Gritty Tel Aviv Suburb Tops Local Life Quality List

Ramat Gan, a Tel Aviv suburb with a population of around 155,000, beats all major cities in the country in terms of life quality, according to a report published last week by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. The report measured 49 parameters including median household income, life expectancy, and the number of overweight children. Israelis, many of whom consider Ramat Gan to be a gritty, lackluster town, took to social media to mock the report. One user went as far as to jokingly ask if bribes were involved.

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Ramat Gan’s demographics include families with children and retirees as well as students seeking housing nearby to academic institutes including the Bar-Ilan University. Ramat Gan is also home to one of the world’s largest diamond exchanges, to Israel’s biggest zoo, the Zoological Center Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan, and to many of Israel’s tech companies. It is also home to some of the country’s foreign ambassadors, who choose to reside outside of Tel Aviv, where most embassies are located.

Mobike's bikes in Ramat Gan. Photo: Ilan Sapira

The town scored above the national average on 29 parameters, including household income, life expectancy, the number of high-school graduates, urban density, and employment satisfaction. It scored lower noise disturbance, trust in the government, and self-belief in the ability to solve problems. The town also scored above average on public transportation, a fact that did not deter three different mobility companies fromlaunching their pilots in the area: Bird, Mobike, and Lime. Chinese Ofo also tried its luck in the town but pulled out of Israel three months later.

Israel’s economic and cultural capital Tel Aviv came in fourth place, up from seventh last year. Scoring high on employment rates, high-school graduation rates, and self-perceived health estimates, it scored low on noise pollution, cancer rates, and the number of smokers.

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State capital Jerusalem came in at 12 out of the 14 cities surveyed, scoring lower than the national average on 35 parameters. Residents came in first place on two parameters—hope for the future and recycling—but lagged far behind on issues like average income per household and high-school graduation rates.

Coastal town Bat Yam closed the list at 14. Part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area with a population of around 130,000, the town scored below the national average on 23 out of its 33 available parameters. Bat Yam scored well on baby mortality and the number of fatal car accidents, but scored last on parameters such as life expectancy, financial satisfaction, and the number of overweight children.

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IsraelRamat GanLife QualityUrbanLife Style