Move over, Moscow! Study finds St. Petersburg is a better place to live than the Russian capital

As long-term rivals, Petersburgers will undoubtedly be happy to rub this in the face of Moscow elites: a new study comparing living standards in all Russian regions has found the second city to be the country’s best.

The “National Credit Rating,” commissioned by Moscow daily RBK, is “an attempt to rank regions not by traditional indicators of economic potential or investment activity, but by a number of indicators that affect the standard of living of Russians living in a particular area,” according to the newspaper.

By looking at economic factors, including housing affordability, employment, and savings levels, as well as the number of teachers and doctors, and population density, researchers determined that St. Petersburg and Moscow are the two best places to live in the country, followed by the Belgorod Region, 500km south of the capital, bordering the Ukraine. The oil and gas hubs Tyumen and Khanty-Mansi also scored highly, along with agricultural powerhouses Voronezh and Krasnodar.

In reality, St. Petersburg’s advantage might not be so clear-cut. Russia’s northern capital scooped the gold medal mainly due to Moscow’s rock-bottom ranking for housing provision – a statistic that may be flawed, as many Muscovites live in residential areas just outside the city limits.

The RBK researchers also determined the country’s worst places to live, with the Tuva Republic getting the wooden spoon. Tuva, which is located in southern Siberia and borders Mongolia, came last in three of the 10 categories, including retail turnover and savings.

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