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Quality of life For Members

The best (and worst) places to live in Italy in 2023

The Local Italy
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The best (and worst) places to live in Italy in 2023
The northern city of Bolzano offers Italy's residents the best quality of life, according to a new study. Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP.

A new quality of life study has ranked Italian cities from best to worst, with the gap between north and south as wide as ever.

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This year, the inhabitants of the northeastern Italian city of Bolzano can say they live in the best province in Italy for quality of life - at least according to the latest survey compiled by ItaliaOggi and Rome's La Sapienza University.

Now in its 25th year, this is among the most respected of several annual quality of life surveys conducted in Italy.

READ ALSO: Why are Trento and Bolzano rated the best places to live in Italy?

Bolzano took the top spot from last year’s winner Trento, which now ranks fourth.

The northern economic powerhouse of Milan was in second place, with top five completed by the cities of Bologna and Florence.

Rome was in 33rd place, this year beaten by Turin in 31st.

Venice ranked 25th, while southern capital Naples was ninth from bottom in 99th place.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Which is the best place to live in Italy?

The rankings are based on factors including employment opportunities, standards in health and education, crime levels, income, leisure facilities, social security and environment.

Venice is the Italian city with the 25th best quality of life, according to a new study. Photo by MARCO SABADIN / AFP.

Such studies usually show a clear north-south divide, and this one is no exception: the 63 provincial capitals where the quality of life was rated 'good' or 'acceptable' were predominantly in the central and eastern Alps, the Po Valley and the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, ItaliaOggi noted.

Towns and cities in the south of Italy and its two major islands, by contrast, overwhelmingly have a 'poor' or 'insufficient' quality of life.

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"The 2023 survey confirms a trend: the fracture between the centre-north, more performing and resilient, and southern and island Italy, characterised by persistent vulnerability," the publication concludes.

READ ALSO: 'If you want quality of life, choose Italy’s sunny south over the efficient north'

The findings also show that major cities in the centre-north have seen a strong post-pandemic recovery in the past year; as demonstrated by Rome's jump from 53rd to 33rd place, and Turin's from 54th to 31st.

While the study does not rank smaller towns and rural areas, it is seen as representative partly as most public services, including local government offices and larger hospitals and healthcare facilities, are generally located in the provincial capital.

Here’s the survey’s complete ranking of all 107 provincial capitals in Italy, from best to worst according to its criteria:

1. Bolzano

2. Milan

3. Bologna

4. Trento

5. Florence

6. Padua

7. Parma

8. Monza and Brianza

9. Aosta

10. Pordenone

11. Siena

12. Brescia

13. Modena

14. Reggio Emilia

15. Forlì-Cesena

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16. Verona

17. Vicenza

18. Treviso

19. Udine

20. Mantua

21. Rimini

22. Belluno

23. Bergamo

24. Ravenna

25. Venice

26. Cuneo

27. Lecco

28. Ancona

29. Prato

30. Trieste

31. Turin

32. Sondrio

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33. Rome

34. Varese

35. Como

36. Cremona

37. Pesaro and Urbino

38. Verbano-Cusio-Ossola

39. Lodi

40. Ascoli Piceno

41. Macerata

42. Gorizia

43. Savona

44. Biella

45. Pisa

46. Piacenza

47. Novara

48. Ferrara

49. Arezzo

50. Fermo

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51. Lucca

52. Perugia

53. Livorno

54. Pistoia

55. Pavia

56. Grosseto

57. Genoa

58. Terni

59. Vercelli

60. Asti

61. Teramo

62. Massa-Carrara

63. La Spezia

64. Rovigo

65. Isernia

66. Pescara

67. L’Aquila

68. Alessandria

69. Imperia

70. Viterbo

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71. Potenza

72. Matera

73. Cagliari

74. Chieti

75. Frosinone

76. Benevento

77. Sassari

78. Nuoro

79. Campobasso

80. Rieti

81. Latina

82. Bari

83. Avellino

84. Lecce

85. Barletta-Andria-Trani

86. Salerno

87. Catanzaro

88. Ragusa

89. South Sardinia

90. Brindisi

91. Oristano

92. Vibo Valentia

93. Trapani

94. Caserta

95. Reggio Calabria

96. Foggia

97. Cosenza

98. Palermo

99. Naples

100. Enna

101. Taranto

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102. Syracuse

103. Catania

104. Agrigento

105. Messina

106. Caltanissetta

107. Crotone

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Paul 2023/11/21 08:43
Interesting that MIlan is one of the worst in the previous survey!

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