A new Mercer study ranks cities by the quality of life they offer expatriate executives and their families across the world

What foreign postings are most coveted by expatriate executives? To find out, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which provides advice to multinational companies on international assignments, has come up with a global ranking of the world's most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. They include political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing, the environment and public safety. Mercer collected the data between September and November of 2006 and considered 215 cities around the globe. Switzerland's main commercial and cultural center, Zurich, topped the list this year, followed by Geneva, and Vancouver and Vienna, which tied for third. To see how other cities fared, check out this interactive table.

2007 RANK	2006 RANK	CITY	COUNTRY	2007 Index	2006 Index
115	116	RIO DE JANEIRO	Brazil	74.5	74.5
114	108	SAO PAULO	Brazil	74.6	77.1
113	115	ULSAN	South Korea	75.0	75.0
112	114	NASSAU	Bahamas	75.9	75.9
111	113	ASUNCION	Paraguay	76.1	76.1
110	110	YEOCHUN (YOSU)	South Korea	76.3	76.3
109	107	BANGKOK	Thailand	76.8	77.7
108	111	BUCHAREST	Romania	76.9	76.2
107	111	ZAGREB	Croatia	77.6	76.2
106	106	SAN JOSE	Costa Rica	77.8	77.8
105	105	TEL AVIV	Israel	78.5	78.5
104	104	BRASILIA	Brazil	78.8	78.8
103	101	KAOHSIUNG	Taiwan	80.7	80.7
102	100	NOUMEA	New Caledonia	81.0	80.8
101	99	JOHOR BAHARU	Malaysia	81.2	81.2
100	103	SHANGHAI	China	81.6	80.1
99	102	BRATISLAVA	Slovakia	81.7	80.5
97	97	PAPEETE	French Polynesia	82.0	82.0
97	93	PORT ELIZABETH	South Africa	82.0	82.3
96	94	VICTORIA	Seychelles	82.2	82.2
95	94	TUNIS	Tunisia	82.4	82.2
94	94	MONTERREY	Mexico	82.6	82.2
92	98	RIGA	Latvia	82.9	81.9
92	90	PANAMA CITY	Panama	82.9	82.9
91	88	LIMASSOL	Cyprus	83.2	83.2
90	87	JOHANNESBURG	South Africa	83.3	84.0
89	91	TALLINN	Estonia	83.7	82.8
88	92	ABU DHABI	United Arab Emirates	84.1	82.6
87	89	SEOUL	South Korea	85.2	83.0
85	83	CAPE TOWN	South Africa	85.7	86.0
85	86	WARSAW	Poland	85.7	85.1
83	81	SANTIAGO	Chile	86.5	86.5
83	81	TAIPEI	Taiwan	86.5	86.5
82	84	VILNIUS	Lithuania	86.6	85.9
80	80	LJUBLJANA	Slovenia	87.0	86.6
80	85	DUBAI	United Arab Emirates	87.0	85.2
79	78	BUENOS AIRES	Argentina	87.4	87.3
78	79	ATHENS	Greece	87.6	86.8
77	77	PORT LOUIS	Mauritius	87.7	87.7
76	76	MONTEVIDEO	Uruguay	88.2	88.1
75	75	KUALA LUMPUR	Malaysia	88.9	88.9
74	74	BUDAPEST	Hungary	90.2	90.8
73	71	KATSUYAMA	Japan	91.4	93.1
72	73	PRAGUE	Czech Republic	92.3	91.8
71	72	SAN JUAN	Puerto Rico	92.9	92.9
70	68	HONG KONG	Hong Kong	94.3	95.4
69	67	OMUTA	Japan	94.9	95.5
68	68	HOUSTON, TX	United States	95.4	95.4
67	68	LEIPZIG	Germany	95.5	95.4
66	66	ATLANTA, GA	United States	95.7	95.7
64	65	DETROIT, MI	United States	96.1	96.1
64	61	ST. LOUIS, MO	United States	96.1	97.6
63	64	YOKKAICHI	Japan	96.2	96.2
62	63	MIAMI, FL	United States	96.3	96.3
61	62	ROME	Italy	97.4	97.4
60	60	MINNEAPOLIS, MN	United States	97.9	97.9
59	59	CLEVELAND, OH	United States	98.2	98.2
55	55	BIRMINGHAM	United Kingdom	98.3	98.3
55	55	TSUKUBA	Japan	98.3	98.3
55	55	GLASGOW	United Kingdom	98.3	98.3
55	55	LOS ANGELES, CA	United States	98.3	98.3
54	53	NAGOYA	Japan	99.5	98.9
52	49	PITTSBURGH, PA	United States	99.7	99.7
52	49	WINSTON SALEM, NC	United States	99.7	99.7
51	48	LEXINGTON, KY	United States	99.8	99.8
49	51	MILAN	Italy	99.9	99.6
49	47	SEATTLE, WA	United States	99.9	99.9
48	46	NEW YORK CITY, NY	United States	100.0	100.0
47	53	LISBON	Portugal	100.1	98.9
46	43	PORTLAND, OR	United States	100.3	100.3
44	41	WASHINGTON, DC	United States	100.4	100.4
44	41	CHICAGO, IL	United States	100.4	100.4
42	45	MADRID	Spain	100.5	100.1
42	51	OSAKA	Japan	100.5	99.6
41	44	BARCELONA	Spain	100.6	100.2
40	40	KOBE	Japan	101.0	101.0
39	39	LONDON	United Kingdom	101.2	101.2
38	37	YOKOHAMA	Japan	101.7	101.6
36	37	LYON	France	101.9	101.6
36	36	BOSTON, MA	United States	101.9	101.9
35	35	TOKYO	Japan	102.3	102.3
34	34	SINGAPORE	Singapore	102.5	102.5
33	33	PARIS	France	102.7	102.7
32	31	BRISBANE	Australia	102.8	102.8
30	29	ADELAIDE	Australia	103.1	103.1
30	29	HELSINKI	Finland	103.1	103.1
29	28	SAN FRANCISCO, CA	United States	103.2	103.2
27	24	DUBLIN	Ireland	103.3	103.8
27	27	HONOLULU, HI	United States	103.3	103.3
26	31	OSLO	Norway	103.5	102.8
24	25	CALGARY	Canada	103.6	103.6
24	26	HAMBURG	Germany	103.6	103.4
23	23	NURNBERG	Germany	104.2	104.1
22	22	MONTREAL	Canada	104.3	104.3
21	21	PERTH	Australia	104.5	104.5
20	20	STOCKHOLM	Sweden	104.7	104.7
18	18	LUXEMBOURG	Luxembourg	104.8	104.8
18	18	OTTAWA	Canada	104.8	104.8
17	17	MELBOURNE	Australia	105.0	105.0
16	16	BERLIN	Germany	105.2	105.1