And work and live: it became known how well Penza residents find a balance between earnings and rest

Where is it better to live and work: in a large metropolis with high salaries or in a small city where daily expenses may be lower? The answer depends not only on income, but also on the cost of housing, as well as opportunities to spend free time. Experts compared the regional centers of Russia on these indicators and found out what place Penza occupies among them.

According to the results of the Vedomosti study, Penza is located on the 32nd line of the rating of Russian cities in terms of work and life balance. In total, analysts evaluated 85 regional centers using data for 2025.

When compiling the rating, experts took into account two main criteria: the attractiveness of work and the comfort of the urban environment. The first indicator was determined by the median salary minus income tax and the cost of renting a one-room apartment. The remaining amount was compared with the regional subsistence minimum.

In Penza, the median salary, according to analysts, amounted to 64 thousand rubles. For comparison, in neighboring Saratov, the figure was the same, and in Ulyanovsk reached 68 thousand rubles.

After deducting the tax and costs of renting housing conditional net earnings in Penza amounted to 2.52 living wage. This is slightly higher than the average of 2.47 cities studied.

To assess the comfort of life, experts also studied leisure opportunities. According to Yandex Maps, there are 3,294 places for recreation and entertainment in Penza. Taking into account the number of such facilities, their estimates and population, the city received 18 points out of 100 in terms of the attractiveness of the urban environment.

According to the results of the study, Penza was ahead of a number of neighboring regional centers. So, Saratov took 53rd place, Ulyanovsk – 42nd, and Saransk – 49th. At the same time, above Penza are Samara, Voronezh and Cheboksary.

The leaders of the rating were Khanty-Mansiysk, Kazan, Krasnogorsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yekaterinburg. At the same time, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar received the highest estimates of the urban environment.

The authors of the study also divided cities into four categories: live and work, watch, travel and dream. Penza did not fall into any of the four groups, as they singled out the cities with the most pronounced characteristics.

Thus, Penza was in the first half of the rating. With a relatively low median salary, its position is supported by the ratio of income and rental costs. At the same time, the variety and attractiveness of leisure opportunities is noticeably inferior to the largest regional centers of the country.