Let’s face it, with extortionate rent and overpriced eateries who needs London, New York or Shanghai? If you’re young, broke and looking for a cool place to live, then check out this list of affordable and cultural destinations you could be calling home.
Movehub analysed 32 of the world’s most popular cities, using average monthly income, rent, the cost of public transport, density of ‘cheap eats’ and each city’s safety score to identify the best places for broke millennials to live in 2018.
Each city was given a score out of 100, with 100 being the cheapest and most habitable. Edinburgh, Vienna and Berlin came out on top, but you might be surprised to find Melbourne and Mumbai also made the top 10.
| City | Score | |
| 1. | Edinburgh | 82.95 |
| 2. | Vienna | 78.85 |
| 3. | Berlin | 78.25 |
| 4. | Prague | 77.33 |
| 5. | Madrid | 74.17 |
| 6. | Helsinki | 73.86 |
| 7. | Copenhagen | 71.12 |
| 8. | Mumbai | 70.84 |
| 9. | Melbourne | 70.00 |
| 10. | Warsaw | 69.51 |
Edinburgh came out on top as the best place for cash-poor millennials | © Richie Chan/Shutterstock
According to Movehub, Edinburgh is the world’s best city for cash-strapped millennials. The Scottish capital had one of the best scores for rent relative to income, while the average cup of coffee, fuelling millennials since 1999, comes in at £2.57. What clinched it though is having the highest density of cheap eats, so you can dine out on a budget.
If cheap rent is top of your criteria then Berlin, Chicago and Vienna could be perfect.
| City | Rent as % of income | |
| 1. | Berlin | 25.64 |
| 2. | Chicago | 26.89 |
| 3. | Vienna | 29.20 |
| 4. | Helsinki | 29.64 |
| 5. | Melbourne | 29.85 |
| 6. | Copenhagen | 31.11 |
| 7. | Kuala Lumpur | 31.90 |
| 8. | Oslo | 31.90 |
| 9. | Edinburgh | 32.50 |
| 10. | Stockholm | 32.95 |
Berlin has some of the cheapest rent in Europe | © mkrberlin/Shutterstock
Berlin has some of the cheapest monthly rent in Europe, averaging £471.45. Amazing, but eye-watering compared with Mumbai (£215.19), Cape Town (£387.90) and Mexico City (£222.60). But with plenty of cheap eats and brimming with culture, Berlin is hard to beat if you’re young and broke.
There are no prizes for guessing which cities are the least friendly for cash-strapped millennials. New York, London Sao Paolo and Dublin all make the bottom 10 according to Movehub.
| City | Score | |
| 23. | Mexico City | 63.05 |
| 24. | Shanghai | 62.38 |
| 25. | Paris | 62.34 |
| 26. | New York | 58.83 |
| 27. | Hong Kong | 57.07 |
| 28. | Jakarta | 54.14 |
| 29. | San Francisco | 52.09 |
| 30. | London | 47.7 |
| 31. | Dublin | 46.87 |
| 32. | Sao Paulo | 41.36 |
London owes its lowly position to its expensive public transport (nearly £140 per month) combined with the 5th-highest monthly rent, taking up nearly 52% of residents’ monthly income, and pushing the Big Smoke down to 30th, with a miserable score of 47.7 out of 100.
You might also be interested in: This Map Shows Where You Should Live in the World Based on Your Personality and The 15 Best Cities in the World for Culture Lovers.
Read more about the story behind Culture Trip.