According to the "Quality of Living" ranking published by the international consulting firm Mercer in December 2023, Basel is among the fifteen cities with the best quality of life in the world. According to this study by Mercer, Basel offers an outstanding economic, political and socio-cultural environment, excellent healthcare, a high level of security, good and international schools and an attractive property market in comparison with the world's 241 most important economic engines and is ranked 14th.

The consultancy firm regularly compares the quality of life in the world’s biggest cities, surveying employees on assignments abroad. Basels’ inclusion in the 2023 ranking confirms, that Basel is a city with the highest quality of life. Mercer did not publish a ranking of the quality of life in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the pandemic.

In the recent survey “European Cities and Regions of the Future” by fdi intelligence, an agency by the Financial Times, the city of Basel achieved outstanding results in various categories. Basel ranks fifth in the "Small European Cities" category. The baseline data of 152 small cities were analysed for this edition.

In 2023, Basel-Stadt is on the second position in Credit Suisse’s locational quality indicator rankings. The study considers Basel-Stadt to be one of the most attractive Swiss locations for companies. The ranking is based on seven criteria: tax burden on private individuals and legal entities, availability of highly qualified and skilled professionals, population accessibility, employee accessibility and access to airports.

Basel-Stadt’s above-average competitive position is also backed up in a study by UBS from 2023, which put Basel-Stadt in second place – behind the Canton of Zug. This "cantonal competitiveness indicator” is calculated using a comparative analysis of eight components: economic structure, innovation, human capital, labour market, accessibility, catchment area, cost environment and government finances. In fact, the Canton of Basel-Stadt is ranked first in the areas of human capital and accessibility. Thanks to the EuroAirport, the city of Basel has excellent international connections. The airport also has a beneficial effect on the catchment area, which is positively influenced by Basel's geographical location and the associated large number of cross-border commuters. As a university location, the Canton of Basel-Stadt also has access to significant human capital.

Placed among renowned educational establishments worldwide, the University of Basel compounds the worldwidely acknowledged Shanghai ranking of the Swiss universities. In 2023, the University of Basel occupied 81th place out of 1,000 research and educational institutions, thereby underscoring the significance of Basel as an educational and research city with the oldest university in Switzerland and a history stretching back hundreds of years.