Best Places To live Ranking Data

  1. Home
  2. Best Places to live
  3. Top 100 Best Places to Live
  4. Ranking Data

2015 Top 100 Best Places to Live: Ranking data

NEW: See our Updated 2017 Ranking of the Best Places to Live!

 As Livability’s editors and writers crisscross the U.S in search of great stories, we find that time and again, the best tales are told in the Main Street diners, corner churches, park benches and even the mayor’s offices of small to mid-sized cites and towns. Far from letting time pass them by, these communities are doubling down on livability for their residents. Our second-annual ranking of the Top 100 Best Places to Live celebrates the work they are doing. As with our Top 100 Best Place to Live 2014 ranking, we worked with globally-known partners to analyze the best public and private data sources. We were advised by the leading thinkers, writers and doers in the place-making space. Some new places make the list, some move up or down and some continue to score well, no matter what the metric. More than 2,000 cities were ranked, so every city on this list is in the top 5 percent of livable communities in the U.S. Spend some time getting to know them, and when it comes time for your next move, maybe you'll think small.

Rank City Amenities Civic Demo. Econ Educat. Health Housing Infrast. LivScore
#1 Madison 77 65 59 61 77 78 83 65 705
#2 Rochester 70 70 58 65 77 77 75 56 685
#3 Arlington 76 72 73 44 88 64 60 64 680
#4 Boulder 73 71 44 44 89 77 74 69 679
#5 Palo Alto 86 78 73 30 70 70 62 71 679
#6 Berkeley 78 66 81 33 78 74 51 74 672
#7 Santa Clara 82 51 71 49 72 71 69 70 671
#8 Missoula 69 66 46 66 64 83 77 64 668
#9 Boise 81 62 59 56 77 72 68 55 665
#10 Iowa City 57 73 40 59 73 84 81 64 665
#11 Bozeman 65 82 33 62 81 81 65 62 664
#12 Asheville 74 54 73 56 79 71 71 51 663
#13 Ann Arbor 72 74 51 41 70 71 71 79 662
#14 Bellevue 89 65 82 40 71 65 52 62 660
#15 San Mateo 83 63 76 49 54 66 65 70 660
#16 Santa Barbara 92 59 68 43 73 74 49 64 656
#17 Overland Park 69 77 54 58 89 73 62 40 655
#18 Salt Lake City 81 42 69 52 71 67 71 70 655
#19 Rockville 73 80 73 55 55 64 65 59 655
#20 Eugene 85 62 52 49 70 70 76 59 654
#21 Pasadena 87 40 79 44 75 61 63 69 651
#22 Fargo 62 61 58 64 69 69 86 51 651
#23 Ventura 86 57 55 56 73 65 71 57 650
#24 Fort Collins 83 68 49 55 82 52 72 57 647
#25 Sunnyvale 80 64 77 46 62 53 66 67 645
#26 Mountain View 75 72 76 49 43 61 67 73 645
#27 St. Louis Park 57 62 61 67 74 62 74 59 645
#28 Santa Monica 85 56 61 46 85 61 55 65 644
#29 Durham 78 51 80 51 73 57 68 56 644
#30 Ames 52 78 29 58 74 76 81 63 639
#31 San Rafael 83 51 64 44 52 77 68 69 638
#32 Frederick 65 61 71 66 70 45 74 58 637
#33 Greenville 75 56 79 50 76 54 70 49 637
#34 Lakewood 80 55 65 52 74 63 66 53 636
#35 Provo 69 63 41 46 79 70 70 69 636
#36 Sandy Springs 74 61 88 50 83 50 56 43 635
#37 Lincoln 70 46 57 67 72 65 82 49 634
#38 Miami Beach 89 37 73 48 75 61 47 76 634
#39 Quincy 63 55 69 54 67 71 63 64 634
#40 Cambridge 70 59 60 45 79 70 50 70 633
#41 Sioux Falls 69 57 61 69 74 57 78 43 633
#42 Towson 66 69 65 35 85 51 67 65 632
#43 Tempe 80 41 63 54 79 64 56 67 632
#44 Portland 54 55 44 57 75 86 53 78 632
#45 Alameda 68 56 72 44 74 61 59 69 632
#46 Renton 67 34 80 73 51 67 76 58 632
#47 Bellingham 74 60 52 47 68 75 63 64 631
#48 Beaverton 74 57 62 63 66 56 70 58 631
#49 Fullerton 78 42 78 47 73 63 62 60 631
#50 Columbia 68 65 54 55 74 70 72 47 631
#51 Bismarck 63 69 64 68 62 57 76 45 630
#52 Helena 51 85 50 62 56 65 74 61 630
#53 Irvine 91 68 68 33 91 53 43 55 630
#54 Reno 85 43 70 45 79 63 57 58 629
#55 Olympia 66 70 60 53 51 58 77 68 629
#56 Santa Cruz 79 65 48 42 53 78 62 75 629
#57 West Des Moines 58 69 67 65 69 62 71 40 629
#58 Honolulu 87 24 71 45 81 66 57 69 628
#59 Eau Claire 56 67 43 71 61 75 82 49 628
#60 Ashland 69 79 39 50 61 67 66 70 627
#61 Monterey 83 68 72 39 62 60 49 66 626
#62 Chapel Hill 60 76 57 35 75 70 65 59 624
#63 Alexandria 67 68 73 54 43 60 72 61 624
#64 North Bethesda 57 79 84 52 43 66 60 58 624
#65 Cedar Rapids 66 67 50 67 72 60 72 46 623
#66 Lexington 76 60 68 42 83 58 65 44 623
#67 White Plains 66 67 70 40 60 65 60 68 622
#68 Costa Mesa 79 42 57 58 73 70 52 66 622
#69 Corvallis 52 80 35 47 70 77 72 63 621
#70 Manhattan 51 73 45 57 76 70 70 54 621
#71 Tampa 86 31 80 41 76 56 59 64 620
#72 Silver Spring 58 52 75 61 48 61 79 62 620
#73 Kirkland 75 63 63 49 63 68 53 61 619
#74 Lawrence 68 66 36 62 72 64 72 56 619
#75 Westminster 81 59 56 72 69 57 57 46 619
#76 Bend 81 64 53 53 74 69 50 49 618
#77 Redmond 69 64 70 50 62 66 53 60 618
#78 Santa Rosa 86 50 63 49 44 76 65 60 618
#79 Goleta 75 73 69 62 37 67 55 56 617
#80 Knoxville 78 47 61 47 77 63 75 43 617
#81 Stamford 80 52 82 34 52 61 62 68 617
#82 Des Moines 68 30 62 68 58 71 71 63 614
#83 Fayetteville 71 66 55 51 76 65 60 47 614
#84 Denton 68 57 71 57 63 49 71 55 613
#85 Springfield 74 46 54 48 72 72 73 50 613
#86 Orlando 78 26 85 58 71 59 50 60 612
#87 Menlo Park 68 79 71 29 52 67 52 70 612
#88 Salem 81 44 54 54 64 60 76 55 611
#89 Burbank 77 44 65 53 57 63 66 62 610
#90 Hayward 74 24 77 51 56 72 64 68 610
#91 Greensboro 75 44 79 52 75 52 68 41 609
#92 Charleston 78 60 76 41 69 58 56 48 609
#93 Richardson 70 59 82 54 80 28 60 54 609
#94 Tysons Corner 48 79 81 52 64 49 54 58 608
#95 La Crosse 50 62 39 58 53 86 71 66 607
#96 Grand Rapids 67 34 64 54 70 65 58 72 607
#97 Framingham 62 49 68 57 62 66 71 50 607
#98 Billings 69 55 55 66 55 58 79 50 606
#99 Brookline 65 80 65 30 71 70 38 63 606
#100 Coral Gables 87 62 75 31 68 51 49 59 606

Recent top 100 lists

Recent top 10 lists

Best places to live partners

Best places to live ranking