Under Zohran Mamdani, New York ranked world's No 1 city
Oxford Economics places New York ahead of London and Paris, with the city scoring particularly strongly on economic strength and human capital.
New York City has been ranked the world's No 1 city in Oxford Economics' 2026 Global Cities Index, putting the city at the top during Zohran Mamdani's first year as mayor.
The index ranks the world's 1,000 largest cities across five categories: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York finished ahead of London, Paris, Seattle and San Francisco in the overall ranking.
New York scored 100 in the overall index, with a perfect score in the Economics category and a score of 89.5 in Human Capital. Its scores were 80.8 in Quality of Life, 72.8 in Environment and 75.7 in Governance.
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Oxford Economics said New York and London remain at the top largely because of the size of their economies and the strength of their labour markets. It also noted that the established strengths of leading global cities reflect structural advantages built up over several years.
The ranking has drawn attention in the context of Mamdani's tenure. He was sworn in as New York City's mayor on 1 January 2026, becoming the city's 112th mayor.
Mamdani's election had been accompanied by warnings from critics that his proposed policies could hurt the city's economy and accelerate its decline. However, the Oxford Economics ranking does not attribute New York's position to any individual mayor or administration.
Instead, the index evaluates broader structural factors, including economic size and stability, employment, human capital, quality of life, environmental conditions and governance.
Oxford Economics says its assessment is designed to capture both cities' current standing and their longer-term direction.
