Where the numbers come from

Every figure carries its source, the period it describes, whether it describes the city or only its country, and its licence. We store only data we may share; closed sources such as Numbeo and WeatherSpark are linked from each city page, never copied.

Sources

Exchange rates: European Central Bank reference rates of 2026-10-26. Free-movement rules: EU and EEA free movement, Swiss-EU free movement, Common Travel Area, Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.

How a figure is chosen

For each city and measure, the most local figure wins (city, then metro area, region, country), and among those the most recent. When several sources describe the city at the same level within two years, the page shows their median and their range. A country-wide figure standing in for a city is labelled as such.

How the score works

Each line turns a figure into a score from 0 to 1 against a fixed worst and best. Your weights decide how many of the 100 points each line can give. Comparison pages use the balanced weights and a reference profile (one person, a gross salary of €60,000 a year, a one-bedroom home); the app starts from no salary and lets you set all of it.

Licences and attribution

The figures are published in files that each carry one set of terms:

• data/dataset.json: CC BY 4.0. Borgo's compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0. Each figure keeps its source's own terms and attribution, listed in data/licences.json; reuse a figure under those terms.
• data/dataset-odbl.json: Open Database License 1.0. Figures derived from OpenStreetMap. © OpenStreetMap contributors. This database is made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0): https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/. It is kept apart from Borgo's CC BY 4.0 data and any derived database must stay under the ODbL.
• data/dataset-who.json: WHO terms and conditions for data compilations. Values from the WHO Ambient Air Quality Database (Version 8.0), World Health Organization, 2026, as published, with each value's data provider named in its note. Used under WHO's terms for data compilations: for public health purposes, values unaltered, attribution to WHO and the providing countries. Not licensed CC BY. WHO does not endorse Borgo or the way it uses these data.
• data/dataset-cmhc.json: CMHC Licence Agreement for the Use of Data. Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Rental Market Survey, average rents (October), via Statistics Canada table 34-10-0133-01. This information is reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of CMHC. Not licensed CC BY: it is redistributed under CMHC's Licence Agreement for the Use of Data, and anyone receiving it agrees to be bound by those terms.

Every source exported, with the edition read, its licence and the credit it requires, is listed in data/licences.json. The required attributions:

• Borgo contributors, from the statutes cited in each figure's note (CC BY 4.0)
• Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates (Public domain (US government work))
• Borgo's summary of the EU-Swiss Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (State Secretariat for Migration) (Borgo's own summary of the law cited (CC BY 4.0); the official text is cited, not copied)
• Unicode CLDR territory information. Copyright © 1991-2026 Unicode, Inc. Used under the Unicode License v3 (https://www.unicode.org/license.txt) (Unicode License v3)
• Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Rental Market Survey, average rents, October 2025, via Statistics Canada table 34-10-0133-01. This information is reproduced and distributed on an "as is" basis with the permission of CMHC. Redistributed under CMHC's Licence Agreement for the Use of Data: anyone receiving these figures agrees to be bound by its terms. Not covered by Borgo's CC BY 4.0 licence. (CMHC Licence Agreement for the Use of Data)
• Borgo contributors, from the statutes cited in each figure's note (CC BY 4.0)
• Central Statistics Office and Residential Tenancies Board, RIA02 RTB Average Monthly Rent Report, CC BY 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
• Borgo's summary of the Common Travel Area guidance; contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (Borgo's own summary of the law cited (CC BY 4.0); the official text is cited, not copied)
• Source: European Central Bank, euro foreign exchange reference rates (ECB copyright terms: free use, cited, unaltered)
• Borgo's summary of Directive 2004/38/EC (© European Union, EUR-Lex) (Borgo's own summary of the law cited (CC BY 4.0); the official text is cited, not copied)
• Source: Eurostat, EU Labour Force Survey (edat_lfse_04, © European Union). Borgo keeps each region's latest value Eurostat is not responsible for Borgo's use of its data. (European Commission reuse policy (Decision 2011/833/EU): reuse with the source acknowledged and changes stated)
• Source: Eurostat, Urban Audit (© European Union). Borgo keeps each city's latest value and converts units where its note says so Eurostat is not responsible for Borgo's use of its data. (European Commission reuse policy (Decision 2011/833/EU): reuse with the source acknowledged and changes stated)
• Founders Running Club communities list (facts of presence and links only) (No licence from the publisher: only facts of presence are stored)
• Ministère de la Transition écologique, carte des loyers 2025 (data.gouv.fr, update of 2025-12-11), Licence Ouverte 2.0. Borgo weights arrondissements by adverts and multiplies the rate per m² by a fixed flat size (Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab))
• Places, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
• GHS-UCDB R2024A, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.2905/1a338be6-7eaf-480c-9664-3a8ade88cbcd; Borgo derives the distance from the centre to the urban centre's edge Shores and lakes from Natural Earth (public domain) decide which directions lead on to land. (CC BY 4.0)
• Counts of GitHub profiles by stated location, from GitHub's public user search (counts only, no profile data) (No data licence from the publisher: only total counts are stored, no record about anyone, as its terms allow public, non-personal information in openly published research)
• Borgo contributors, from the labour codes cited in each figure's note (CC BY 4.0)
• Source: Meteostat (meteostat.net) and its data providers (dev.meteostat.net/providers), CC BY 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
• The M-Lab NDT Data Set, 2023-01-01–2023-12-31. https://measurementlab.net/tests/ndt (CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication))
• Public holidays from Nager.Date (date.nager.at), MIT License, Copyright (c) Nager (MIT License)
• The data was obtained from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center's Prediction Of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) project funded through the NASA Earth Science Division (POWER climatology API v2, read on the date in data/map/world.json) (CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication))
• Made with Natural Earth (public domain) (Public domain (dedicated by the publisher))
• OECD (2026), Net childcare costs, OECD Tax-Benefit Models, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. (OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on)
• OECD (2026), OECD Family Database, PF2.1 Parental leave systems, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. (OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on)
• OECD (2026), OECD Well-being Database (How's Life?), https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/well-being-database.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. (OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on)
• Source: Office for National Statistics, Price Index of Private Rents. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (Open Government Licence v3.0)
• Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), CC BY 4.0 Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2021-2025. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains. (CC BY 4.0)
• OpenAlex (openalex.org), CC0 (CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication))
• © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) (Open Database License 1.0)
• © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) (Open Database License 1.0)
• Airports from OurAirports (ourairports.com), public domain (Public domain (dedicated by the publisher))
• Borgo contributors, from official election results and ParlGov party positions (Döring, Huber and Manow, ParlGov 2024 release, CC0) (CC BY 4.0)
• Research Organization Registry (ror.org), CC0 (CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication))
• Source: Statistics Sweden, rents for dwellings (BO0406) (CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication))
• Statistics Norway (SSB), table 09895: Rental market survey, average monthly rents, CC BY 4.0 (www.ssb.no) (CC BY 4.0)
• Source: Statistics Finland, rents of dwellings (table 15fc), CC BY 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
• Terrain Tiles on AWS Open Data (Mapzen, a Linux Foundation project): SRTM and GMTED2010 terrain data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; ETOPO1, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Canada terrain data contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Terrain Tiles source terms: public domain (USGS, NOAA) and Open Government Licence – Canada, with attribution)
• Borgo's summary of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (Australian Department of Home Affairs) (Borgo's own summary of the law cited (CC BY 4.0); the official text is cited, not copied)
• World Health Organization, WHO Ambient Air Quality Database (Version 8.0), 2026, accessed 2026-10-27; data provided by the national and regional agencies named in each value's note WHO does not endorse Borgo, its use of these data, or any city ranking built from them. Values are as published by WHO; WHO advises against using the database to rank cities or compare countries directly, because monitoring differs between places. (WHO terms and conditions for data compilations)
• WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), sunshine duration. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/800j-vn07 (No licence attached: NCEI public access with a requested citation, under the WMO Unified Data Policy)
• World Bank, World Development Indicators, CC BY 4.0 (underlying sources named in each figure's note: ICP, IMF, UNODC, UN Population Division, WHO, ILO, UNESCO Institute for Statistics) (CC BY 4.0)
• World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators, Control of Corruption estimate, CC BY 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)

Code: Apache-2.0.

For software and AI agents

The same figures as JSON: cities, one file per city (for example amsterdam-nl.json), sources and metrics; the whole dataset at data/dataset.json. A summary for language models is at llms.txt.