April 3, 2025, 12:56 p.m. | Reading time: 4 minutes
A travel app has used various objective parameters to determine which countries within the EU offer the best living and working conditions for young people. Sunnytrips presents the ranking.
Perhaps when you heard this topic you immediately thought of our pulsating capital: Berlin is known to be an El Dorado for young, fun-hungry people. Germany actually made it into the top 10 – but only just. At this point it makes sense to explain the methodology of the analysis, i.e. how the best countries for young people to live and work were determined.
This is how the best places to live for young people were determined
From the “Big Mac Index” to the crime rate
Best countries for young people to live and work
Netherlands in first place, Germany still in the top 10
This is how the best places to live for young people were determined
Behind the analysis are the travel experts from “Alorix”, an app that specializes in the development of innovative mobile applications. Their goal is to make travel and cultural experiences more exciting and informative. But it doesn't stop there. “As a bridge between travelers and cultural heritage, we are interested in raising awareness of the unequal living conditions of young adults in EU member states,” it says in the introduction to the new ranking. These differences significantly influence people's “cultural competence” as they affect aspects such as access to education and work, but also income and housing costs.
The ranking is therefore not intended as a recommendation list for young adults interested in emigrating. Rather, the analysis shows in which countries you have better starting conditions from the outset - i.e. where it is an advantage to be born and raised there. It's not about living and working in a new adopted home.
Also interesting: Most people want to emigrate to this country
From the “Big Mac Index” to the crime rate
Alorix has analyzed various indicators in the EU member states. Since young adults often do not yet have a stable career and have to manage their budgets but also feed themselves, one of the evaluation criteria was the “Big Macs per salary” category. What this actually means is the bestseller from a very well-known fast food chain, the price of which varies depending on the country. “The number of Big Macs that can be purchased with a country's average wage is a measure of the population's purchasing power and food affordability,” explain the study's authors.
In addition, youth unemployment in the individual countries was taken into account - as an indication of how easy it is for young people to find a job. The average rental prices in various major cities in the EU member states examined were also taken into account in the evaluation, as was the local crime rate. Where Alorix obtained the various data is clearly stated below the ranking. The values in the “Happiness Index” category – which provides information about how satisfied the population of individual countries are with their living conditions and opportunities – come from the World Happiness Report, which Sunnytrips has already reported on.
Taking all values together, the following countries performed best in the context examined:
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Best countries for young people to live and work
1.Netherlands
2.Austria
5. Luxembourg
7.Czech Republic
9. Germany
10.Denmark
Netherlands in first place, Germany still in the top 10
Even though the Netherlands received rather poor ratings in the rental cost index - according to the calculations, more than half of the income (54.42 percent) goes on housing costs - the country is still at the top of the ranking of the best countries for young people to live and work in. Because it achieved particularly good values in other categories such as unemployment rate, purchasing power and life satisfaction. For example, in the Netherlands you could buy around 533 Big Macs for an average monthly wage - in Slovakia, however, it would only be 252. This didn't even make it into the top 10. Germany, on the other hand, ended up in 9th place, mainly thanks to a comparatively very low unemployment rate. If you only look at rental costs, Latvia shines: people there have to spend an average of 26.7 percent of their monthly income on their accommodation. In Ireland, however, it is a steep 72.88 percent.
One of the key findings of the analysis is that Italy offers the worst living and working conditions for young adults. The country tops the separate list of “worst countries to be born in,” followed by Portugal in second place, Greece in third place, and Slovakia and France in fourth and fifth place. In France, the high crime rate in particular contributes significantly to the poor performance.
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