Poznań is Poland’s best city to live in, according to a new ranking. Katowice and Opole are the next best locations, while Białystok, Kielce and the capital Warsaw are the worst.
The ranking – which includes one city from each of Poland’s 16 provinces – was compiled by the Business Insider Polska website based on how well each place scored in a combination of six categories: unemployment, average wages, crime rate, access to housing and medical care, and air quality.
How well each city did in each category was determined based on official data from May and June 2023. In the ranking, the fewer points a city accumulated, the higher it placed.
Poznań, the capital of the Wielkopolska province in western Poland and home to over 534,000 people, came out on top with 28 points after placing in the top 10 in all six categories.
Poznań was ranked as having the lowest unemployment rate out of all 16 cities, while ranking 4th for wages and 5th for access to housing. Business Insider noted that the city’s “residents earn high wages compared to housing prices.” It ranked third for air quality, behind Opole and Gorzów Wielkopolski.
Earlier this year, Poznań was also named as an emerging culinary destination by the Michelin food guide, with inspectors praising its “vibrant and fast developing restaurant scene”.
Kalina Olejniczak, a journalist from Poznań, told Business Insider that the results of the ranking has surprised many locals, especially those who have found aspects of their daily lives obstructed by large-scale renovations of the old town and the city center, which have been ongoing for years.
“This reality blinds them to the advantages that they probably don’t realise living in this city has,” said Olejniczak.
“If I had to say what the best thing about Poznań is, I would say its scale: a city of half a million seems to me the best place to live. It has everything you need, and at the same time it does not overwhelm you with its vastness, there is also a lot of greenery and lakes in the city and its vicinity.”
Poznań, Katowice, Opole to według rankingu Business Insider Polska najlepsze miasta do życia w Polsce. Na drugim biegunie znalazły się Kielce i Białystok. Jak mieszkańcy miast oceniają wynik naszego zestawienia? Nie wszędzie panuje zgodność. https://t.co/J8jdQWamhz
— Business Insider Polska 🇵🇱 (@BIPolska) August 20, 2023
The second best city to live in Poland was awarded to Katowice, the capital of the Silesia province in the south of the country, scoring 39 points. Katowice was ranked the best in access to housing and second best for unemployment. However, it was bottom of the list for its crime rate in comparison to the other cities.
Opole, the capital of the province of the same name also located in the south of the country, was named the third best city to live in Poland, with 42 points. Opole was ranked best for air quality and 4th best for its crime rate.
The last city in the overall ranking was Białystok, capital of the Podlaskie province in northeastern Poland, with 74 points. The city was ranked last for both unemployment and average wages, and second last for access to both housing and to doctors.
It only did well in terms of its crime rate, in which it came 5th, and its air quality, where it was ranked 7th.
Katowice (Umkatowice/Wikimedia Commons, under CC BY-SA 3.0)
Kielce, capital of Świętokrzyskie province in southern Poland, took the penultimate place in the ranking, with 64 points. It scored second to last for unemployment and average wage, 10th for crime and 12th for air quality. Kielce, however, performed well in terms of access to medical care, where it ranked third.
Warsaw, the nation’s capital, took the third lowest spot in the ranking, with 60 points. While it performed well economically, with high wages and low unemployment (ranking 3rd for both categories), it scored last for both access to housing and air quality.
Some may question Business Insider’s air quality ranking, however, given that it differs significantly from other such data.
Poland's annual air pollution ranking has been published by @alarm_smogowy, which notes that "the air was unbreathable for 2-3 months of the year" in places on the list.
As before, the worst spots were smaller towns and villages, rather that large cities https://t.co/6nN1owLwWu
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 9, 2022
Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city and main international tourist hub, also did not score high in the overall ranking, coming in at 11th with 54 points.
While taking the top spot for average wages and coming in at 5th for both unemployment and access to medical care, it ranked second-lowest for crime and third-lowest for air quality.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Stanisław Szewczyk/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 3.0)
Anna Hackett is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a recent graduate of European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has had previous journalistic experience with the Irish Independent News & Media group.
