★ Best places to live
Best cities for students
Affordable, walkable, well-connected cities with fast internet — ranked for students and young movers on a budget.
This ranking covers 87 cities from our index, sorted by Student score. Tallinn comes out on top at 77/100, ahead of Budapest and Seoul. Open any city for its full cost-of-living, tax and quality-of-life breakdown — or compare two side by side.
- 1TallinnEstonia77/100
- 2BudapestHungary76/100
- 3SeoulSouth Korea74/100
- 4Chiang MaiThailand73/100
- 5ValenciaSpain72/100
- 6ViennaAustria72/100
- 7PortoPortugal71/100
- 8FukuokaJapan71/100
- 9New YorkUnited States70/100
- 10BostonUnited States70/100
- 11TokyoJapan70/100
- 12OsakaJapan70/100
- 13NagoyaJapan70/100
- 14SapporoJapan70/100
- 15San FranciscoUnited States69/100
- 16ChicagoUnited States69/100
- 17LisbonPortugal69/100
- 18WarsawPoland69/100
- 19PragueCzech Republic69/100
- 20MontrealCanada69/100
- 21WashingtonUnited States68/100
- 22PhiladelphiaUnited States68/100
- 23MinneapolisUnited States68/100
- 24SingaporeSingapore68/100
- 25BangkokThailand68/100
- 26PortlandUnited States67/100
- 27BarcelonaSpain67/100
- 28TorontoCanada67/100
- 29SeattleUnited States66/100
- 30DenverUnited States66/100
- 31ColumbusUnited States65/100
- 32MadridSpain65/100
- 33VancouverCanada65/100
- 34San DiegoUnited States64/100
- 35AustinUnited States64/100
- 36CharlotteUnited States64/100
- 37San AntonioUnited States64/100
- 38DubaiUnited Arab Emirates64/100
- 39Kuala LumpurMalaysia64/100
- 40LyonFrance64/100
- 41CologneGermany64/100
- 42BordeauxFrance64/100
- 43Los AngelesUnited States63/100
- 44MiamiUnited States63/100
- 45DallasUnited States63/100
- 46HoustonUnited States63/100
- 47AtlantaUnited States63/100
- 48Las VegasUnited States63/100
- 49ManchesterUnited Kingdom63/100
- 50HamburgGermany63/100
- 51RotterdamNetherlands63/100
- 52TurinItaly63/100
- 53StuttgartGermany63/100
- 54NashvilleUnited States62/100
- 55DetroitUnited States62/100
- 56AmsterdamNetherlands62/100
- 57AthensGreece62/100
- 58FrankfurtGermany62/100
- 59PuneIndia62/100
- 60ChennaiIndia62/100
- 61PhoenixUnited States61/100
- 62BerlinGermany61/100
- 63MunichGermany61/100
- 64MumbaiIndia61/100
- 65IstanbulTurkey61/100
- 66TbilisiGeorgia61/100
- 67São PauloBrazil61/100
- 68Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam61/100
- 69BishkekKyrgyzstan61/100
- 70NiceFrance61/100
- 71BangaloreIndia61/100
- 72GuadalajaraMexico61/100
- 73MarseilleFrance61/100
- 74FlorenceItaly60/100
- 75ParisFrance58/100
- 76ZurichSwitzerland58/100
- 77Buenos AiresArgentina58/100
- 78MelbourneAustralia57/100
- 79MedellínColombia57/100
- 80MilanItaly56/100
- 81SydneyAustralia56/100
- 82Mexico CityMexico55/100
- 83RomeItaly54/100
- 84LondonUnited Kingdom53/100
- 85BaliIndonesia53/100
- 86NaplesItaly53/100
- 87DublinIreland52/100
? Frequently asked questions
Which cities top this ranking?
Tallinn leads at 77/100, followed by Budapest and Seoul. The full ranking of 87 cities is listed above.
How is this ranking calculated?
We sort all 87 cities in our index by Student score. Figures are calibrated estimates, refreshed as we expand coverage — a practical guide, not official statistics.
Can I compare these cities in detail?
Yes. Open any city for its cost of living, rent, taxes, visas and quality of life, or use CostTrek’s side-by-side comparison to weigh two cities against each other.