The survey, carried out earlier this year and released yesterday, showed 85% of Dunedin residents agreed the city was a great place to live.
Next highest were Christchurch, Greater Wellington and Tauranga, all on 81%.
A high proportion of Dunedin residents also rated their quality of life positively (87%).
They were seemingly less enthusiastic about the Dunedin City Council.
Rangahau te Korou o te Ora — Quality of Life Survey is carried out every two years across New Zealand’s nine largest urban areas — Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Hutt, Porirua, Wellington City, the greater Wellington region, Christchurch and Dunedin.
The survey took place between March 28 and June 13 this year and the total sample was 7518. Dunedin had 719 respondents.
Dunedin mayor-elect Jules Radich said the results reinforced Dunedin’s reputation as a fantastic city in which to live, work, study and play.
"Nearly all [95%] Dunedin people surveyed feel safe in the city centre during the day, while 52% agreed that their current housing costs were affordable.
"Dunedin rated higher than anywhere else in the country on both these measures."
Traffic congestion was considered less of an issue in Dunedin than in other centres, but parking was perceived to be a significant problem.
Mr Radich said the survey revealed some areas of concern.
"For example, only one-quarter of Dunedin residents surveyed said they had confidence in council decision-making, while just 28% felt that the public had [more than a small influence] on council decision-making.
"As the newly-elected mayor, one of my first priorities is to restore the community’s trust and confidence in the council and start to turn these numbers around," Mr Radich said.
Tauranga had the highest overall rating for quality of life (90%), followed by Wellington City (89%), Hutt and Greater Wellington (both 88%) and Dunedin (87%).
