Luxembourg, Reykjavik and Berlin are among the top ten cities in Europe where people are most satisfied with their job situation, as the Report on the Quality of Life in European Cities reveals.
According to the latest edition of this report published by the European Commission, Rostock in Germany holds the first position with the highest rates of job satisfaction among respondents, with 85 per cent of them having a positive impression of working in this German city.
The second city with the highest job satisfaction is Luxembourg City, with 84 per cent job satisfaction, followed by Reykjavik (Iceland), which also has similar job satisfaction.
Germany’s capital city, Berlin, is ranked as the sixth city in Europe where job satisfaction is high – set at 83 per cent while the list of the top ten cities is concluded as follows:
| Rank | City | Country | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rostock | Germany | 85% |
| 2 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 84% |
| 3 | Reykjavik | Iceland | 84% |
| 4 | Geneva | Switzerland | 83% |
| 5 | Dortmund | Germany | 83% |
| 6 | Berlin | Germany | 83% |
| 7 | Zurich | Switzerland | 82% |
| 8 | Aalborg | Denmark | 82% |
| 9 | Malmo | Sweden | 82% |
| 10 | Hamburg | Germany | 81% |
Large & Capital Cities Have Higher Job Satisfaction Compared to Other Areas
Capital cities and other larger ones offer more employment opportunities and better paying conditions, which makes the well-being of those residents more resilient and makes these destinations more attractive for future workers.
According to the survey, people with a job were respondents and were asked if they were satisfied with their job. Three out of four residents said they were satisfied – around 74 per cent.
While cities in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Czechia and Slovakia had higher satisfaction levels, cities in Greece, Italy, Hungary and Spain scored lower.
Overall, capital cities do not perform better than noncapital cities (73 vs 75 per cent satisfied), and differences within a country tend to be small. Only Italy and Türkiye have large intra-country variations.
The growing urban job markets contribute to individuals finding jobs they genuinely enjoy, potentially explaining the marginal differences between cities and the consistently higher satisfaction scores in urban areas compared to rural regions. Moreover, the average change from 2019 to 2023 is minimal, with just a one-percentage point difference.
Some cities, like Nicosia (Cyprus) and Bologna (Italia), witnessed significant improvements, with a seven percentage point increase in job satisfaction, and Antalya (TR) experienced a six percentage point rise.
Conversely, some cities faced declines, such as Valletta (MT), dropping by ten percentage points and Košice (SK) by eight percentage points. Despite these variations, the overall city rankings remained relatively stable, with a high correlation of 0.9 between 2019 and 2023.
As per counties that were ranked the lowest, Heraklion (Greece) had the lowest score – 54 per cent, followed by the capital city, Athens (56 per cent), Skopje (North Macedonia), Belgrade (Serbia) and Podgorica (Montenegro).
