Written by Rob Binns Published on June 9, 2016 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.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 Salary1stBerlin11th8th14th9th2ndAustin5th1st17th5th3rdToronto1st5th8th10th4thSan Francisco5th1st1st1st5thBoston5th4th4th3rd6thTel Aviv8th5th7th8th7thLos Angeles5th4th3rd3rd8thAmsterdam3rd9th12th11th9thMontreal1st7th15th14th10thParis3rd6th10th12th11thBangalore9th10th6th18th12thSeattle5th3rd20th4th13thVancouver1st8th16th13th14thMoscow7th8th11th15th15thChicago5th6th13th4th16thLondon4th5th5th7th17thNew York City5th2nd2th2nd18thSydney2nd4th19th6th19thSao Paulo10th9th18th17th20thSingapore2nd9th9th16thHigh 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 Commute1stBerlin4th4th4th2nd2ndAustin6th10th8th3rd3rdToronto7th7th6th14th4thSan Francisco19th20th8th4th5thBoston13th16th8th6th6thTel Aviv11th6th6th8th7thLos Angeles9th14th8th15th8thAmsterdam10th11th4th1st9thMontreal5th3rd6th11th10thParis16th8th2nd7th11thBangalore1st1st5th19th12thSeattle12th13th8th5th13thVancouver8th9th6th9th14thMoscow2nd5th4th20th15thChicago15th12th8th10th16thLondon18th18th1st16th17thNew York City20th19th8th18th18thSydney14th15th4th12th19thSao Paulo3rd2nd3rd17th20thSingapore17th17th7th13th Rob Binns Senior Writer 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.