Quality of life ranking reveals the best and worst places to live in Czechia

A recent survey named Prague one of the world’s top ten cities for expat life. But what about the rest of the country? Rocketing house prices in the Czech capital are forcing many people to seek out more affordable locations that still provide excellent quality of life.

Their search could be helped by the new Quality of Life Index compiled by Obce v datech in collaboration with consulting company Deloitte. According to the survey, the best quality of life in the Czech Republic is to be found in Říčany, Central Bohemia.

The picturesque town on the outskirts of Prague won the highest mark in an assessment of 29 separate parameters covering healthcare, the environment, working conditions, housing, education, public transport, a sense of community and more.

The survey's methodology saw the town assigned a score of 10 out of 10, by virtue of having the highest overall marks across the individual parameters. All other cities in the country were assigned a lower score depending on how far they fell short of the benchmark set in Říčany.

Prague came in second place, scoring 9.4 out of 10. The capital was far ahead of the rest of the competition, with third place going to Brandýs nad Labem, also located near Prague, with 7.8 out of 10.

Indeed, the survey makes it clear that the best quality of life in the Czech Republic is to be found either in the country’s major cities or in adjacent villages and towns. Černošice came in fourth place, meaning all of the top four are municipalities within striking distance of Prague city center. Fifth place went to the Moravian capital Brno, and sixth went to Slavkov u Brna, located a short trip down the highway from the thriving student city.

At the other end of the leaderboard are towns in more isolated parts of the country. Last place went to Orlová, located near Ostrava in the Moravian-Silesian region. Other low ranking cities were Karviná, also in Moravia-Silesia, as well as Most and Litvínov, both in the Ústi nad Labem region of North Bohemia.

The results of the survey provoked outrage in last-placed Orlová. The mayor of the town argued that “quality of life in Orlová definitely does not correspond with the picture presented by the data. This is nothing more than a set of numbers with a dubious explanation.” He promised “steps to ensure that the good name of our town is not further damaged.”

Other low-scoring cities note that the pandemic may have worsened inequalities: the deputy mayor of Litvínov, Erika Sedláčková, said that problems in education arose during distance learning as some children did not have internet access or adequate equipment.

“The city is trying to support schools as much as it can. We have a project for schools, we are involved in the local education action plan and the budget for supplying equipment for schools has been approved,” she told the Czech Press Agency.

The results of the Quality of Life Index suggest that regional towns in the Czech Republic may be falling further behind big cities and nearby localities as a result of the pandemic. This means those looking to leave the hustle and bustle of the Czech capital may see sticking close to Prague or Brno as a good idea.