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Quality of Life in Cities survey
Using common methodology, the Quality of Life in Cities survey is carried out in 83 of Europe’s largest cities, including almost all national capitals. Data for Riga are collected by the European Commission, while Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (CSB) conducts a national survey in the State cities: Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jēkabpils, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Ogre, Rēzekne, Valmiera and Ventspils. In Latvia, the survey is conducted every three years and is supported by EU funding.
The survey gathers resident opinions on various aspects of life in their city, e.g., satisfaction with educational facilities, health care services, urban planning (green and public spaces, sport and cultural facilities). It also helps to find out the main modes of transport used, whether people feel safe in their city and trust in local police, as well as whether they are satisfied with the work of the local public administration and public transport.
Satisfaction with living in the city of residence
According to the European Commission Quality of Life in European Cities report, residents of non-capital cities more frequently report feeling safe when walking alone at night as well as satisfaction with cleanliness and noise levels. They also have higher satisfaction with public spaces, health care services, and local public administration, are more likely to agree that affordable housing is easy to find, and consider their city to be a good place to live for migrants and families with young children.
Overall, residents in Latvia tend to agree that they are satisfied to live in their city. In the surveyed State cities, almost all respondents agreed with this statement in 2025 (nine out of ten in 2022). In Riga, eight out of ten respondents agreed with the statement in 2023.
Refer to the OSP database: DKP010 and DKR011
Public transport
Quality of life in cities is also affected by everyday mobility, that is by how people travel to work and other daily destinations and access various services.
Across Europe, public transport is more dominant in capital cities, while private cars are more common in non-capital cities.
In Latvia, almost half of the population in Riga uses public transport as the main mode of transport, while in the State cities the share is lower, with the lowest recorded in Ogre, at only one in ten residents.
Refer to the OSP database: DKP510 and DKR511
Among the State cities, Riga records the highest total number of passengers carried by public transport; however, it also has the largest population. When passenger numbers are expressed per inhabitant, Riga still shows the highest value, followed by Liepāja and Daugavpils, while the lowest figure is observed in Ogre.
Although the number of passengers per inhabitant in Jūrmala is lower than in Riga, Daugavpils or Liepāja, a high share of Jūrmala residents agree that public transport runs frequently.
** For Ogre, passenger numbers are based on data for regional routes serving the administrative territory of the State city of Ogre, as no city public transport services are available.
Refer to OSP database: DKP520, DKR521; CSB estimate based on TPA010c, IRS031, and Road Transport Administration data
The survey also asks residents of State cities how satisfied they are with public transport in their city and whether they agree or disagree that it is affordable, safe, easy to get, reliable (comes when it says it will), and runs frequently.
Higher overall satisfaction with public transport is typically observed in cities where a larger share of residents agree that public transport runs frequently and is easy to get.
The share of respondents reporting that they are very or rather satisfied with public transport is highest in Jūrmala and Daugavpils and lowest in Ogre.
Refer to the OSP database: DKP410, DKR411 and DKP520, DKR521
Green spaces
Green spaces such as parks and gardens are significant element determining quality of life in cities. They contribute to cleaner air, help reduce urban temperatures, and provide spaces for recreation and leisure. Their role is also recognised at EU level: Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 on nature restoration requires that there be no net loss of urban green space by 2030 and an increasing trend thereafter.
The survey asks residents to assess their satisfaction with green spaces in their city. In Latvia, satisfaction levels are high in Valmiera, Ventspils, Daugavpils, Liepāja, and Rēzekne, where almost all respondents report being very or rather satisfied. Satisfaction is lower in Riga, with about eight out of ten residents being very or rather satisfied.
A similar pattern is observed elsewhere in Europe – residents of capital cities report lower satisfaction with green spaces compared with residents of non-capital cities.
Refer to the OSP database: DKP310 and DKR311
Air quality
As air quality influences health and well-being, it affects quality of life. In cities, air is often polluted by emissions from transport, industrial activity, and heating systems. In 2024, the EU adopted a directive aimed at reducing the concentration of air pollutants by 2030.
In Latvia, most residents of State cities report being very or rather satisfied with air quality. The highest satisfactions is recorded in Jūrmala, where almost all residents are very or rather satisfied with air quality, and 70 % are very satisfied (the highest share among the State cities). However, lowest satisfaction is observed in Riga, where 67 % of residents report being very or rather satisfied. Rēzekne follows with 83 % and Jēkabpils with 85 % of residents satisfied with the quality of air in their city.
Administrative data on air pollution from the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre show that emissions from stationary air pollution sources (including benzene, ammonia and particulate matter) per inhabitant are lowest in Jūrmala and highest in Riga.
Refer to the OSP database: GSP030, DKP310, DKR311. Data for Jēkabpils, Ogre and Valmiera are not available.
Work
The survey also covers work and asks how satisfied residents are with their personal job situation and whether they consider it easy to find a good job in their city. Both aspects provide insight into quality of life, as they reflect individual employment conditions and the situation on the local labour market.
Among the State cities, the highest satisfaction with personal job situation is observed among employed residents of Valmiera, Jūrmala and Liepāja, where almost all report being very or rather satisfied. Satisfaction is also high in other State cities, where nine out of ten employed residents report being satisfied with their job situation.
As regards job availability, about half of Riga and Valmiera residents agree that it is easy to find a good job in the city, while in Ventspils this share is below one fifth.
According to the European Commission report, a similar pattern is observed in other European countries, where capital cities generally show a higher share of respondents who agree that finding a good job is easy.
In addition to survey-based indicators, work satisfaction and perceptions of job availability can be examined alongside selected labour market statistics, thus getting a broader insight into economic conditions in cities.
A comparison of satisfaction with personal job situation and the median net wage shows that higher income levels do not necessarily coincide with higher job satisfaction. For example, Ogre and Riga record the highest median net wage (995 and 994 euro in 2024 respectively), and in Valmiera the indicator stood at 973 euro. Daugavpils had the lowest median wage, at 772 euro.
Refer to the OSP database: RIG110, DKP810, DKR811
Even though Riga and Valmiera have one of the highest employment rates among the State cities (57 %) and the highest share of respondents who agree that finding a good job is easy (about one half), there is no clear overall relationship between employment levels and perceptions of job availability.
In other State cities with employment rates at or above the national average (55 %), for example in Ogre and Jelgava, respondents are less likely to agree that finding a job in their city is easy. In Ventspils, the share of such residents is under one fifth.
A similar pattern is observed elsewhere in Europe, where capital cities generally report a higher share of residents who agree that finding a good job in their city is easy.
Refer to the OSP database: EKA140, DKP840, DKR841
Health care services, doctors and hospitals
To understand how well local health care aligns with the needs and expectations of city residents, the Quality of Life survey asks residents how satisfied they are with health care services, doctors and hospitals in their city.
Survey results show the highest shares of respondents satisfied with health care services in Jūrmala, where eight in ten residents report being very or rather satisfied, as well as Ogre, Ventspils and Valmiera, where around three quarters report being very or rather satisfied. The lowest satisfaction is recorded in Riga, where slightly less than half of residents are very or rather satisfied.
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