The Best Places to Live in America

Denver Skyline. Photo by Hogs555
Denver Skyline. Photo by Hogs555

Every year US News and World Report evaluates US cities to find the 50 best places to live. Many parameters are universally desired, such as how affordable is the housing, are there well-paying jobs in the vicinity, are other expenses low, how are the schools, and what is the quality of the healthcare? Other issues are more subjective, such as the weather, the politics, and how far away are family members.

The newspaper then got the data on 100 US cities and divided it all into five main indexes: job market, value, quality of life, desirability, net migration. “Value” is a combination of annual household income versus the cost of living. “Quality of life” looks at crime, college readiness, commuting, and other factors.

Here are the top ten of the top fifty places to live in the USA:

  1. Denver, Colorado
  2. Austin, Texas
  3. Fayetteville, Arkansas
  4. Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina
  5. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  6. Boise, Idaho
  7. Seattle, Washington
  8. Washington, DC
  9. San Francisco, California
  10. San Jose, California

About Michelle Grathers

Michelle Grathers is an international tax expert. She has consulted for a variety of firms and high net worth individuals on all tax- and legal-related issues. She also helps new companies develop payroll services, statutory audits and mergers and acquisitions. Contact Michelle at michelle[at]businessdistrict.com