The World’s Best Tech Hubs To Live and Work In 2016

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Click here to find the new top tech city ranking.

There is no question that Silicon Valley, in the Bay area of San Francisco, is the original and most successful tech hub in the world – but is it the best one to live in if you are starting a tech career or company?

That is the question Expert Market have answered using data that focuses not only on the potential business success of an area, but also quality of life factors.

We decided on 8 categories, 4 ‘work factors’ and 4 ‘life factors’ to determine which startup city really is the best one to live in. Using this year's 20 biggest tech hubs, as noted by startup experts Compass, we collated data from each category to give a new, more balanced ranking of the top tech hubs in the world!

The top 10 are presented in the infographic below with additional information, the entire top 20 can be seen in the accompanying tables – along with each city’s rank for the individual factors.

tech hubs 2016

Our philosophy is that if you are to thrive in an area, either working in tech or building your own company, you need a balance between potential corporate success and an enjoyable lifestyle.

This is why areas such as San Francisco, London and New York do not come out on top – even though they are considered to be among the top 5 global startup ecosystems.

Overall RankCityTime To Start BusinessSeed FundingStartup OutputAverage Salary
1stBerlin11th8th14th9th
2ndAustin5th1st17th5th
3rdToronto1st5th8th10th
4thSan Francisco5th1st1st1st
5thBoston5th4th4th3rd
6thTel Aviv8th5th7th8th
7thLos Angeles5th4th3rd3rd
8thAmsterdam3rd9th12th11th
9thMontreal1st7th15th14th
10thParis3rd6th10th12th
11thBangalore9th10th6th18th
12thSeattle5th3rd20th4th
13thVancouver1st8th16th13th
14thMoscow7th8th11th15th
15thChicago5th6th13th4th
16thLondon4th5th5th7th
17thNew York City5th2nd2th2nd
18thSydney2nd4th19th6th
19thSao Paulo10th9th18th17th
20thSingapore2nd9th9th16th

High living costs and lower work-life balance let these tech hub giants down and allow second tier startup cities such as Berlin and Austin to shine through as better alternatives.

Overall RankCityCost Of LivingAverage RentPaid VacationAverage Commute
1stBerlin4th4th4th2nd
2ndAustin6th10th8th3rd
3rdToronto7th7th6th14th
4thSan Francisco19th20th8th4th
5thBoston13th16th8th6th
6thTel Aviv11th6th6th8th
7thLos Angeles9th14th8th15th
8thAmsterdam10th11th4th1st
9thMontreal5th3rd6th11th
10thParis16th8th2nd7th
11thBangalore1st1st5th19th
12thSeattle12th13th8th5th
13thVancouver8th9th6th9th
14thMoscow2nd5th4th20th
15thChicago15th12th8th10th
16thLondon18th18th1st16th
17thNew York City20th19th8th18th
18thSydney14th15th4th12th
19thSao Paulo3rd2nd3rd17th
20thSingapore17th17th7th13th
Written by:
Rob Binns
Rob writes mainly about the payments industry, but also brings to the table industry-specific knowledge of CRM software, business loans, fulfilment, and invoice finance. When not exasperating his editor with bad puns, he can be found relaxing in a sunny (socially-distanced) corner, with a beer and a battered copy of Dostoevsky.