Minneapolis 6th most eco-friendly city in the world

Photo: aturkus

Better than a Pacific island paradise?

That title goes to Vienna, Austria, according to Mercer, which ranks 221 cities around the world as a way of helping companies and governments pay employees fairly when placing them on international assignments.

We came in sixth. But we've got cleaner skies and water than any other city in the United States with the exception of a Pacific island paradise. Dang. Not bad.

According to Mercer, we were bested by:

1. Calgary, Canada
2. Honolulu, United States
3. Ottawa, Canada
4. Helsinki, Finland
5. Wellington, New Zealand

Overall quality of living is a bit of a different story. We're not as nice as No. 1-ranked Vienna, we're a whole lot better than botton-of-the-list Baghdad, but we didn't break the Top 50 either. Here are the U.S. cities that did:

Honolulu - 31
San Francisco - 32
Boston - 37
Chicago - 45
Washington, D.C. - 45
New York City - 49
Seattle - 50

You can read the full report at Mercer.