Methodology
About Where I Can Live
Where I Can Live answers a different question from a passport index: not where you can visit, but where you can actually move and build a life.
What each score means
Ease of getting in
Free movement scores 100, a route only some passports get 78, routes without a job offer 58 and job-offer-only countries 28. Visit rules make up the remaining 20%.
Path to settle
Years to permanent residence (45%) and to citizenship (40%), plus dual citizenship (15%).
Cost of living
An estimated monthly budget (65%) and income per person adjusted for prices (35%). Budgets add a city-centre rent estimate to everyday spending scaled by the World Bank price level: groceries 30%, transport 18%, utilities and internet 15%, eating out and leisure 22%, other 15%. A family of four uses a 3-bedroom rent (1.85×) and 2.5× the everyday spending.
Safety
Homicide rate on a log scale (70%) and the World Bank's political stability and absence of violence indicator (30%).
Political stability
Worldwide Governance Indicators: political stability (35%), rule of law (25%), control of corruption (20%) and government effectiveness (20%).
Family-friendliness
Human Capital Index (30%), under-5 mortality (15%), life expectancy (10%), health spending (10%), safety (25%) and stability (10%).
Sources
- Visit rules: Passport Index dataset (MIT).
- Prices, income, homicides, Human Capital Index, child mortality, life expectancy, health and education spending: World Bank World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0).
- Governance: Worldwide Governance Indicators (CC BY 4.0).
- Visa routes and timelines: each country's official immigration authority, linked on its guide, checked against 2026 reporting.
- Flags: country-flag-icons (MIT). Map: world-atlas / Natural Earth (public domain).
Limits
Rents and budget splits are estimates. Immigration rules change often, and individual circumstances matter. Always confirm with the official immigration authority before you apply. Data last built 2026-10-08.