U.S. News & World Report has published its 2024-2025 Best Places to Live in the U.S., which ranks 150 major cities based on value, desirability, job market and quality of life.
This year’s first place winner was Naples, Florida. U.S. News acknowledged the city is a “preferred retirement spot for the rich, powerful and cold-averse,” but it also praised the area’s “pristine beaches, sprawling golf courses, and fine dining and shopping” plus its proximity to Tampa and Miami. But despite the top ranking, Naples was faulted at several key considerations.
“Continued growth and development are exacerbating a lack of affordable homes in Naples,” said U.S. News. “And traffic, although nowhere near the levels seen in larger Florida metro areas, tends to choke roadways in the urban area during the winter months.”
Rounding out the top 10 were Boise, Idaho; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Greenville, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; Huntsville, Alabama; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Austin, Texas; and Boulder, Colorado.
On the flip side, Puerto Rico’s capital city San Juan placed last among the 150 cities as being among the best places to live. Also occupying the bottom ranks were Detroit, the Connecticut cities Hartford and New Haven, and Flint, Michigan.
This year’s rankings featured new data considerations that included a shift from the traditional metropolitan area-based data to city-based data, which resulted in many cities in the Midwest and South making their first appearances in the top 25.
“The incorporation of city-based data further localizes the Best Places to Live rankings, empowering those looking for a place to call home to consider factors directly impacting the livability and overall experiences associated with a given place,” said Erika Giovanetti, loans expert and reporter at U.S. News.
Giovanetti also noted the cities in the top 10 scored strong points for their job markets and quality of life.
“Rising concerns about career prospects, housing affordability and increased cost of goods and services are reflected in this year’s rankings,” said Giovanetti. “While quality of life remains the top priority for many Americans, a city’s value and job market are becoming increasingly important for those looking for a place to live.”
Photo: Charlie Anzman / Flickr Creative Commons
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After looking thru the rest of the cities, I find this article hard to believe. San Francisco cannot be rated #22, what with the rampant crime, tent city in front of San Francisco’ City Hall, where workers are told to work from home and there’s fence around it and not to mention the drug addicts/alcoholics (where the city is spending 5 million dollars to give the alcoholics shots of booze every day) and then there’s the maps of the city telling you where to avoid needles and feces in the city! Businesses closing and leaving the city, Union Square no longer the shopping hub it use to be, restaurants closing. High cost of housing, office buildings vacant.
Yes, it’s a beautiful city, from across the bay at night with the lights on. It’s so sad what happened to a once beautiful and vibrant city.
People want to get away from blue cities. It’s funny how people moving to my city and state will talk about the awful taxes, crime, drugs and horrible schools in their old, blue cities like NYC, but they are reluctant to admit that the Democrat party has ruined all of the blue cities and states.