Best Cities to Live in Asia 2026

Based on our Livability Score, Seoul (South Korea) ranks #1 in Asia in 2026 with a score of 81/100, and city-centre rent from around $871/month.

Top 5 in Asia by Livability Score: #1 Seoul, South Korea (81/100); #2 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (73/100); #3 Taipei, Taiwan (73/100); #4 Tokyo, Japan (71/100); #5 Singapore, Singapore (71/100).

Goa (India) has the lowest city-centre rent in our Asia data at around $167/month for a 1-bedroom apartment.

By our Settler Safety Score — which blends homicide rate, democracy, political stability, and perceived safety — Taipei (Taiwan) leads Asia with a score of 93/100. Homicide rate: 0.6 per 100,000.

Southeast Asian cities like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Kuala Lumpur offer strong value — low rent and warm weather. Singapore and Tokyo lead on safety and infrastructure but cost significantly more. Our Livability Score balances all these factors.

Yerevan, Armenia offers the fastest residency path in our Asia dataset — permanent residency in as little as 1 year. Argentina in South America offers 2-year PR. Singapore's PR is typically 2 years but highly competitive. Most Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia) take 5-10 years. Yerevan also accepts all 4 major passport types (EU, US, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian) with easy entry — rare in the region.

Yerevan has emerged as a major relocation destination after 2022, particularly for Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian expats. Key advantages: 1-year path to permanent residency (fastest in our dataset), all major passport types enter visa-free, low cost of living (1BR from ~$680/month), a growing tech startup scene (PicsArt, Krisp, ServiceTitan are headquartered here), and no income tax on foreign earnings. Downsides: aging infrastructure, grid reliability score of 50/100, and political freedom score of 54/100 (partly free). Check the Yerevan city profile for full data.