As sky-high housing costs increasingly push people out of places like Los Angeles and New York, Americans are increasingly turning to small towns and rural villages to put down roots.
Millennials are moving farther and farther out into the suburbs, while remote workers have moved across the country to previously low-key places like Montana to capitalize on relatively more affordable housing and costs of living.
The influx of migrants to some of these small towns and villages has, in turn, increased housing costs and caused problems for residents – but not all places have passed the affordability threshold.
Livability, a media and marketing company that ranks places based on their quality of life, this week released its annual list of the 100 most livable small and midsize cities in the United States.
The list is limited to cities with populations under 500,000 and median home values below $500,000. That excludes places like Miami or Oakland, for example, which have fewer than half a million residents but whose median home prices are around $601,000 and $840,000, respectively.
Beyond home size and value, the list is based on the following factors: the economy, such as unemployment rates and job opportunities; housing and cost of living; amenities like museums, parks, shopping and nightlife; transportation, including walkability and median travel time; the environment, such as air quality and natural disaster risks; security; education; and health.
The data used to compile the list includes public sources, such as the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the IRS, as well as private sources, including satellite images and business records.
Livability’s list of 100 cities is not ranked in order, as you can filter and rank the list based on your top priorities. However, each city is assigned an overall livability score, or LivScore, using an algorithm that takes into account the above categories. All 100 cities can also be viewed on a map of the United States, allowing you to easily search by region or state.
The following ranking of the 10 best small and medium-sized cities to live in is based on overall livability scores.
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