Best Places to Live in Italy: The Quality of Life Index 2018

For those who are thinking about moving to Italy, Milan is the place to be. This is according to Il Sole 24’s annual Quality of Life Index. 

For the first time in the 30 years that Il Sole 24 has been conducting the Quality of Life Index, Milan has taken the top spot. It moved up seven spots from last year.

Bolzano, Aosta, Belluno, and Trento round out the top five, as has been typical of the past several years. Belluno placed first in the rankings for 2017-18.

Bologna placed at #7, up seven spots from last year. Roma and Firenze came in at 21 and 22, respectively.

While Milan earned the top overall ranking for the best place to live in Italy this year, it did not rank first for all of the livability factors. Il Sole 24 publishes each of these lists, giving readers the chance to look up a variety of factors that matter to them. For example, Trieste ranked #1 for its startup culture; Mantova #1 for its urban ecosystem; and Massa-Carrara #1 for number of bookstores per 100,000 inhabitants. 

Here’s the Top 25 for 2018-19 (full list, with ranking factors, here):

1. Milan
2. Bolzano
3. Aosta
4. Belluno
5. Trento
6. Trieste
7. Bologna
8. Pordenone
9. Treviso
10. Gorizia
11. Ravenna
12. Lecco
13. Verona
14. Sondrio
15. Modena
16. Bergamo
17. Vicenza
18. Reggio Emilia
19. Mantova
20. Rimini
21. Roma
22. Firenze
23. Monza e Brianza
24. Udine
25. Forlì-Cesena

Each year, the Italian paper Il Sole 24 releases a ranking of 110 Italian cities according to a number of factors including artistic patrimony, public transportation, availability and affordability of fresh food, crime, housing prices, youth unemployment, and more.

I first wrote about the index for an Italy Roundtable post after getting letters from several readers, especially aspiring retirees, asking me where in Italy is the best place to move.

Post first published on December 18, 2018