The Burrow
Dec 2, 2024
When you’re moving home, taking the first steps towards socialising in a new city can be intimidating. It’s important to socialise, though, as keeping up good relationships has mental health benefits, lowers the risk of dementia, and improves your immune system.1 Not only that, but it’s also just plain fun to catch up with a good friend!
Some cities are easier to meet new people in than others, however, so as health insurance experts, we conducted research to find the most social cities around the world.
We’ve looked at each location’s inclusiveness rating, the number of meet-up groups and social locations, searches for friendship apps, and more to give you an idea of the friendliest places in the world!
If you’re looking for a home in a new city, here’s our list of the best areas for social butterflies to thrive in…
Australia has some of the highest-ranking cities in the world on our global list, and a wide variety of areas with their own unique strengths. Read on to see the best cities in the country if you’re looking to relocate!
The Australian capital tops our lists for the most social cities in the country, putting up great scores across the board. Despite not being as populated as other cities on our list, its residents seem to go out of their way to socialise much more than others, scoring a huge 81.82 out of 100 on our overall rankings – the highest in the world!
In particular, Canberra has the most meetup groups per 100,000 people of any other Australian city in our rankings. If you’re looking for a hobby group, there’s bound to be one to fit your interests here.
Moving further north, the Gold Coast takes the second-place spot on our list. Best known for its beaches and amusement parks, it scores 66.82 out of 100 on our overall social rankings.
Gold Coast’s biggest strength is its social locations, with 50 pubs and coffee shops per 100,000 people – more than any other in our Australian rankings. For anyone looking to meet friends on a trip out, this is the city for you!
The Tasmanian capital ranks third on our list, with high scores in all categories, and a total score of 58.61 out of 100. It’s the only city in our top five away from the mainland, making it a great choice for anyone looking for a new and unfamiliar area to settle into!
Darwin is the least populated Australian city on our list, but it has a strong social circle that earns it a place inside our top five.
It’s the city with the highest number of Google searches for friend finding apps in the country, suggesting a community of people eager to meet new friends! For those who prefer a quieter city, but are still up to socialise, Darwin’s stats make it an appealing pick.
Lying to the north of Gold Coast, Brisbane rounds out our top five most social cities in Australia. It’s the highest scoring city on our list with more than a million residents, making it a great choice for anyone seeking a bustling city atmosphere.
Surprisingly, some of Australia’s biggest cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth place outside of our top five! This may be because smaller cities often form more close-knit communities, but it’s possible to find a great social circle anywhere in the country with the right know-how.
Looking to relocate to a new continent? There are plenty of diverse and friendly areas across Europe’s 45 countries, with something on offer for everyone. Here are our rankings of the five most social areas!
The Irish capital takes the crown in our ranking of the most social cities in Europe, scoring 69.73 out of 100 overall in our survey. It’s also the most populous city to land in the top five. Curiously, Dublin offers some of the highest concentrations of meetup groups and social locations across the continent, making it a fantastic area to socialise for outgoing people!
Porto takes second place in our top five. This Portuguese city ties with Warsaw, Poland as the city with the highest Inclusiveness Index Ranking score in Europe – scoring 77.66 in their estimations!
While Porto is best known as a tourist destination with rich history and beautiful architecture, it scores 63.02 out of 100 overall in our rankings, making it a brilliant all-rounder for anyone seeking out local friends in the city.
Following on from Portugal’s second biggest city is the country’s capital: Lisbon. It puts up excellent scores across the board, ranking in the top five for inclusiveness and meetup group numbers.
Compared to other capital cities included in our rankings, it’s relatively small too, making it great for someone looking to get interconnected without being overwhelmed by the usual capital city atmosphere.
While Ljubljana ranks highly across all our categories, there’s one in particular where it’s a clear winner. When it comes to Google searches for friendship apps, it’s the only city to have a four-digit score per 100,000 people.
The Slovenian capital has an overall score of 58.54 out of 100 in our list, securing it a comfortable place in the top five in Europe.
One of the biggest cities in England, Manchester has been a popular night-out destination in the country for years. It scores especially highly on meetup groups, with 112 per 100,000 people in the city!
Some of the cities that just miss out on the top five include Amsterdam, Glasgow, and Zurich (which, incidentally, has the highest number of meetup groups per 100,000 people in Europe).
Being one of the biggest countries in the world, it can be intimidating to choose the right city to move to in America, especially with how diverse its states are. Luckily, we’ve listed the most social areas of the country to help you get to know your local community easily!
One of the largest cities in the Midwest, Minneapolis comes out on top as the most social American area. Of all the cities in the states, it’s the best for meetup groups, and scores second highest on searches for friendship apps. With an overall total of 77.49 out of 100, it’s one of our highest ranked cities around the world!
The only US city to beat Minneapolis on Google search volume for friendship apps is Atlanta – a Southern city with a huge community.
Atlanta also scores higher than average for its number of coffee shops and bars, giving you plenty of venues to choose from when socialising. It clocks in with 74.98 out of 100 in our overall ranking.
Moving over to the West Coast, Portland places third on our USA list. It ranks in the top five for number of meetup groups, but most importantly, it has the most bars and coffee shops per 100,000 people of any city in America!
Portland scores 71.59 out of 100 in total on our rankings, so it’s worth keeping in mind as one of the best social spots in the country.
It may be best known for its casinos, entertainment, and luxury hotels, but Las Vegas also ranks as one of the friendliest cities in America.
Its best trait is its Inclusiveness Index score of 66.19, which makes it the most diverse and accepting city in America by our findings. Scoring 69.29 out of 100 overall on our list, it ranks highly on the rest of our criteria too!
The busiest city on our top five is Seattle, lying in the Pacific Northwest 175 miles north of Portland. The city has long been famed for its coffee shops, so it’s no surprise it’s the second-best area in America for social hangout spots!
Despite Seattle being infamously ‘unfriendly’, our data demonstrates that it scores highly in the Inclusiveness Index Ranking, meetup events per 100,000 people, and the number of pubs and coffee shops per 100,000 people factors – indicating that locals are committed to reviving the social scene.
Other high-ranking cities in the states include Miami, San Francisco, and Boston, but Seattle takes the final spot in our top five with an overall rating of 68.81 out of 100 – just missing out on fourth place by less than a point!
If you’re not necessarily looking to move to any of our listed destinations, don’t worry, as finding a strong social circle is easy in any city with the right approach! Read on for our handy tips on fitting in with a new local community.
Any good social city will have plenty of opportunities to meet likeminded people or try out a new skill or hobby. Try searching for any meetup groups or classes in your area and reach out to any new people you meet, to stay in touch. You’ll already have something in common to talk about, and you can easily branch out from there!
A coffee meeting is a great way to get to know someone better in a short amount of time, and can lead to plenty of shared interests revealing themselves! If you already know somebody in the area, try getting in touch to organise a mid-day meetup, or ask about any other friends they could introduce you to if you’re wanting to grow your friend group.
The internet is a great tool for meeting friends around the world, but it’s obviously much easier to meet local people in person. We’re not telling you to throw out your consoles and computers straight away, but try swapping some weekly time in your room for time at social events to get familiar with your area. You’ll be better-incorporated in your community faster than you’d think!
Social anxiety is a very common issue and can be a huge mental barrier to taking a risk with meeting new people. It’s always okay to ask for help from someone you trust if you need help overcoming any issues. Raise your concerns to a friend, family member, or doctor for any advice and they’ll surely be willing to offer some assistance.
When meeting new people, you’ll likely start to get invited to events or gatherings for people to get to know you better. While it can be tempting to shrug these off and spend the time alone, it’s worth saying yes to more opportunities to leave your bubble and stop being as isolated. Even if you’re unsure about an event, it’s worth a shot to see if you end up enjoying it more than you expect!
Socialising not only improves your mental health but has physical benefits too. Meeting with friends releases endorphins that trigger a range of responses from your body, relieving stress, strengthening your immune system, making you more alert, and decreasing chances of developing dementia!
Compare the Market’s Executive General Manager of Health Insurance, Steven Spicer, said having health insurance could help with the cost of certain services.
“Keeping socially active can be hard, especially when you’re starting your life in a new city. However, building these connections are essential for our wellbeing,” Mr Spicer said.
“Having a private health insurance extras policy could help with the cost of certain services such as gym memberships and group fitness classes, in addition to maintaining regular contact with a mental health professional.
“Therefore, depending on your personal circumstances, it may be worth considering whether extras cover is right for you. Depending on your policy and level of cover, you may be able to claim on these and many other important services.”
Factors & Sources:
US & Europe
A list of cities in each of Europe & the US was made according to four factors. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given.
The normalised values were then summed and multiplied by 25, to give each city a total score out of 100. The locations were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores.
Australia
A list of cities in Australia was made according to three factors. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given. The normalised values were then summed and multiplied by 33.3, to give each city a total score out of 100. The locations were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores.
The factors were indexed as follows:
All data is correct as of 25/10/24. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regards to the sources provided.
Additional sources: