Startups are one of the largest catalysts for professionals moving to larger cities. Based on this, Nestpick has conducted a study to identify the best cities for startups employment to help individuals make an educated decision on where they will have the best quality of life and keep more of their earnings.
Scoring cities by five main factors – the startup ecosystem, pay, cost of living, quality of life, social security and benefits – the Nestpick study examined 85 cities across the globe. The Startup Ecosystem score was calculated based on the 2thinknow 2016-2017 Innovation Cities Index, Startup Genome’s 2017 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, the number of startups in each city, and on the availability of capital and funding.
The 85 cities were further ranked based on the scores achieved in the following subfactors; entry-level (0-3 years of experience), health care quality, equality, experienced (5-10 years), Vacation Days, safety, income tax, affordability and school tuition.
For Zurich, safety comes first
Zurich has been placed in the 7th position with a score of 3.51 in ecosystem placing. Despite this position, Zurich has particularly performed well in the factors "quality of living" with a score of 4.87 in safety and 4.70 in gender equality, and in the factor "social security" in which a score of 4.67 in health care quality was awarded. For safety, the Nestpick study placed Zurich in third position after Munich and Singapore respectively. Hence, much as Zurich's performance was average compared to other cities, the study has manifested that safety is paramount for workers, and this is where Zurich triumphs.
Although safety is among the most important factors for working in a specific city, employees should be able to fend for themselves using their salary. This is not the case for Zurich, according to Nestpick's findings. In contrast to other cities such as Bangalore, Tunis, Cairo etc., the study has presented Zurich to be one of the cities with the highest cost of living preceded by Munich, (Germany), Reykjavik (Ireland), London (UK) and New York.
Overall, Singapore ranks 1st as the most outstanding country to work for startups with the lowest cost of living, however, the Startup Cities Index presents San Francisco, which fills the third position, to be the city with the best startup ecosystem. This was demonstrated in the scores where San Francisco maintained the first position in the factor salary and startup Ecosystem.
“Certain cities may offer bigger pay-checks, but after considering taxes and living expenses, the return may not be so high. Similarly, professionals should consider quality of life: will vacation days be adequate to visit home? Is healthcare as accessible as you would like it to be?” comments Ömer Kücükdere, Managing Director of Nestpick. “We believe that time taken researching potential employers should not overshadow understanding the best cities in which to work. We hope that our study helps those looking to work in startups identify the cities which may best suit their needs.”
Detailed information on the Startup Cities Index can be retrieved from Nestpick website.
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