The report also highlighted L.A.’s “decade of sports,” with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics on the horizon, but emphasized that the story extends beyond stadiums, pointing to the Rams Village at Warner Center—a 52-acre mixed-use campus with offices, apartments, entertainment venues and nine acres of parks breaking ground in 2027—as a sign of confidence in the Valley’s office-to-residential reinvention, reflected in the city’s number five ranking in the business ecosystem category.
At the tail end of a rough year for Los Angeles, some good news at last: a new list of the world's best cities for 2026 has slotted L.A. as number 12. Not bad for a global competition!
The ranking from Resonance Consultancy evaluates the top 100 cities based on livability, lovability and prosperity; L.A. came in at 13 on all three. The list places London, New York and Paris in the top three, but Los Angeles’ spot just shy of the top 10 underscores a familiar truth: ours is a city that’s constantly redefining itself while the world watches.
The United States boasts 19 entries on the list (including Chicago and Miami), more than any other country, and Los Angeles stands out for its cultural influence, creative economy and enduring power as a place where people come to chase big dreams.
As the report summarizes, "The planet’s city of stories is telling a few of its own these days, even with the nagging trauma of Mother Nature’s recent wrath." And some of those stories live on social media, helping L.A. secure the number three spot for Instagram posts on the Place Power Rankings. (We also came in at number three for universities.)
The ranking is essentially an attempt to quantify not only how cities function, but how the people living in them feel—an interesting analysis at this moment in time for Los Angeles, as the city juggles very real challenges: affordability crises, extreme weather, public transit growing pains and the ongoing reshaping of workplace culture.
But the city’s place near the top of a global list is a welcome reminder (especially this year) that its narrative is not solely defined by struggle, but also by reinvention. The report notes that cities that thrive in the coming decade will be the ones that prove they can offer safety, opportunity and belonging to the people who live there, and then clearly communicate that to the world. We're here for the ride.