Singapore leads the pack, scoring high in health care, safety, and vibrant startup ecosystem

Part of Nairobi Central Business District

NAIROBI, KENYA: Nairobi has made it to the list of the best startup cities for employees to work, according to a Nestpick survey.

The survey studied hundreds of cities and ranked them according to how best they suit startup employees. Nairobi was ranked 84 out of 85 best cities - from the many sampled.

Singapore is the best city for those looking to work in startups, scoring high for health care and safety and offering a vibrant startup ecosystem full of professional opportunities. Helsinki, Finland, is in second place, scoring well for quality of life and social security.

Well-known startup hubs - San Fransisco in the US and Berlin in Germany - also feature in the top five on the list.

Furnished apartment platform, Nestpick, has produced a ranking comparing 85 cities worldwide to profile which one offers the best quality of life for those employed in the startup industry.

With an interest in the relocation patterns of young professionals across the world, Nestpick combined its professional knowledge, examining the cities via 13 factors synonymous with startup professionals.

The factors can be broken down into five important criteria: the city’s startup ecosystem, the salaries on offer in each location, social security and benefits the city offers, cost of living, and quality of life. These criteria were further broken down into salaries, average salaries for entry level and experienced positions, which were taken into account for project management, technology, and marketing roles.

Social security and benefits took income tax, health care quality, and vacation into account, while quality of life analysed gender equality and safety in each location.

The cost of living looked solely at the affordability of each city.

The results show that Singapore was the best place for those looking to work in startups.

Career opportunities

The Asian hub scored well in terms of health care and safety and its offerings of a vibrant startup scene, boosting career opportunities.

“Certain cities may offer bigger paychecks, but after considering taxes and living expenses, the return may not be so high,” said Nestpick Managing Director Ömer Kücükdere. “Similarly, professionals should consider quality of life - will vacation days be adequate to visit home? Is health care as accessible as you would like it to be?”

San Francisco in the US has the highest salaries across all industries studied, for both entry level and experienced positions. However, despite high salaries, it ranks in the bottom 10 cities in terms of affordability.

“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.”

Of the top 10 highest earning cities, 70 per cent are in the US. Cairo, Egypt, has the lowest salaries across all industries for entry-level positions, while Tunis in Tunisia has the lowest salaries for experienced positions.

Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has the highest overall social security benefits score, with the best score for income tax, but ranks last for equality. Lagos has the worst social security and benefits score, with the lowest ranking in health care quality and vacation days.

over 50 per cent of the lowest ranking cities for health care quality are in Asia. Vienna, Austria, and Valletta, Malta, are the joint top ranking for vacation days, while six French cities (Nice, Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Nantes, and Paris) rank jointly first for health care quality.

Munich, Germany, has the highest overall score for quality of life whereas Sao Paulo in Brazil has the lowest. Bangalore, India, tops for affordability and New York ranks last.