№ 02 — The Index
The 25 cities with most sun, ranked.
Full ranked table of the 25 cities with most sun of 2026 by the annual sunshine hours at the World Meteorological Organization 1991 to 2020 baseline. Click the city name for the full profile.
No
City
Country
Sun hrs
Sunny days
Cloud cover %
Sun
06
United Arab Emirates
3560
280
28
9.6
07
United Arab Emirates
3500
278
30
9.6
08
Saudi Arabia
3500
278
28
9.6
14
South Africa
3100
254
38
9.2
The 2026 most sun ranking carries one structural shift against the 2025 edition. Albuquerque has lifted from a number 14 ranking in 2024 to the number 10 slot in 2026 on a structural sunshine composite read that the 2024 to 2025 NOAA New Mexico Climate Center published baseline confirmed at the 3,415 annual sunshine hour tier. Tel Aviv has lifted from a number 16 ranking in 2024 to the number 11 slot in 2026 on the structural eastern Mediterranean atmospheric pattern that delivers the 3,300 annual sunshine hour tier (the structurally highest of any Mediterranean coastal city above 500,000 population).
The full most sun ranking carries five geographies forward at the top quartile: the United States Sonoran and Mojave Desert cluster at six (Yuma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, Albuquerque, San Diego on the southern California coastal tier), the Middle Eastern cluster at five (Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Doha) on the structural Arabian and Saharan Desert atmospheric pattern, the Mediterranean cluster at six (Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, Marbella, Las Palmas, Valencia) on the structural Mediterranean atmospheric pattern, the North African cluster at two (Marrakesh, Casablanca) on the structural southern Atlas atmospheric pattern, and the Pacific plus Australian cluster at three (Honolulu, Perth, Cape Town) on the structural Pacific or Indian Ocean atmospheric pattern.
For the parallel filters: the cities with best weather ranking applies the year round climate composite filter, the cities with mild winters ranking applies the December through February temperature filter, and the cities with low humidity ranking applies the relative humidity filter. The cities for vitamin D ranking blends the sun axis with the latitude UVB intensity tier for the inbound vitamin D deficient relocator filter.
One editorial note on the sunshine composite weights. The everycity sun score blends three axes: the annual sunshine hours (60 percent weight), the percent of possible sunshine inverse cloud cover (25 percent), and the rain days inverse (15 percent). The structural read is that the sun composite favors the desert and Mediterranean baseline at the central tier; the tropical baseline (Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta) ranks at the high temperature tier but lags on the sun axis at the structural cloud cover plus rainfall envelope.
The structural patterns inside the 2026 most sun ranking are worth a paragraph on their own. The United States Sonoran and Mojave Desert cluster (Yuma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, Albuquerque) leads the absolute sunshine axis at the universal 3,400 plus annual sunshine hour baseline. The Middle Eastern cluster (Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Doha) runs the structural 3,400 to 3,800 annual sunshine hour baseline at the structural Arabian and Saharan Desert atmospheric pattern. The Mediterranean cluster (Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, Marbella, Las Palmas, Valencia) runs the structural 2,700 to 2,900 annual sunshine hour baseline at the structural Mediterranean atmospheric pattern.
For the relocator running a five to ten year horizon at any of the most sun top 25, the structural recommendation is to verify the sun read at the specific microclimate tier rather than the broader municipal average. The Lisbon central tier runs the sun read at the 2,800 hour annual tier; the Lisbon Sintra microclimate runs structurally cloudier at the 2,400 hour tier on the universal Atlantic ridge exposure. The Athens central tier runs the sun read at the 2,847 hour tier; the Athens northern Penteli microclimate runs structurally cooler and slightly cloudier at the 600 to 1,000 meter elevation tier.
For the parallel comparison view: the Phoenix vs Las Vegas, the Dubai vs Doha, the Lisbon vs Malaga, the Madrid vs Athens, the Marrakesh vs Casablanca, the Honolulu vs Perth walks of the same sunshine axes. For the affiliate stack: Booking.com covers the inbound test stay window, Wise handles the inbound transfer at within 0.4 percent of mid market across the USD, EUR, AED, QAR, MAD, EGP, ILS, ZAR, AUD currency pair set.
№ 04 — How We Scored
The methodology, in full.
A transparent walk of the cities with most sun axes, the data sources, and the editorial decisions behind the 2026 ranking.
The score
Three axes, weighted to hours.
The sun composite score blends three axes: the annual sunshine hours (60 percent weight), the percent of possible sunshine inverse cloud cover (25 percent), and the annual rain days inverse (15 percent). Normalized to a 1 to 10 scale across the global ranked field where higher is sunnier.
Data sources
WMO 1991-2020 normals.
The sun axis primary source is the World Meteorological Organization 1991 to 2020 Climatological Normals, cross referenced against the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2025 publication and the relevant national met service published baseline (Met Eireann, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Bureau of Meteorology Australia, Japan Meteorological Agency, Servicio Meteorologico Nacional Spain, Egyptian Meteorological Authority, etcetera). The reading reflects the central municipal observation station baseline.
What we exclude
UV intensity and skin cancer risk.
The sun composite score does not weight the UVB intensity axis or the structural skin cancer risk axis. The Phoenix, Las Vegas, Yuma, Tucson, Albuquerque, Riyadh, Cairo, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Marrakesh cluster carries an elevated UVB index reading at the central summer tier (the WHO 2025 UVB index reading exceeds 11 on 90 to 180 days per year across the listed cluster, against the global ranked field median at 8 to 9 days). The structural recommendation for the long term inbound relocator weighing the sun axis is to weight the UVB skin cancer risk at the explicit shadow weight on the broader fit decision plus the structural sunscreen and shade discipline at the central daily routine.
What we include
Composite scoring at the city tier.
Every city in the sun index is also scored on the everycity 10 point index that weights cost, safety, healthcare, weather, jobs, and ten more axes. The sun composite score isolates the sunshine sub axis from the broader index. We exclude any city scoring below 5.0 on the broader index even where the absolute sun reading is the strongest in the world.
One editorial note on the structural seasonal sunshine distribution axis. The sun composite favors the structural year round high sunshine baseline; the Mediterranean cluster (Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, Marbella, Valencia) runs the structurally tight 12 to 14 sunshine hours per day in the May through August window plus the structurally moderate 4 to 6 sunshine hours per day in the November through February window. The desert cluster (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Cairo, Riyadh, Dubai) runs the structurally tight 10 to 13 sunshine hours per day across the year (the structural Arabian and Sonoran Desert atmospheric pattern delivers the structural year round high sunshine baseline at the universal absence of a structural cloudy week).
One note on the structural altitude axis at the Albuquerque entry (number 10). The Albuquerque elevation runs at 1,620 meters at the central tier (the structural highest elevation of any major United States city above 500,000 population). The structural altitude UVB index runs at the structurally elevated tier above the absolute sunshine hour reading would suggest; the structural recommendation for the inbound relocator weighing the Albuquerque axis is to weight the altitude sunburn risk at the explicit 5 percent additional shadow weight against the absolute sunshine reading.
For the inbound relocator weighing the most sun cities, the practical first 90 day stack reads: a Wise multi currency account for the inbound transfer at the structural mid market rate, a SafetyWing Nomad Plus health insurance covering the first 12 months on the ground including the structural skin cancer screening tier, a 28 night Booking.com stay at the central tier for the test window, and the long term lease search via Realtor.com in the United States cluster, PropertyFinder in the GCC cluster, or Idealista in the Iberian cluster.
The structural patterns inside the most sun top 25 read with one final axis worth a paragraph. The structural shoulder season axis runs deepest in the United States Sonoran and Mojave Desert cluster (Yuma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson) at the universal pleasant October through April window plus the structurally extreme July through August summer envelope. The Middle Eastern cluster (Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Doha) runs the structural pleasant November through March window plus the structural extreme May through September summer envelope. The Mediterranean cluster (Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, Marbella, Valencia) runs the structural year round pleasant envelope at the structural mild winter plus moderate summer baseline.
The structural read on the sunshine axis at the global ranked field carries one editorial lens worth a paragraph. The 2026 most sun top 25 runs structurally the desert plus Mediterranean baseline at the 2,750 to 4,015 annual sunshine hour band; the broader global ranked field runs the structural floor at the 1,400 hour annual baseline at the structurally cloudy temperate baseline (London at 1,633 hours, Reykjavik at 1,290 hours, Glasgow at 1,272 hours, Seattle at 2,170 hours). The structural recommendation for the inbound vitamin D deficient or seasonal affective relocator on the sun axis is to verify the personal year round sunshine tolerance plus the structural UVB index at the central tier across the year.
The 2026 most sun cities ranking covers the inbound long term relocator decision tree across five structural fits. The first fit runs the United States Sonoran and Mojave Desert baseline at Yuma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, Albuquerque on the structural 3,415 plus annual sunshine hour tier plus the structural 21C plus winter daily mean. The second fit runs the Middle Eastern Arabian Desert baseline at Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Doha on the structural 3,440 plus annual sunshine hour tier plus the structurally extreme summer envelope. The third fit runs the Mediterranean Iberian plus Greek baseline at Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, Marbella, Las Palmas, Valencia on the structural 2,696 to 2,900 annual sunshine hour tier plus the structural year round pleasant envelope. The fourth fit runs the North African baseline at Marrakesh, Casablanca on the structural 2,950 to 3,015 annual sunshine hour tier. The fifth fit runs the Pacific plus Southern Hemisphere baseline at Honolulu, San Diego, Perth, Cape Town, Antalya on the structural 2,830 to 3,200 annual sunshine hour tier plus the structural Pacific or Indian Ocean atmospheric pattern.
The structural seasonal sunshine distribution axis across the most sun top 25 reads with three tiers. The structural year round high sunshine baseline runs deepest at the United States Sonoran and Mojave Desert cluster (Yuma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson) at the universal 8 to 13 sunshine hours per day across the year. The structural Middle Eastern cluster (Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Doha) runs the structural 9 to 12 sunshine hours per day across the year. The Mediterranean cluster (Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, Marbella, Las Palmas, Valencia) runs the structurally tight 12 to 14 sunshine hours per day in the May through August summer window plus the structurally moderate 4 to 6 sunshine hours per day in the November through February winter window.
The structural UVB skin cancer risk axis across the most sun top 25 reads with three tiers. The structural extreme UVB tier at the 11 plus daily UV index across the May through August summer envelope covers Yuma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tucson, Albuquerque, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Doha, Marrakesh, Tel Aviv, Larnaca on the structural desert and southern Mediterranean baseline. The structural high UVB tier at the 8 to 11 daily UV index across the May through August window covers Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Malaga, Marbella, Valencia, Antalya, Casablanca, Honolulu, San Diego, Perth, Cape Town. The structural recommendation for the long term inbound relocator weighing the sun axis is to weight the UVB skin cancer risk at the structural sunscreen plus shade discipline at the central daily routine plus the annual dermatologic screening at the structural participating clinic tier.
One final note on the most sun top 25 selection between the absolute sunshine tier and the structural lifestyle fit tier. The Yuma pick (number 1) suits the inbound pursuing the absolute highest annual sunshine baseline at the trade off of the small absolute population at 100,000; the Phoenix pick (number 2) suits the inbound pursuing the universal Sonoran Desert atmospheric pattern plus the 5.0 million metropolitan tier career and dating pool; the Las Vegas pick (number 3) suits the inbound pursuing the universal Mojave Desert atmospheric pattern plus the structural entertainment and gambling tier; the Tucson pick (number 5) suits the inbound pursuing the structural Sonoran Desert plus mid sized university town infrastructure; the Lisbon pick (number 24) suits the EU passport holder or the qualifying inbound on the D7 or D8 visa pursuing the structural Mediterranean atmospheric pattern at the structurally lower cost basket plus the structural year round mild envelope. The structural recommendation across the entire most sun top 25 is to verify the personal UVB index tolerance plus the structural sunscreen and shade discipline at the central tier across the year. The long term inbound relocator on the sun axis carries the structural year round high sunshine baseline plus the structural elevated UVB skin cancer risk tier; the structural sunscreen routine plus annual dermatologic screening at the participating clinic tier runs the structural mitigation pathway at the central daily routine. The structural recommendation is to test the personal sun fit at the structural 28 to 90 night central tier stay before the long term lease commitment. The structural recommendation across the parallel filters is to verify the year round climate read against the broader cities with best weather composite, the structural humidity read against the cities with low humidity ranking, and the structural mild winter read against the cities with mild winters ranking before the long term commitment.