# How much climate choice remains after choosing a country

> Does choosing a country decide your climate? Across 17,843 cities in 32 countries, city-level differences account for 50.4% of seasonal-spread variation.

Published 2026-08-06 · Maksim Streltcov · https://immigrationdb.com/research/country-city-climate-choice/

The packet covers 17,892 cities in 39 countries; the variance analysis uses 17,843 cities in the 32 countries with at least 20 observations. Of the variation in seasonal temperature spread, 49.6% lies between countries and 50.4% within them. In this city-weighted sample, choosing the city can matter about as much as choosing the country, although the balance differs sharply by destination.

## What we measured
## What the data shows
## Where it breaks down
## What this means if you are moving
## Limits
## Method
## Sources

## Questions

**Does choosing a country decide what climate you will live in?**

Only partly. Across 17,843 cities in the 32 countries with at least 20 observations, 49.6% of the variance in seasonal temperature spread lies between countries and 50.4% lies within them. The balance is not identical everywhere: city choice changes little in Ireland but changes the result substantially in the United States.

**Which country has the greatest city-to-city climate variation?**

The United States has the widest observed city range among the 32 reportable countries: 41.8°C, from Roosevelt at 50.6°C to Koolauloa at 8.8°C. Both records use the 1991–2020 period. This is a range in seasonal temperature spread, not a ranking of which city has the best climate.

**Which country has the least city-to-city climate variation?**

Ireland has the narrowest observed range in the reportable sample. Seasonal spread runs from 15.4°C in Carrigaline to 17.6°C in Celbridge, a difference of 2.2°C. Both rows use city-grain 1991–2020 normals, so the choice between those places changes this particular climate measure only slightly.

**What does seasonal temperature spread mean?**

Seasonal spread is the warmest month’s average daily high minus the coldest month’s average daily low. It describes the temperature range built into a typical year. It is not the annual mean, a comfort score, or a forecast for the next summer or winter.

**Why can climate normals not predict next winter?**

A climate normal summarises a reference period, usually 1991–2020 in this dataset. It describes the long-run monthly average observed at a city or linked station. A future season can differ from that average, so the normal is useful for comparing typical conditions but cannot forecast a particular year.