Which city should I move to?
Moving cities is several decisions wearing one coat: career, money, friendships, weather, and the life you picture on a Saturday. Every city wins on at least one of them, which is why the choice can loop for months.
A decision matrix pulls those threads apart. Weigh each one for your life as it is now, score each city, and see which one holds up once everything is counted.
Open the tool with this question filled in. Two to five minutes, no account.
Start this decisionWhat should you weigh?
Five factors cover most versions of this decision. Rename them, drop the ones that do not apply, and add your own. Phrase each so a higher score is always better.
- Job market
- Openings in your field, and how easy it would be to change jobs later.
- Affordability
- Rent or mortgage, taxes and daily costs against what you would earn there.
- Near family and friends
- Travel time and cost to the people you would miss.
- Lifestyle
- The things you do on weekends, and whether the city has them.
- Weather
- The months you would find hardest, not the brochure season.
What does it look like worked out?
Three cities: a big coastal city, a mid-size hometown, and a fast-growing sunbelt city. Weights run 1 to 10, scores 1 to 5.
| Factor | Weight | Coastal city | Hometown | Sunbelt city |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job market | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Affordability | 7 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Near family and friends | 6 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Lifestyle | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Weather | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 90 | 99 | 91 |
Each total is score times weight, added down the column.
Hometown wins by 8 points. The hometown wins with the weakest job market of the three. Cheap rent and being close to family outweigh it at these weights. That result depends on one weight in particular.
Change the weight on near family and friends from 6 to 2, keep every score the same, and Sunbelt city wins instead, 83 to 82. The options did not change. One judgement about what matters did.
Where do people go wrong?
Judging a city from a holiday. A week in summer tells you little about February. Visit in the worst month if you can.
Scoring cost of living without income. A city that costs twice as much but pays twice as much is not more expensive for you. Score affordability as costs against likely pay.
Common questions
- How do I decide where to live?
- Shortlist the places you could realistically move to. Weigh jobs, cost, people, lifestyle and weather for your own life, then score each place.
- How many cities should I compare?
- As many as you would seriously move to. Cut the ones that fail a hard rule, like visa access or a partner's job, before you score.
Ready to weigh your own?
The question and starter options come filled in. Change anything. AI suggests factors; the answer comes only from your weights and scores.
Start this decision