A survey conducted by online language learning platform Preply, 53 cities around the world ranked on how welcoming they are to foreigners and for their sense of community.
Study finds Toronto and Sydney to be world’s friendliest cities in 2023 New York and San Francisco rounded out the top ten in fifth and eighth place,
For this exercise, six important metrics were analyzed, namely Return visitor rate, safety index, LGBTQ+ equality, and overall happiness.
Under these premises, it was determined which cities were most welcoming to explorers. Traveling or moving to a new place in 2023.
Metrics point to a friendly and welcoming environment:
friendly: Percentage of property reviews that mention “friendly,” which gives us an idea of how welcoming the locals are.
Visitor Return Rate: The percentage of visitors who returned after visiting each city, which tells us whether the place left a good impression on them.
Community Honors: City’s Safety Index, which tells whether it is a safe environment for both locals and newcomers.
Diversity: The LGBTQ+ equality score in each city indicates whether it is an accepting and supportive community.
Happiness: Overall happiness and well-being score for the city, according to residents.
Ease of Communicating Through a Common Language: English is the most widely spoken language in the world, so we assessed the English proficiency score in each city to determine the ease of communication there.
Top ten friendliest cities in the world:
Ciudad: (1) Toronto
Country: Canada
friendly: 8.74%
Visitor Return Rate: 15%
Security (/100) : 57.55
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 90
Happiness (from 1 to 10): 7.03
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.97
Ciudad: (2) Sydney
Country: Australia
Favorable: 6.27%
Visitor Return Rate: 16%
Safety (/100): 65.87
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 84
Happiness (1 to 10): 7.13
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.97
Ciudad: (3) Edinburgh
Country: United Kingdom
Favorable: 12.91%
Visitor Return Rate: 10%
Safety (/100): 68.92
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 82
Happiness (1 to 10): 6.94
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.78
Ciudad: (4) Manchester
Country: United Kingdom
Favorable: 14.76%
Visitor Return Rate: 12%
Safety (/100): 45.09
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 82
Happiness (1 to 10): 6.94
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.72
Ciudad: (5) New York
Country: America
friendly: 8.05%
Visitor Return Rate: 15%
Safety (/100) : 50.45
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 82
Happiness (1 to 10): 6.96
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.57
Ciudad: (6) Montreal
Country: Canada
Favorable: 1.14%
Visitor Return Rate: 15%
Safety (/100): 68.39
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 90
Happiness (1 to 10): 7.03
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.44
Ciudad: (7) Melbourne
Country: Australia
Favorable: 6.33%
Visitor Return Rate: 13%
Security (/100) : 56.00
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 84
Happiness (1 to 10): 7.30
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.42
Ciudad: (8) San Francisco
Country: America
friendly: 7.26%
Visitor Return Rate: 15%
Safety (/100): 38.58
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 82
Happiness (1 to 10): 6.98
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.24
Ciudad: (9) Dublin
Country: Ireland
Favorable: 10.51%
Visitor Return Rate: 12%
Safety (/100): 47.62
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 73
Happiness (1 to 10): 7.10
Fluency in English (/10): 10
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.24
Ciudad: (10) Copenhagen
Country: Denmark
Favorable: 5.03%
Visitor Return Rate: 12%
Safety (/100): 73.55
LGBTQ+ equality (/100): 86
Happiness (1 to 10): 7.53
Fluent English (/10): 6
Friendliness Index Score (1 to 10): 7.04
