How to compare cities before you move: a data-first method
"Which city should I move to?" is really ten smaller questions with different weights for different people. This method turns those questions into a single score you can defend — and it takes about an evening.
Step 1: Pick 6–8 criteria that change your daily life
Avoid the temptation to track everything. Choose the factors that will affect an ordinary Tuesday, not a holiday. A good starting set:
- Housing cost relative to your expected income (rent or mortgage as a share of take-home pay).
- Income potential in your field, including remote-work options.
- Climate fit — number of months you'd enjoy being outside.
- Air quality across the year, not just on the day you check.
- Commute — realistic door-to-door time from affordable neighbourhoods.
- Safety and general sense of ease.
- Time zone relative to family, clients or team.
- Lifestyle — food, culture, nature, community in your language.
Step 2: Weight them before you look at any city
Give each criterion a weight so the total adds up to 100. Do this before scoring cities, otherwise you'll unconsciously tune weights to favour the city you already like. A remote software developer might weight housing cost 25, climate 15, air quality 10, time zone 15, lifestyle 15, safety 10, commute 5 and income 5. A family moving for a hospital job might put commute and schools far higher.
Step 3: Score each city from 1 to 10
Use the same sources for every city so comparisons are fair. For climate and air quality, look at both today's live readings and the best-time-to-visit notes on each city dashboard; a single sunny day tells you little. For time zone, our comparison tool shows the exact difference and the overlap with your current city. For housing, compare like with like: the same size of home in neighbourhoods with similar commute times.
Step 4: Multiply and add
For each city, multiply each score by its weight and add the results. The maximum is 1,000. Here's a worked example for a remote worker comparing two cities:
| Criterion | Weight | City A | City B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing cost | 25 | 6 (150) | 8 (200) |
| Climate | 15 | 8 (120) | 6 (90) |
| Time zone | 15 | 9 (135) | 5 (75) |
| Lifestyle | 15 | 7 (105) | 8 (120) |
| Air quality | 10 | 8 (80) | 6 (60) |
| Safety | 10 | 8 (80) | 7 (70) |
| Commute | 5 | 6 (30) | 7 (35) |
| Income | 5 | 7 (35) | 6 (30) |
| Total | 100 | 735 | 680 |
City B is cheaper, but City A wins because the time-zone fit matters a lot to this person. That's the point of the method: it makes trade-offs visible.
Step 5: Stress-test the winner
Before committing, run three checks. First, change your top weight by ten points — if the winner flips, the decision is closer than it looks. Second, check the worst month: look at the hottest, wettest or most polluted time of year. Third, if you can, spend a week there living normally rather than as a tourist.
Common mistakes
- Comparing a city centre in one place with a suburb in another.
- Ignoring one-off moving costs, which can equal several months of savings.
- Over-weighting a great holiday memory.
- Forgetting how far you'll be from the people you'll want to visit.
Ready to turn your winner into a plan? Get a free relocation plan with local movers and housing help.