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A Ranking of the Human Development Atlas in Brazil Highlights Municipalities Outside Capitals with High Scores in Education, Income, and Longevity, Revealing the Concentration of Interior Cities Among the Top Positions and the Presence of Some Capitals at the Top.
A ranking of the Human Development Atlas in Brazil, developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), points to municipalities outside capitals with high results in education, income, and longevity.
The list brings together 50 cities with the highest Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI), an indicator used to compare the level of human development among municipalities.
Although some capitals appear in the top positions, the list mainly highlights interior cities, with a strong presence from the state of São Paulo and municipalities in Santa Catarina.
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Leading the list are São Caetano do Sul (SP), with an MHDI of 0.862, and Águas de São Pedro (SP), with a score of 0.854.
Municipal MHD: What the Indicator Measures in Brazil
The MHDI is an adaptation, for Brazilian municipalities, of the index used by the UN in international comparisons.
It encompasses three dimensions considered central to measuring living conditions: education, longevity, and income, according to the Atlas methodology.
The score ranges from 0 to 1, and values closer to 1 indicate better performance across that set of factors.
In the Atlas, municipalities with indices above 0.800 fall into the category of very high development, a classification used to organize and compare results.
The data from the Human Development Atlas in Brazil are produced by the UNDP in partnership with Ipea and the João Pinheiro Foundation.
In the municipal analysis, the Atlas works with information from the Demographic Censuses of 1991, 2000, and 2010, according to the project’s own methodology.
This analysis helps compare municipalities using the same calculation standard but also imposes a temporal limit.
For this reason, the numbers in the ranking do not reflect changes that occurred after the last Census used by the Atlas for this municipal series.
Cities with the Highest MHD: Interior of São Paulo and South Lead
In the set of the 50 highest scores, São Paulo has a large number of municipalities, including cities from the interior and the metropolitan region.
In Santa Catarina, the ranking features cities with a recurring presence in the top MHDI ranges, which the Atlas records as a result of the combination of income, education, and longevity.
Among the top placements, in addition to São Caetano do Sul and Águas de São Pedro, are Florianópolis (SC), with 0.847, and a tie at 0.845 between Vitória (ES) and Balneário Camboriú (SC).
Next are Santos (SP), with 0.840, and Niterói (RJ), with 0.837.
Following the top 10, the Atlas lists Joaçaba (SC), with 0.827, as well as Brasília (DF), with 0.824, and Curitiba (PR), with 0.823.
The presence of capitals in this group, along with medium-sized municipalities, indicates that the ranking brings together different urban profiles within the same measurement criteria.
Ranking of MHD: The 50 Cities with the Best Indices
According to the UNDP Atlas, the group of the 50 highest scores includes, in order of placement and with ties when the index is the same, São Caetano do Sul (SP) 0.862, Águas de São Pedro (SP) 0.854, Florianópolis (SC) 0.847, Vitória (ES) 0.845, and Balneário Camboriú (SC) 0.845, followed by Santos (SP) 0.840, Niterói (RJ) 0.837, and Joaçaba (SC) 0.827.
Next are Brasília (DF) 0.824, Curitiba (PR) 0.823, Jundiaí (SP) 0.822, Valinhos (SP) 0.819, and Vinhedo (SP) 0.817.
In the following range, Araraquara (SP) 0.815 and Santo André (SP) 0.815, in addition to Santana de Parnaíba (SP) 0.814, Nova Lima (MG) 0.813, Ilha Solteira (SP) 0.812, Americana (SP) 0.811, and Belo Horizonte (MG) 0.810 are listed.
With an MHDI of 0.809 are Joinville (SC) and São José (SC), followed by Maringá (PR) 0.808 and São José dos Campos (SP) 0.807.
At 0.806, the Atlas points to Presidente Prudente (SP), Blumenau (SC), and Rio Fortuna (SC).
The block at 0.805 includes Assis (SP), Campinas (SP), São Bernardo do Campo (SP), São Carlos (SP), São Paulo (SP), and Porto Alegre (RS).
Following are Rio Claro (SP) 0.803 and Jaraguá do Sul (SC) 0.803, as well as Rio do Sul (SC) 0.802.
With 0.801 are Bauru (SP), Pirassununga (SP), and São Miguel do Oeste (SC).
At 0.800, the ranking registers Vila Velha (ES), Botucatu (SP), Ribeirão Preto (SP), Taubaté (SP), and Concórdia (SC).
At the end of the list are Rio de Janeiro (RJ) 0.799 and Goiânia (GO) 0.799.
With 0.798 are Guaratinguetá (SP), Marília (SP), and Sorocaba (SP).
The ranking concludes with Fernandópolis (SP) 0.797, in the submitted list.
Quality of Life and MHD: How to Read the Index Without Distortions
The MHDI is a synthetic indicator and, for that reason, does not alone describe the entire reality of a municipality.
The index does not directly include items such as cost of living, urban mobility, crime rate, or specific sanitation conditions, which requires caution when using the ranking as an automatic synonym for “best city to live in.”
Still, the Atlas is used as a reference because it standardizes the comparison between municipalities and allows for the observation of human development patterns within the country.
In general, analyses that use the MHDI often cross the index with other indicators to detail the local context and reduce the risk of oversimplified interpretation.
In this sense, the list also draws attention to cities outside of daily national news by showcasing smaller municipalities with high performance in the dimensions measured by the indicator.
On the other hand, the presence of capitals and large centers indicates that networks of services, labor markets, and urban infrastructure also reflect in the scores, within what the MHDI captures.
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