Gdańsk has lost its place in the top ten of the Business Insider ranking assessing the living conditions in 16 Polish cities. Previously, the city held the eighth position, but it has now dropped to 11th place. An unexpected leader has emerged in Szczecin, which was only eighth six months ago.
Badanie porównuje miasta, po jednym z każdego województwa, na podstawie sześciu wskaźników: stopy bezrobocia, wynagrodzenia, dostępność mieszkań, czas oczekiwania na lekarzy, wskaźniki przestępczości oraz jakość powietrza. Dane odnoszą się do połowy 2026 roku.
The economy remains a strong point for Gdańsk
The unemployment rate in the city at the end of June was 3.3%, while the average salary in companies with nine or more employees reached 11,299 zł gross. These figures keep Gdańsk among the economically prosperous cities in the country.
The problem lies elsewhere: real estate. The average price per square meter on the secondary market in June was 15,795 zlotys. With an average salary, a city resident can only buy 0.72 sq. m of housing — a ratio that significantly lowers the overall assessment.
Clean air versus long queues to doctors
In terms of air quality, Gdańsk looks favorable: the average concentration of PM10 over the year was 21.24 µg/m³, with the WHO benchmark being 50 µg/m³. The best results for this criterion are in Olsztyn and Szczecin.
Medicine is working against the city. In August, the average waiting time for an appointment with ten popular specialists was 94 days. The longest wait is for a gastroenterologist — 280 days, almost nine months. The quickest appointments are with a surgeon (25 days) and a gynecologist (37 days).
In terms of crime, 3,951 offenses were recorded in the first quarter of 2026, or 8.1 crimes per 1,000 residents
Who surpassed Gdańsk in the ranking
The first five places were taken by Szczecin, Lublin, Łódź, Poznań, and Bydgoszcz. Szczecin did not lead in any category but showed stable results across several areas — housing, air quality, healthcare, and safety.
At the opposite end of the table were Białystok and Gorzów Wielkopolski with the same final score. Białystok has the highest unemployment rate among the participants in the ranking, but good safety indicators. Gorzów Wielkopolski faced the longest waiting times for doctors due to a shortage of medical facilities.
Rzeszów lost six positions, Katowice recorded the worst result in the history of the ranking, while Warsaw returned to its usual tenth place.
Gdańsk remains a strong economic city, but the combination of expensive housing and long waits for doctors prevents it from returning to the top ten.
