Manama Ranks Second Among Arab Cities for Quality of Life

TDT | Manama

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Manama has taken second place among Arab cities for quality of life, scoring 171.9 points in Numbeo’s 2026 Mid-Year index and finishing behind only Muscat.

The city came ahead of Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the regional table, which weighs purchasing power, safety, health care, living costs, house prices, traffic, pollution and climate.

Muscat led the Arab cities listed with 180.3 points. Manama followed on 171.9, ahead of Doha on 169.2, Abu Dhabi on 169.0 and Dubai on about 168.7.

The score was also up from Manama’s 170.5 in the 2025 Mid-Year index, a rise of about 1.4 points.

Safety was one of its strongest readings. Manama scored 82.0 on that measure, while purchasing power stood at 122.1 and health care at 67.7.

Housing costs also helped its showing. Its property price-to-income ratio was 5.0, with a lower score seen as better under Numbeo’s method.

The city scored 30.8 for traffic commute time, 45.4 for cost of living, 62.3 for pollution and 64.3 for climate.

Numbeo builds the Quality of Life Index from eight measures: purchasing power, safety, health care, cost of living, property prices against income, traffic commute time, pollution and climate.

Crime is counted within the Safety Index rather than as a separate measure.

The website says the overall score is drawn from an empirical formula using data and surveys supplied by contributors.

That means the ranking is not an official government measure. Some of its readings are based on users’ views and experiences rather than state records alone.

Numbeo also updates its live city tables throughout the year. The 171.9 score refers specifically to its 2026 Mid-Year table.

Manama’s place near the top of the Arab table was driven in part by strong safety and purchasing-power scores, along with relatively affordable housing by Numbeo’s measure.