London Is Officially the Best Global City for Lawyers, According to a 2023 Study

New report reveals the best cities for work-life balance versus salary by job industry

Amsterdam is the best city for business, tech and marketing professionals with average salaries ranging from USD$128,785 to $72,409
Copenhagen is the best cities for sales and finance professionals with salaries ranging from USD $100,811 to $69,456
Amsterdam, New York and Copenhagen are the top cities for marketing professionals with salaries ranging from $113,173 to $72,409 USD
London is the best city for Lawyers with average salaries of $90,158 USD

Balancing a successful career with a fulfilling personal life can be a challenge. While some cities and industries offer high pay, others may prioritise a more relaxed pace of life. But which cities offer the best of both worlds?

MoneyNerd has run a study looking into the best cities for work-life balance versus pay, analysing 25 global cities and taking into account factors such as cost of living, average salary, number of job opportunities and job satisfaction.

For the full study, please visit: https://moneynerd.co.uk/best-cities-for-pay-and-work-life-balance-report

London is the best city for Lawyers, followed by Oslo, and Berlin

With an abundance of legal career prospects, London has officially earned the title of being the best city for lawyers with over 3,000 job opportunities on LinkedIn and an average salary of $90,158.

Oslo and Berlin follow in second and third place, particularly due to its high work-life balance rating (8.5 and 8 respectively) as well as the cities high average salaries ($98,818 and $107,839 respectively). New York notably has the highest salary of all the cities analysed, with Lawyers expecting to earn $141,051 there.

Rank	City	Salary data (Lawyer) USD	Number of jobs available on LinkedIn (Lawyer)	Cost of living index (city)	Work-life balance rating	Happiness rating	Overall score
1	London	$90,158	3,462	72.1	5.6	6.9	6.6
2	Oslo	$98,818	11	62.3	8.5	7.4	6.4
3	Berlin	$107,839	249	55	8	7.0	6.4
4	New York	$141,051	3,210	100	5.2	7.0	6.3
5	Amsterdam	$77,924	298	59.5	8.3	7.4	6.3
6	Zurich	$134,595	99	94.8	7.7	7.5	5.9
7	Luxembourg City	$77,845	195	62.5	7.4	7.4	5.9
8	Stockholm	$48,957	35	54	8.1	7.4	5.8
9	Brussels	$71,610	162	50.9	7.7	6.8	5.7
10	Madrid	$53,920	159	43.4	8.4	6.5	5.6

Amsterdam is the best city for business professionals, followed by Copenhagen and Vienna

With a thriving start-up scene, Amsterdam is officially the best city for business professionals – with an average salary of $89,796, over 1,550 jobs available on Linkedin and a high work-life balance score (8.3), it’s easy to see why.

Following suit is Copenhagen, with an even higher work-life balance score (8.6) and happiness rating (7.6) than Amsterdam, and with a higher average salary for business professionals at $79,196.

Vienna, New York and Berlin make the top 5 list with average business manager salaries in these cities ranging from $114,223 to $67,901. New York also notably has the highest number of jobs available for business managers out of anywhere analysed at 15,468 jobs available.

Rank	City	Salary data (Business Manager) USD	Number of jobs available on LinkedIn (Business Manager)	Cost of living index	Work-life balance rating	Happiness rating	Overall score
1	Amsterdam	$89,796	1,550	60	8.3	7.4	6.6
2	Copenhagen	$79,196	761	66	8.6	7.6	6.5
3	Vienna	$114,223	518	46	6	7.2	6.4
4	New York	$100,494	15,468	100	5.2	7.0	6.1
5	Berlin	$67,901	2,238	55	8	7.0	6.0
6	Zurich	$118,219	798	95	7.7	7.5	6.0
7	Oslo	$64,857	211	62	8.5	7.4	6.0
8	Luxembourg City	$77,231	418	63	7.4	7.4	5.9
9	London	$62,750	11,861	72	5.6	6.9	5.8
10	Stockholm	$46,501	738	54	8.1	7.4	5.8

Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo are the best cities for sales professionals

With a high average salary of $69,456 and a high work life balance rating (8.6), Copenhagen officially ranks as the best city to live in if you work in sales.

Stockholm, Oslo and New York follow suit, with high average salaries for sales managers spanning from $84,038 to 61,511. Zurich notably has the highest salary for sales professionals ($130,812), whilst New York, London and Berlin have the highest job prospects with over 14,000, 7,000, and 2,000 jobs available respectively.

Rank	City	Salary data (Sales Manager) USD	Number of jobs available on LinkedIn (Sales Manager)	Cost of living index	Work-life balance rating	Happiness rating	Overall score
1	Copenhagen	$69,456	497	65.5	8.6	7.6	5.7
2	Stockholm	$61,511	639	54	8.1	7.4	5.6
3	Oslo	$76,910	177	62.3	8.5	7.4	5.6
4	New York	$84,038	14,511	100	5.2	7.0	5.5
5	Luxembourg City	$79,242	106	62.5	7.4	7.4	5.2
6	Zurich	$130,812	493	94.8	7.7	7.5	5.0
7	Amsterdam	$80,854	931	59.5	8.3	7.4	4.7
8	Budapest	$20,822	240	32.9	7.6	6.1	4.6
9	London	$61,803	7,338	72.1	5.6	6.9	4.6
10	Berlin	$53,903	2,486	55	8	7.0	4.5

New York, Amsterdam and Copenhagen are the top cities for marketing professionals

New York, Amsterdam and Copenhagen are all officially the top cities for marketing professionals (all with an overall work life-balance and pay score of 6.4).

With nearly 7,000 marketing jobs available in New York alone, and the second highest salaries among all of the cities ($113,173), it’s understandable why it’s the best city to work in.

Amsterdam and Copenhagen are also among the highest in the work-life balance rating (8.3 and 8.6 respectively), making it clear that they are ideal cities for marketing professionals. Zurich also notably has the highest salary for marketing professionals out of all the cities analysed ($113,569)

Rank	City	Salary data (Marketing Manager) USD	Number of jobs available on LinkedIn (Marketing Manager)	Cost of living index	Work-life balance rating	Happiness rating	Overall score
1	Amsterdam	$72,409	1,054	59.5	8.3	7.4	6.4
2	New York	$113,173	6,929	100	5.2	7.0	6.4
3	Copenhagen	$73,925	363	65.5	8.6	7.6	6.4
4	London	$64,899	6,843	72.1	5.6	6.9	6.3
5	Oslo	$72,573	111	62.3	8.5	7.4	6.2
6	Berlin	$53,914	1,991	55	8	7.0	6.0
7	Zurich	$113,569	355	94.8	7.7	7.5	6.0
8	Brussels	$75,480	799	50.9	7.7	6.8	6.0
9	Stockholm	$52,299	394	54	8.1	7.4	5.9
10	Luxembourg City	$74,401	91	62.5	7.4	7.4	5.9

Amsterdam is the best city for tech professionals, followed by Copenhagen and Berlin

With one of the lowest costs of living ratings (59.5), it’s easy to see why Amsterdam is a great place to live if you’re a tech professional, especially with salaries of over $120,000.

On the other hand, with a generous salary average of $94,545, you can also see why tech professionals might choose Copenhagen, not to mention the country’s happiness rating of 7.4.

Coming in third, Berlin is also the most attractive in terms of the cost of living (55) and work-life balance (8) for tech professionals.

Rank	City	Salary data (Tech Project Manager) USD	Number of jobs available on LinkedIn (Tech Project Manager)	Cost of living index (city)	Work-life balance rating (country)	Happiness rating (country)	Overall score
1	Amsterdam	$128,785	188	59.5	8.3	7.4	6.9
2	Copenhagen	$94,545	123	65.5	8.6	7.6	6.4
3	Berlin	$95,444	348	55	8	7.0	6.2
4	London	$73,761	2,477	72.1	5.6	6.9	6.2
5	Oslo	$79,060	29	62.3	8.5	7.4	6.0
6	Zurich	$134,212	141	94.8	7.7	7.5	5.9
7	Stockholm	$52,343	113	54	8.1	7.4	5.7
8	Madrid	$70,824	174	43.4	8.4	6.5	5.7
9	Vienna	$84,625	90	45.7	6	7.2	5.6
10	Luxembourg City	$74,716	70	62.5	7.4	7.4	5.6

Copenhagen is the best city for accountants followed by Amsterdam and Zurich

Copenhagen is officially the best place to work in for accountants, with an average salary of $100,811 and a high work-life balance rating of (8.6). Amsterdam and Zurich follow in second and third place, with high average salaries ranking from $134,586 to $71,778.

New York ranks 8th on the list for accountants, and offers the most job opportunities with over 4,500 jobs available in the city.

Rank	City	Average salary (Senior Accountant) USD	Number of jobs available on LinkedIn (Senior Accountant)	Cost of living index	Work-life balance rating	Happiness rating	Overall score
1	Copenhagen	$100,811	55	65.5	8.6	7.6	6.6
2	Amsterdam	$71,778	324	59.5	8.3	7.4	6.1
3	Zurich	$134,586	142	94.8	7.7	7.5	6.0
4	Berlin	$69,150	297	55	8	7.0	5.8
5	Oslo	$60,201	10	62.3	8.5	7.4	5.7
6	Stockholm	$52,302	92	54	8.1	7.4	5.7
7	Luxembourg City	$70,256	275	62.5	7.4	7.4	5.7
8	New York	$89,059	4,539	100	5.2	7.0	5.7
9	Vienna	$81,892	63	45.7	6	7.2	5.6
10	Madrid	$55,852	103	43.4	8.4	6.5	5.4