Abstract: First-tier cities (such as Beijing and Shanghai) are currently grappling with the increasingly pressing challenge of talent outflow. Effectively retaining talent, particularly in high-tech fields, has emerged as a critical issue that cities must urgently address. While existing research predominantly focuses on attracting talent inflow, a comprehensive analysis of long-term talent retention strategies remains insufficient. Although some studies have begun exploring the relationship between urban characteristics and individuals’ intention to stay, a systematic theoretical model encompassing various factors has yet to be fully developed. The decision of talent residence involves a complex process of comprehensively considering the multi-dimensional urban factors, including economy, society, culture, and living environment. To gain a deeper understanding of talent retention, it is essential to comprehensively examine the diverse urban attractiveness factors that contribute to talent retention and the mechanisms by which they impact talent. In order to answer the above questions, this research constructs a research model that links the perceptions of urban attractiveness factors and talents’ intention to stay. Specifically, based on the theory of environmental psychology, this paper introduces well-being as the mediating mechanism to explain how the perception of urban attractiveness factors (including talent policy, economic development, cultural atmosphere, and living environment) affect talents’ intention to stay, because the environment can shape individual psychological well-being and then their attachment to the environment. To empirically validate this model, this research adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews. In the quantitative phase, we distributed questionnaires to 1200 high-tech employees, utilizing structural equation modeling for analysis. Subsequently, we conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 11 high-tech employees to further validate and interpret the quantitative findings, enhancing the reliability and depth of our conclusions. This study yields several key findings. Among the four urban attractiveness factors, only the perception of living environment has a significant direct impact on talents’ intention to stay. The higher the individual’s satisfaction with the urban living environment, the stronger their intention to stay. Further investigation of the mediating effect shows that individuals’ perception of urban talent policy, economic development, and living environment indirectly affect talents’ intention to stay by affecting their well-being, where the perception of living environment has stronger explanatory power than other factors. Furthermore, while individuals’ perception of living environment and economic development has a significant positive impact on well-being, the perception of talent policy has a relatively weak impact on well-being, and the perception of cultural atmosphere has no significant impact on well-being. We further explain the differentiated effects of different attractiveness factors based on interview data analysis. This research makes the following contributions. Theoretically, it interprets urban attractiveness factors from the perspective of individual subjective perception and systematically explores the impact of four key perceived urban attractiveness factors on talent intention to stay. This enriches the theoretical framework for studying retention intentions. Furthermore, the paper introduces well-being as a mediating mechanism, revealing the direct and indirect mechanisms through which the four urban attractiveness factors influence talent intention to stay. Practically, cities can adopt diverse measures to reduce talent outflow, with a particular focus on enhancing the urban living environment. When formulating and implementing policies, policymakers can fully consider the subjective perception and interpretation of policy effects by the audience. Finally, the well-being of talent in the city has become a critical factor influencing their residency decisions, warranting careful attention from city managers.