Milan is the city where you live best, Caltanissetta the worst

People live better in Milan, worse in Caltanissetta. The Lombard capital conquers the podium, ranking in first place, followed by Bolzano and Monza and Brianza, in the new edition of the 2024 annual survey on the quality of life carried out by ItaliaOggi and Ital Communications, in collaboration with the Sapienza University of Rome, which in its 26th edition. Services, income threshold, infrastructure, vitality of the productive fabric, these are the main quality elements that must distinguish a large urban centre.

At the bottom of the ranking is Caltanissetta (107th), together with Reggio Calabria (106th, has lost 11 positions since 2023) and Agrigento (105th, fallen one place compared to the previous year). The study highlights the Italian cities that offer the best conditions of well-being to their inhabitants and is divided into nine dimensions of analysis: business and work, environment, crime and safety, social security, education and training, population, health system, tourism, income and wealth. Bologna and Trento complete the group of the best cities of 2024, placing themselves in fourth and fifth place respectively, and stand out for their ability to combine economic development, environmental sustainability and high levels of safety and well-being. Looking at the big changes in the ranking, noteworthy is Savona as negative (-20, from 43rd to 63rd place) and Ferrara as positive (+21, from 48th to 27th place). People live better in Milan, worse in Caltanissetta.

The Lombard capital conquers the podium, ranking in first place, followed by Bolzano and Monza and Brianza, in the new edition of the 2024 annual survey on the quality of life carried out by ItaliaOggi and Ital Communications, in collaboration with the Sapienza University of Rome, which in its 26th edition. Services, income threshold, infrastructure, vitality of the productive fabric, these are the main quality elements that must distinguish a large urban centre. At the bottom of the ranking is Caltanissetta (107th), together with Reggio Calabria (106th, has lost 11 positions since 2023) and Agrigento (105th, fallen one place compared to the previous year).

I parameters

The study highlights the Italian cities that offer the best conditions of well-being to their inhabitants and is divided into nine dimensions of analysis: business and work, environment, crime and safety, social security, education and training, population, health system, tourism, income and wealth. Bologna and Trento complete the group of the best cities of 2024, placing themselves in fourth and fifth place respectively, and stand out for their ability to combine economic development, environmental sustainability and high levels of safety and well-being. Looking at the big changes in the ranking, Savona should be noted as negative (-20, from 43rd to 63rd place) and Ferrara as positive (+21, from 48th to 27th place).

Gap between central-northern and southern provinces and islands

This year the growth of metropolises is confirmed: provinces and metropolitan cities, especially in the Centre-North, continue to show a greater capacity to recover from shocks compared to other areas of the country. As a result, the separation between the regions of the North and the South and Islands is becoming clearer, where areas of social and personal hardship are growing. As regards Caltanissetta, there are vulnerabilities in many aspects of the quality of life, common to the provinces of Southern Italy, but, at the same time, there are also good results: the province ranks among the top positions in the “Health System” dimension, in the middle of the table in the dimension relating to “Crime and safety” and in the last positions in the remaining 7 dimensions.
– Business and work

The “Business and Work” dimension includes 8 indicators, which report information on the labor market (employment and unemployment rates separated by sex), on company birth-death rates, on the amount of protests per inhabitant and on the incidence of startups and innovative SMEs . Bolzano and Bologna placed, as in the past two editions, in first and second place respectively, followed by Verona, Trieste and Padua. Naples closes the ranking.
– Environment

The “Environment” dimension is divided into two sub-dimensions: one negatively associated with the quality of life which includes environmental impact indicators; the second positive, which also includes variables whose performance can be related to the actions of local administrators. Monza and Brianza opens the environmental quality ranking, followed by Padua, Reggio Emilia and Mantua. In the queue Catania.
– Crimes and safety

As for security, the analysis of the results recorded in this and past editions denotes substantial stability: Enna is in first place in the dimension relating to crimes and security, climbing 9 positions compared to the previous year. Followed, in order, by Frosinone, Benevento and Campobasso. Rimini closes.
– Social security

In this analysis, the data on NEETs, i.e. the percentage of people aged between 15 and 29 who do not work, study or take part in training programmes, was eliminated as it is no longer produced by Istat. The indicator is replaced by the inactivity rate recorded between 25 and 34 years. The province that opens the ranking this year is Rovigo, followed by Cremona, Bolzano, Cuneo and Milan. The province in the queue is Taranto.

According to Marino Longoni, Co-Director of ItaliaOggi: “The study by Italia Oggi and Ital Communications is divided into 93 basic indicators which group together elements such as work, business, safety, the environment and justice. This year’s research mainly highlights the gap between Central-Northern and Southern Italy, where large pockets of social hardship are highlighted, and we also see the confirmation of an element already present in past years, namely the growth of metropolitan cities”. According to Attilio Lombardi, Founder of Ital Communications, “the survey conducted by ItaliaOggi and Ital Communications, coordinated by the Sapienza University of Rome, represents a significant step in the evolution of the concept of quality of life, integrating new parameters that reflect the needs and the aspirations of modern communities.

As communicators, we have the responsibility to build bridges of dialogue and offer public opinion, the mass media and institutions a clear and accurate vision of the cities in which we live. Our role is to stimulate and facilitate an informed discussion, based on verified and contextualized data, inspiring concrete actions so that communities can actively participate in the decision-making processes that concern them. Only through transparent and responsible communication can we contribute to building cities in which collective well-being is at the center of development policies”.

For the data processing manager Alessandro Polli, Professor of Economic Statistics in the Department of Social and Economic Sciences of the La Sapienza University of Rome: “It is a complicated job, because it has to put together data that we develop in a thoughtful way, connecting a number relevant indicators. It is a method that, when tested by facts, works. This is legitimized by the comments of those who represent the same entities promoted or failed for Quality of Life which, net of the greater or lesser satisfaction linked to the position achieved, are historically recognized in the final rankings of the ranking”.