Which counties in Kenya offer the best quality of life? In this post, we examine several key indicators of wellbeing and rank them to find the countries with the best quality of life.
Our Basic Access Index ranges from zero to one, with 1 being the highest quality of life and 0 being the worst quality of life. The scale is based on a composite score denoting access to basic infrastructure and amenities.
Quick Facts
- Nairobi is the best county in Kenya to live in, with an access index of 0.716.
- Kiambu is the 2nd best county to live in, with an access index of 0.690.
- The 3rd best county to live in is Nyeri, with an access index of 0.650.
- Mombasa is the 4th best county to live in, with an access index of 0.609
- The 5th best county to live in is Kirinyaga, with an access index of 0.608.
What is the Basic Access Index
Our Basic Access Index is a composite score highlighting access to essential infrastructure and amenities by county. It brings together 7 key components, including:
- Household access to electricity.[1]
- Household access to sanitation services.[2]
- Rural Access Index.[3]
- Population using the internet by county.[4]
- Access to piped water.[5]
- Access to formal financial services.[6]
- Access to healthcare.[7]
These components are weighted equally, and we arrive at the Basic Access Index by aggregating them into a composite index.[8] The chart below shows a ranking of the counties based on the Basic Access Index.
Top 20 best counties in Kenya to live in
- Nairobi – 0.716
- Kiambu – 0.690
- Nyeri – 0.650
- Mombasa – 0.609
- Kirinyaga – 0.608
- Murang’a – 0.577
- Uasin Gishu – 0.551
- Nakuru – 0.549
- Embu – 0.545
- Kisumu – 0.544
- Kajiado – 0.523
- Kericho – 0.520
- Machakos – 0.510
- Meru – 0.505
- Taita Taveta – 0.495
- Laikipia – 0.490
- Nyandarua – 0.487
- Tharaka Nithi – 0.483
- Trans Nzoia – 0.469
- Vihiga – 0.463
Counties with a high Basic Access Index also have a high Human Development Index.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a well-known measure of wellbeing across populations.
It measures wellbeing across three components:
- Knowledge – as measured by mean years of schooling and expected years of schooling
- Health – as measured by the life expectancy at birth.
- Standards of living – as measured by the Gross National Income per capita.
As of 2022, Kenya is a Medium Human Development country with an HDI of 0.601. Kenya’s life expectancy at birth in 2022 was 62.1 years, while the country’s Gross National Income (2017 PPP $) was $4,808.[9]
The expected years of schooling in Kenya in 2022 were 11.4 years, while the mean years of schooling were 7.7 years.
When we look at the relationship between the Basic Access Index and HDI, we find that those counties with a higher level of access to basic infrastructure and amenities also had higher standards of living.
For instance, Nairobi County, with the highest Basic Access Index of 0.716, also had the highest human development index of 0.771 in 2022.[10]
See Also
Endnotes
[1] In this metric, we look at household access to electricity by county as reported by the Commission on Revenue Allocation. Source: Commission on Revenue Allocation (2022). Kenya County Factsheets, Third Edition.
[2] These are households accessing improved sanitation services. Basic sanitation services allow for proper and safe handling of excreta. Source: Commission on Revenue Allocation (2022) Kenya County Factsheet, Third Edition.
[3] The Rural Access Index is the share of the population that lives within two kilometers of an all-weather road. Source: Kenya Roads Board (KRB). 2020. Kenya: Rural Access Index. https://maps.krb.go.ke/kenya-roads-board12769/maps/119381/7-rural-access-index#
[4] This indicator looks at internet penetration in the counties. Source: 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census: Distribution of the population by socioeconomic characteristics.
[5] This indicator measures households in Kenya with access to piped water. Source: 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census. Distribution of Population by Socioeconomic Characteristics. Vol. IV.
[6] This indicator measures financial inclusion in Kenya, which has a direct impact on a population's financial health. Source: CBK (2022). FinAccess Household Survey: County Perspective.
[7] This indicator measures whether a county has access to healthcare based on the time it takes individuals to get to the nearest health facility. We look at the share of the population using less than thirty minutes. Source: KNBS and ICF. 2023. Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022: Volume 1. Nairobi, Kenya, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: KNBS and ICF.
[8] We first get the z-scores for all the indicators and sum them up to get the composite score. We then convert the composite scores into legible values by norming the scale. We norm a county's composite score by subtracting it from the lowest composite score of all countries. We then divide the resulting value by the highest composite value of all counties minus the lowest composite score of all counties.
[9] UNDP (2024). Human Development Index. Accessed from https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI
[10] These figures are a decade old and underestimate current levels of human development. County HDI figures are from https://data.humdata.org/dataset/kenya-human-development-index-per-county.
