The top 15 cities around the world where people get paid more to work less

Charles Platiau/Reuters

The French cities of Paris and Lyon rank in the top five for working less and earning more money.

• Paid vacation time allowance in the US, the only advanced country without a national vacation policy, is pretty miserable.
• Americans take less vacation time than a medieval peasant, in fact.
• Expert Market recently revealed the places around the world where workers have high salaries and a lot of vacation time.
• New York City is the only US city to make the top 15.

Vacation time allowance in the US after one year of employment is, arguably, pretty miserable.

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In fact, the US is the only advanced country without a national vacation policy. The average American today takes less time off than a medieval peasant, who enjoyed anywhere from eight weeks to half the year off.

Just 18% of American workers receive at least 15 vacation days a year, 38% receive 10 to 14 vacation days, 30% receive five to nine vacation days, and 8% get less than five days off, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To make matters worse, only 36% of Americans plan to use all of their vacation days this year, reports Bankrate. But that's for those who even receive days off. One-fifth of private US employers still don't offer their employees paid vacation time, according to a new report by Expert Market that reveals the best cities around the world for taking time off and earning high salaries.

In the report, Expert Market cross-referenced data from the Deutsche Bank Markets Research report and UBS to determine the ranking of 69 cities. Data for monthly net salary, paid vacation time, and hours worked were ranked, and individual rankings from each of these factors were combined to determine the cities that offer the most money for the least work.

New York City is the only US city that made the top 15, but failed to make it into the top 10. Those spots were dominated by Europe, making it the overall best place for working less and earning more money.

From Paris to London, see below for the top 15 cities around the world where workers get paid more to work less. All salaries are in US dollars.