• Mercer released its annual Quality of Living City Ranking in December.
• The ranking assesses the practicalities of daily life for international workers.
• Seven US cities made the top 50.

In early December, consulting firm Mercer released its 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking.

Using New York City as the base city, Mercer researched and compared the practicalities of daily life for international workers in 241 cities across five continents, looking at factors such as housing, crime, cultural scene, travel, and access to education.

Western European cities like Zurich, Vienna, and Geneva dominated the top positions in Mercer's list, with just seven US cities making the top 50.

Here's a closer look at the ones that made the cut, using the most recent data from the US Census Bureau and Realtor.com:

1. Boston

Mercer's 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking: No. 32

Population: Around 654,000

Median sold home price: $780,000

Median household income: Around $89,000

Known for: The largest city in New England is big on sports, colonial history, and seafood (think buttery lobster rolls and creamy clam chowder).

But Boston might be best known for its higher education offerings, with over 30 universities and colleges, including the likes of Harvard and MIT, having campuses there.

2. San Francisco

Mercer's 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking: No. 36

Population: Around 809,000

Median sold home price: $1.5 million

Median household income: Around $137,000

Known for: Only around a 40-minute drive from Silicon Valley, San Francisco is a global hub for tech and innovation.

It also has a vibrant cultural scene and is dotted with iconic landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge.

3. Honolulu

Mercer's 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking: No. 39

Population: Around 342,000

Median sold home price: $620,000

Median household income: Around $83,000

Known for: The birthplace of former US president Barack Obama is brimming with stunning beaches, lush green hiking trails, and crystal clear waters.

The Hawaiian capital is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the US.

4. Los Angeles

Mercer's 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking: No. 44

Population: Around 3.8 million

Median sold home price: $1 million

Median household income: Around $76,000

Known for: Los Angeles is one of the US's entertainment hubs. Besides being the primary residence for a long list of Hollywood stars, the city has a world-class food scene, countless shops, and beautiful beaches.

5. New York City

Mercer's 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking: No. 45

Population: Around 8.3 million

Median sold home price: $708,000

Median household income: Around $77,000

Known for: The birthplace of late-night television, the Big Apple is best known as a concrete jungle of skyscrapers and the center of the US financial sector.

The city has a diverse population, an eclectic food scene, and a seemingly never-ending nightlife.

6. Portland

Mercer's 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking: No. 48

Population: Around 630,000

Median sold home price: $530,500

Median household income: Around $86,000

Known for: Portland, Oregon, is known as a haven for creatives, foodies, and small business entrepreneurs. The city's many parks and walking trails make it a sweet spot for those who like a city that blends urban areas with nature.

7. Washington, DC

Mercer's 2024 Quality of Living City Ranking: No. 49

Population: Around 679,000

Median sold home price: $695,000

Median household income: Around $102,000

Known for: The nation's capital and home of the sitting US president, Washington, DC, is full of landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, and the Washington Monument — to name just a few.

• Victoria Blinova worked in Dubai for four years at a boutique marketing firm and later at Nestlé.
• She grew up in Cyprus and moved to the UAE in 2013 to attend NYU in Abu Dhabi.
• Expats don't pay taxes, but Blinova found saving in Dubai hard because of the luxury lifestyle.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation and emails with Victoria Blinova, 30, about living in Dubai and moving to London. The below has been edited for length and clarity.

I grew up in Cyprus and moved to the UAE in 2013 to study at New York University in Abu Dhabi.

While there, I studied Arabic. A significant part of my day-to-day was being immersed in the culture. I wanted to stay in the region after graduation to continue my immersion.

I spent four years in Abu Dhabi, and then I worked in Dubai for four years. Initially, I worked in management consulting in a boutique firm. Later, I got a job at Nestlé and worked there for a couple of years before moving to London.

In Dubai, people are very transient. Everyone's an expat. By my fourth year, most of my friends had left the city. I felt like I needed to explore somewhere new.

Dubai has amazing work opportunities, and I plan to return at some point. There are so many complex and exciting projects you can work on. People are so generous, open to learn, and hungry for opportunities.

For entry-level jobs, if you are at the right company, Dubai is one of the most lucrative markets.

At Nestlé, back in 2019, I was making a good salary tax-free.

When I left Dubai, I had saved around 30% of my salary over four years. But I was constantly biting myself thinking I could have saved even more.

It's easy to get sucked into a glamorous life in Dubai

A lot of people in London are like, "I'm going to move to Dubai. It's like 40% to 100% more salary."

But I had a period in my life where I spent a lot more in Dubai than I spent in London. In London, you can be very thrifty, and that's not frowned upon.

When you're in Dubai, it's not part of the culture. Luxury is very affordable. Because of that, everyone automatically opts into that luxury.

I very often went overboard.

I remember clearly booking a five-star hotel to treat myself randomly for 200 dirhams, which is $54. I'd do stuff like book a five-star hotel for one night, and that's quite normal.

It was also very common to go to yacht parties. I've been to so many.

In 2021, I remember paying £80 for a yacht party. When I told this to my friends in London, and they were like, "But that's 80 pounds?" I responded that it was cheap for a day on a yacht.

Bottomless brunch is also very common. You would spend every weekend going to very luxurious bottomless brunches. It would be like £100 to experience something unforgettable.

In Dubai, if you go out, you're not just going to go to a cheap little place around the corner. There are more expectations on gifts.

You can't walk outside your house in Dubai and not spend a significant chunk of money.

Whereas in London, I feel like everything is so unaffordable, you end up not spending. The lifestyle in London differs because social plans can be going on a walk or spending a day in the park. You're not expected to drop £100 on a dinner. You don't have spend money to enjoy your weekend.

Saving choices like getting a roommate or buying a used car weren't the norm

I was renting for 70,000 dirhams a year ($19,058) divided by two. I had a flatmate, which is not very common in Dubai.

I remember my Nestlé colleagues in Dubai asked me, "Why do you live with a flatmate?" They weren't bullying me, but they thought it was a bit weird.

I also drove a used Nissan Juke, which is a nice car in London. But in Dubai, people would ask, "Why are you not driving an Audi?"

My response was, "I'm 25. I'm not going to buy a Mercedes or an Audi, especially I'm not going to buy it new."

I didn't club, and if I did, it was very rarely. Clubbing is a big deal in Dubai, and lots of people spend a lot on it. I also didn't spend money on luxurious brands, clothes, or handbags, because I didn't really care for them.

My mindset is that if I have money to spend, that means I have money to save.

But I'd say 80 to 90% of my surrounding peers, even the smartest people I knew, would literally live paycheck to paycheck. People opt into luxury automatically because it's relatively cheap.

It becomes part of your lifestyle, and this is when you spend all your money. I found it an ongoing problem.

If you're a family, I think it's easier to spend less. You're probably more accustomed to staying at home.

As long as you're staying at home, I think you can make Dubai work and make it very affordable.

But if you're in your 20s or your early 30s, and you're single or a young couple, and you like going out — prepare to spend a lot more than you ever imagined.

• We left our stressful careers in the music industry in Nashville to have an "adult gap year."
• We spent a year traveling through Europe to find the joy and balance our lives had been missing.
• We fell in love with València, Spain, on our trip and have since moved there.

My wife and I spent over a decade working in Nashville's music industry before we decided to step off of the corporate ladder.

We met while working at different record labels, and there were many things we enjoyed about our jobs — traveling to new places, attending industry events, and seeing artists we believed in grow from small showcases to arenas.

But as the years went by, the constant grind began to take its toll.

We were traveling every weekend, juggling endless projects, and attending frequent late-night events, all while trying to maintain our personal lives. Eventually, the burnout became impossible to ignore.

It wasn't just the demanding schedule that had us rethinking our future. The political climate in the US, particularly in Tennessee, added to our sense of unease. Nashville, which had once felt like home, no longer seemed like the right place for us.

We knew we needed a change — something that would allow us to reset and rediscover what we really wanted out of life.

That's when our idea to do an "adult gap year" started to take shape.

We didn't take the decision to leave our jobs for travel lightly

For our "adult gap year," we decided to step away from our jobs and lives to travel for 12 months. We knew it was risky to take mid-career breaks and quit stable jobs, but we were fortunate enough to have some financial flexibility.

Both of us had bought homes in Nashville long before the real-estate boom, so they were worth more than we'd paid.

Selling my wife's house gave us the resources we needed to fund a year of travel and a down payment on a home wherever we decided to land.

Leaving behind the lives we'd built in Nashville was scary, but it felt right for us. So, we packed up our belongings, grabbed our one-eyed rescue dog, and set off on our adventure.

With no clear destination in mind, we spent the next year exploring Europe

Our travels initially focused on Portugal and Spain.

We stayed in bustling town centers and quiet beach towns, sampling local cuisines, wandering through centuries-old cathedrals, and getting lost in the winding streets of ancient cities.

Each place had its own unique charm, but one stood out above the rest: València, Spain. When we arrived, it didn't take long for us to fall in love.

València's sunny beaches, vibrant city center, leisurely paella lunches, and sense of calm made it feel like the place we'd been searching for — one we were meant to call home.

We continued our travels across France, Montenegro, Greece, Albania, Ireland, and England — but València kept calling to us.

We're now living in Spain and happily getting settled

By the end of our year abroad, we decided to settle in València and apply for residency so we could officially make Spain our home.

As we settle into our new life, we're also transitioning back to work, this time remotely and with a fresh outlook.

For many people, the idea of walking away from a career and moving abroad seems impossible, something only to consider in retirement. But we didn't want to wait and maybe regret it later.

Our gap year wasn't just about escaping burnout — it was about rediscovering what truly mattered to us. We wanted to experience joy, have work-life balance, and live life on our own terms.

Our risk paid off, and we found the balance and fulfillment our lives had been missing all along.