The following article lists the cities and metropolitan areas with the greatest scientific output, according to the Nature Index. The Nature Index attempts to objectively measure the scientific output of institutions, cities and countries by the amount of scientific articles and papers published in leading journals. Differences in quality are taken into account. Only articles published in 82 selected quality journals are counted. All these journals are in the English language. They were selected by a committee. If authors from several institutions from different cities are involved in a scientific article, it is divided accordingly, assuming that all researchers were equally involved in the article.
In 2025, Beijing was the city in the world with the largest scientific output , followed by Shanghai in second and New York City in third. Overall, China has the most cities in the top 100 list with 28, followed by the United States with 27.
List Listed below are the top 100 cities and metropolitan areas with the highest share of articles published in scientific journals in 2024, according to the Nature Index 2025 Science Cities: RankCity/Metro areaCountry/Region1Beijing2Shanghai3New York metropolitan area4Boston metropolitan area5Nanjing6Guangzhou7San Francisco Bay Area8Wuhan9Baltimore-Washington10Hangzhou11Tokyo12Hefei13Seoul14Paris15Tianjin16Xi'an17Los Angeles18Shenzhen19London20Hong Kong21Chengdu22Chicago23Changsha24Changchun25Singapore26Philadelphia27Jinan28Zürich29Cambridge30Munich31Qingdao32Berlin33Suzhou34San Diego35Chongqing36Seattle37Houston38Oxford39Melbourne40Xiamen41Fuzhou42Dalian43Harbin44Toronto45Atlanta46Ann Arbor47Copenhagen48Lanzhou49Sydney50Barcelona51Madrid52Daejeon53Stockholm54Montreal55Lausanne56Vienna57Kyoto58Zhengzhou59Pittsburgh60St. Louis61Amsterdam metropolitan area62Taipei63Heidelberg64Boulder65Osaka66Tsukuba67Dallas–Fort Worth68Austin69Ithaca70Nanchang71Brisbane72Milan73Madison74Minneapolis–Saint Paul75Durham76Nagoya metropolitan area77Vancouver78Dresden79Chapel Hill80Urbana81Rome82Shenyang83Kunming84Moscow85Ningbo86State College87Edinburgh88Denver89Hamburg90Leuven91Geneva92Kolkata93Columbus94Bengaluru95Manchester96Central National Capital Region (Delhi)97Mumbai98Zhenjiang99Helsinki100Nashville
Leading cities in different fields The 10 cities and metropolitan areas with the highest share of articles published in the fields of biological sciences, Earth & environmental sciences, chemistry, health sciences, natural sciences and physical sciences: RankChemistryPhysical sciencesEarth & environmental sciencesNatural sciencesBiological sciencesHealth sciences1 Beijing Beijing Beijing Beijing New York metropolitan area Boston metropolitan area2 Shanghai Shanghai Nanjing Shanghai Boston metropolitan area New York metropolitan area3 Nanjing Nanjing Guangzhou Nanjing Beijing Baltimore-Washington4 Guangzhou Wuhan Shanghai New York metropolitan area San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco Bay Area5 Wuhan Seoul metropolitan area Baltimore-Washington Guangzhou Baltimore-Washington London metropolitan area6 Hefei Guangzhou Wuhan Boston metropolitan area Shanghai Beijing7 Hangzhou New York metropolitan area New York metropolitan area Wuhan London metropolitan area Shanghai8 Tianjin Hefei Hangzhou San Francisco Bay Area Paris metropolitan area Philadelphia MA9 Xi’an Boston metropolitan area Los Angeles metropolitan area Hangzhou Guangzhou Paris metropolitan area10 Changchun San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco Bay Area Hefei Los Angeles metropolitan area Guangzhou
See also
Innovation Cluster Rating
Notes
References