	24.6°C	4.8°C
9	San Luis Potosí	Mexico	68	45	100	63	21.0°C	13.0°C
10	Aguascalientes	Mexico	68	45	100	63	21.2°C	12.5°C
11	Saltillo	Mexico	68	46	100	64	20.9°C	11.1°C
12	San Luis	Argentina	68	49	100	61	23.8°C	8.8°C
13	Arica	Chile	68	48	100	60	21.3°C	14.5°C
14	La Serena	Chile	68	49	100	60	18.9°C	11.4°C
15	Copiapó	Chile	68	49	100	60	18.6°C	10.5°C
16	Tacna	Peru	68	48	100	60	21.9°C	14.5°C
17	Ica	Peru	68	48	100	60	21.3°C	15.7°C
18	Cajamarca	Peru	68	48	97	62	13.7°C	13.0°C
19	Agadir	Morocco	68	46	100	64	22.9°C	13.7°C
20	Bloemfontein	South Africa	68	46	100	62	22.5°C	7.0°C
21	Kimberley	South Africa	68	49	96	64	24.7°C	9.8°C
22	Welkom	South Africa	68	47	100	61	23.1°C	9.4°C
23	Las Vegas	United States	67	55	85	64	20.0°C	-0.8°C
24	Las Palmas de Gran Canaria	Spain	67	47	100	60	23.1°C	16.8°C
25	Mendoza	Argentina	67	50	98	58	24.3°C	7.8°C
26	Antofagasta	Chile	67	47	100	59	20.3°C	13.2°C
27	Iquique	Chile	67	48	100	57	19.5°C	13.9°C
28	Safi	Morocco	67	47	94	65	25.3°C	12.7°C
29	Alicante	Spain	66	47	93	63	25.4°C	9.5°C
30	Almería	Spain	66	48	90	64	25.9°C	11.0°C
31	Santiago de Querétaro	Mexico	66	44	100	60	21.2°C	13.3°C
32	Chihuahua	Mexico	66	45	94	62	25.2°C	9.1°C
33	Tijuana	Mexico	66	43	100	59	23.2°C	13.3°C
34	Trujillo	Peru	66	45	100	59	23.0°C	17.6°C
35	Murcia	Spain	65	46	89	63	26.2°C	9.7°C
36	Monterrey	Mexico	65	44	93	61	25.4°C	13.3°C
37	Arequipa	Peru	65	45	96	58	12.8°C	10.1°C
38	Santiago del Estero	Argentina	64	48	86	61	26.8°C	12.5°C
39	Lima	Peru	64	40	100	57	22.2°C	15.6°C
40	Callao	Peru	64	44	100	54	22.9°C	16.1°C
41	Limassol	Cyprus	64	49	85	61	27.0°C	12.5°C
42	Denver	United States	63	45	85	63	22.2°C	-0.8°C
43	Aksaray	Turkey	63	47	86	60	22.0°C	-0.2°C
44	La Rioja	Argentina	63	49	86	58	26.9°C	10.8°C
45	Chiclayo	Peru	63	46	92	55	25.6°C	18.9°C
46	Piura	Peru	63	46	86	60	26.8°C	20.4°C
47	Kyrenia	Cyprus	63	53	75	62	29.0°C	10.3°C
48	Ta’if	Saudi Arabia	63	46	83	62	27.4°C	14.2°C
49	Ciudad Victoria	Mexico	62	47	84	58	27.1°C	15.8°C
50	Stróvolos	Cyprus	62	51	74	62	29.2°C	10.4°C
51	Káto Lakatámeia	Cyprus	62	52	74	62	29.2°C	10.4°C
52	Marrakesh	Morocco	62	45	82	63	27.7°C	11.0°C
53	Abha	Saudi Arabia	62	48	78	63	28.5°C	17.8°C
54	Rustaq	Oman	62	50	71	65	29.8°C	14.5°C
55	La Paz	Mexico	60	48	76	57	28.7°C	16.5°C
56	Nicosia	Cyprus	60	48	74	61	29.2°C	10.4°C
57	Jizan	Saudi Arabia	60	50	68	63	30.4°C	20.6°C
58	Şalālah	Oman	60	49	72	61	29.5°C	22.0°C
59	Najrān	Saudi Arabia	59	46	69	64	30.2°C	17.3°C
60	Tabuk	Saudi Arabia	58	46	68	62	30.5°C	10.6°C

Climate zones from Koppen-Geiger applied to city coordinates; temperatures are WorldClim v2.1 normals (warmest-month mean high / coldest-month mean low). Livability = 0.35 cost + 0.30 climate + 0.35 safety.

FAQ

Which desert and semi-arid city is the best to live in?

Zacatecas, Mexico leads with livability 70/100 among 115 cities in this climate zone.

What defines this climate zone?

Dry year-round — desert or steppe (Koppen B). Classification follows the Koppen-Geiger system applied to each city's coordinates.

How many cities in our data have this climate?

115 of our cities fall in this zone; the table ranks the top 60 by overall livability (cost + climate + safety).

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