What matters most?
Ranking
Shortlist compare
How could you move to Lithuania?
Without an EU passport, a move to Lithuania starts with a visa or residence permit. Move Me To EU, Karte Global's visa and relocation service, compares the visa routes open to Americans in Lithuania and across the EU.
Have a parent or grandparent from Germany, Italy, Ireland or Poland? You may have a claim to EU citizenship by descent, which carries the right to live in Lithuania. A 30-minute screening call tells you whether a closer look is worthwhile.
Built a shortlist? The Country Match Review ($49) is a written second look at your top places, returned within 48 hours. Send your ranking with "Email or share this ranking" above. Get my shortlist reviewed
Best places to live in Lithuania with every factor weighted equally
The ranking at the top of this page starts with all 14 factors at the same weight. On that footing, these 15 of the 43 places score highest; the number beside each is its match score out of 100. Treat the list as a starting point, not a verdict: raise the factors you care about and the order changes. Select a place to open its full breakdown.
- 179Strongest on international community (100), healthcare (100) and rail connections (100). Weakest on housing cost (0). International community: 2.1% of residents were not Lithuanian citizens in the 2021 census (Lithuanian average 1%).
- 270Strongest on healthcare (100), cultural scene (100) and walkability (100). Weakest on housing cost (0). Healthcare: 3 hospital sites within 15 km. 113.1 hospital beds per 10,000 residents in the municipality, 2025 (shown only).
- 362Strongest on international community (100), walkability (100) and restaurants and bars (96). Weakest on international schools (0). International community: 1.8% of residents were not Lithuanian citizens in the 2021 census (Lithuanian average 1%).
- 460Strongest on restaurants and bars (100), cultural scene (100) and walkability (100). Weakest on housing cost (0). Restaurants and bars: the average resident has 15 restaurants, cafes and bars within 1 km.
- 558Strongest on housing cost (100), childcare coverage (100) and walkability (89). Weakest on international schools (0). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 655Strongest on housing cost (100), access to nature (100) and safety (84). Weakest on international schools (0). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 755Strongest on housing cost (100), rail connections (96) and airport access (92). Weakest on international schools (0). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 849Strongest on housing cost (100), airport access (91) and access to nature (81). Weakest on international schools (0). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 949Strongest on housing cost (100), access to nature (100) and safety (99). Weakest on international schools (0). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 1049Strongest on housing cost (100), restaurants and bars (100) and cultural scene (84). Weakest on international schools (0). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 1149Strongest on housing cost (100), rail connections (100) and airport access (98). Weakest on public transit (5). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 1248Strongest on healthcare (100), rail connections (98) and housing cost (93). Weakest on restaurants and bars (0). Healthcare: 9 hospital sites within 15 km.
- 1347Strongest on childcare coverage (100), cultural scene (89) and bike friendliness (87). Weakest on international schools (0). Childcare coverage: 68.5% of children under 3 in pre-school education, 2025 (Lithuanian average 44.2%).
- 1445Strongest on housing cost (100), childcare coverage (87) and access to nature (80). Weakest on international schools (0). Housing cost: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
- 1544Strongest on healthcare (100), housing cost (93) and rail connections (84). Weakest on cultural scene (9). Healthcare: 3 hospital sites within 15 km.
Best places in Lithuania by priority
Each starting point is a preset in the tool above. It raises the factors named and lowers a few others. The five highest-scoring places under each:
Family raises safety, access to nature and international schools to 5, and healthcare, walkability and childcare coverage to 4.
- Vilnius, Vilnius County: 74
- Kaunas, Kaunas County: 64
- Vilnius district, Vilnius County: 55
- Alytus, Alytus County: 51
- Druskininkai, Alytus County: 51
Budget first raises housing cost to 5, and bike friendliness, healthcare, rail connections, public transit and walkability to 4.
- Alytus, Alytus County: 70
- Vilnius, Vilnius County: 67
- Kaunas, Kaunas County: 66
- Elektrėnai, Vilnius County: 63
- Druskininkai, Alytus County: 58
Car-free raises bike friendliness, public transit and walkability to 5, and rail connections to 4.
- Vilnius, Vilnius County: 80
- Kaunas, Kaunas County: 78
- Klaipėda, Klaipėda County: 75
- Šiauliai, Šiauliai County: 71
- Alytus, Alytus County: 67
Frequent flyer raises rail connections and airport access to 5, and international community, restaurants and bars and cultural scene to 4.
- Vilnius, Vilnius County: 95
- Kaunas, Kaunas County: 81
- Elektrėnai, Vilnius County: 66
- Klaipėda, Klaipėda County: 64
- Šiauliai, Šiauliai County: 64
Questions about where to live in Lithuania
What is the best place to live in Lithuania?
It depends on what you need from a place, which is why the Lithuania City Finder re-ranks as you set your priorities. With all 14 factors weighted equally, Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda score highest of the 43 places compared. Change the starting point and the answer changes: Family puts Vilnius first, Budget first puts Alytus first, Car-free puts Vilnius first and Frequent flyer puts Vilnius first.
What are the best places to live in Lithuania for families?
The Family starting point raises safety, access to nature and international schools to 5, and healthcare, walkability and childcare coverage to 4. With it, Vilnius, Kaunas, Vilnius district, Alytus and Druskininkai score highest.
Which places in Lithuania are easiest to live in without a car?
The Car-free starting point raises bike friendliness, public transit and walkability to 5, and rail connections to 4. With it, Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Alytus score highest.
Where is housing most affordable in Lithuania?
32 places share the top score on the housing cost factor. The largest of them are Marijampolė, Mažeikiai, Alytus, Kėdainiai and Jonava. Marijampolė: average price 933 € per m², resale flats, 2024 and 2025 average. Figure for towns that are a municipality's seat: none is published for the place alone.
Which places in Lithuania score highest for safety?
On the safety factor, the highest scores go to Neringa, Klaipėda district, Druskininkai, Šiauliai district and Šilalė. Neringa: 0 violent crimes and 7.3 thefts from homes per 100,000 residents a year, 2023 to 2025 (Lithuanian average 20 and 22.9). The safety score is built from official crime figures. A low score means more recorded crime than other places on this list, not that a place is unsafe; How the scores work explains the measure.
Where does the data come from?
The Lithuania City Finder compares 43 places on 14 factors using official statistics and open data. The figure behind every score is shown beside it, and each source is listed under How the scores work and at the foot of this page. The methodology sets out how every city finder turns figures into scores.
Does the City Finder tell me whether I can move to Lithuania?
No. It is an informational research tool that compares places using general statistics. It does not assess eligibility for any visa, residence permit or citizenship, and nothing in it is legal, immigration, tax or financial advice. For visa and residence routes, see Move Me To EU.
About the Lithuania City Finder
The Lithuania City Finder compares 43 places across Lithuania on 14 factors: housing cost, safety, bike friendliness, access to nature, international community, healthcare, rail connections, airport access, public transit, restaurants and bars, cultural scene, walkability, international schools and childcare coverage. Every factor starts at the same weight. Raise the ones you care about, lower or switch off the ones you don't, and the ranking and map re-sort as you go. You can shortlist places, compare them side by side, and copy a link that reopens your exact setup. Vilnius and Kaunas open up into their neighborhoods.
It is built for Americans weighing a move to Lithuania, whether through citizenship by descent, a visa or another route, who want to turn a long list of places into a shortlist worth visiting. Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda are on the list, and so are smaller places that rarely make the usual rankings. Scores are built from official statistics and open data, the figure behind each score is shown next to it, and the sources are listed at the foot of this page. The methodology explains how a figure becomes a score.
For visa and residence routes, see Move Me To EU, Karte Global's visa and relocation practice. Considering more than one country? Browse every city finder, or compare places across the whole EU on one scale in the EU City Finder.
How the scores work
Each figure is turned into a 0 to 100 score. Most factors are scored half by comparison and half on a fixed scale. The comparison half ranks the places against each other: the weakest twentieth score 0 and the strongest twentieth score 100. The fixed half measures each place from zero up to the level of the strongest, so a city is not marked zero merely for coming last on a list of good options. Housing cost and journey times have no natural zero and are scored by comparison only. Public transit is already a percentage of residents and is used as it stands, and cycling is scored on a fixed scale (see the table).
Cities are compared with the other cities on this list. Neighborhoods are compared only with other neighborhoods of the same city, so a neighborhood's score says how it compares within Vilnius or Kaunas only. A score is a comparison, not a grade, and the figure behind every score is shown next to it.
Your overall match is not a flat average. Weights are squared, so a factor at 5 counts nearly three times as much as one at 3. The result is stretched so that strong matches separate from middling ones. A place that excels on something you rated 4 or 5 earns a small bonus, shown as "strong fit"; one that does badly on it takes a penalty, shown as "weak fit". Where a place has no figure for a factor, that factor is left out of its match and the others carry the weight.
Badges: Measured a published official statistic or survey result. Derived calculated by us from published data. Editorial written or judged by us: only the short notes, which never affect a score. Planned not in the score yet.
Reading the safety score. Violent crime counts twice as much as theft from homes. Half of the score ranks the places on this list against each other, so the places with the most registered violence and theft from homes get little for that half however safe they are by international standards. The other half is absolute, on a fixed scale that does not depend on the other places: no registered violent crime or theft from homes would score 100, and the Lithuanian average scores 76. A low score means "more registered crime than other Lithuanian places", not "unsafe". Across Lithuania the police registered 20 violent crimes (homicide, serious bodily harm, rape and robbery) and 22.9 thefts from homes per 100,000 residents a year from 2023 to 2025. The figures are published by municipality, so a district municipality's rate covers its town and countryside together. Neighborhoods are not scored for safety.
Reading the housing figure. Flat prices are published for four groups of places only, so every place in a group shows the same price. The figure says how expensive that kind of place is; it does not separate one town from another, and the suburbs in the districts that ring Vilnius and Kaunas cost more than their group's average.
Reading the train and airport figures. Train counts and journey times come from the published timetables for one ordinary Tuesday, 17 November 2026. Engineering works, replacement buses and timetable changes move these figures, most of all for smaller stations. Every passenger train is counted, because Lithuania runs few trains and publishes nearly all of them as regional services. Stations within 2 km of a municipality's boundary count, so a place beside a big station shares its trains. Treat these factors as a snapshot of this season, and check a route you would rely on.
Neighborhood view uses the elderships (seniūnijos) of Vilnius and Kaunas, with residents and the share born abroad from the 2021 census population grid; no figures are published by eldership in open data. Prices, crime and childcare are not published by eldership, so they are not scored for neighborhoods. Municipality and eldership boundaries are those mapped in OpenStreetMap.