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2018 Top 100 Best Places to Live: Ranking Data

What makes a great place to live and how do we decide that? For starters, we don’t decide.

You do.

We poll the nation each year to find out what matters most in communities throughout the U.S. Is health care most important, or affordable housing? Which matters more, commute times or climate? We then source the best public and private data available to find the small to mid-sized cities, towns and villages that meet your standards of a Best Place to Live.

This year, nearly 2,300 cities were ranked on more than 40 data points measuring economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and health care.

City LivScore Amenities Civic Demo. Econ Educat. Health Housing Infrast.
Ann Arbor 694 82 86 51 64 89 77 58 45
Manhattan 693 67 66 40 80 85 71 83 54
Corvallis 689 70 80 36 71 77 78 72 59
Iowa City 688 61 80 47 76 58 84 78 54
Charlottesville 687 73 77 56 72 63 71 70 60
Palo Alto 674 71 90 63 52 93 80 44 51
Madison 674 65 74 46 74 69 85 61 56
Santa Cruz 669 71 71 50 65 75 82 66 50
Rochester 666 68 74 52 63 75 84 63 48
Bellevue 666 63 79 66 53 78 74 62 62
Overland Park 666 68 83 52 59 94 84 52 37
Cambridge 665 60 72 65 73 82 82 40 56
Irvine 664 62 84 64 52 96 76 50 52
Berkeley 664 70 71 61 64 92 74 44 57
Fort Collins 664 80 78 36 67 79 72 67 45
Boulder 663 69 82 40 72 86 73 57 44
San Luis Obispo 662 61 71 38 69 86 75 69 54
Davis 661 55 83 52 72 83 79 55 44
Lincoln 660 71 63 45 70 72 67 80 54
Evanston 660 71 82 65 65 86 62 52 47
Columbia 658 66 66 42 82 77 67 69 49
Chapel Hill 656 60 85 48 74 79 73 55 45
Lawrence 654 66 70 40 74 79 66 77 44
Burlington 654 47 72 36 74 76 81 64 65
Pullman 654 60 70 45 74 78 65 66 60
San Rafael 653 71 64 63 69 69 78 56 46
Charleston 653 72 74 44 70 82 65 64 46
Eugene 652 80 67 39 67 77 59 75 54
San Mateo 651 71 73 71 55 73 73 53 55
Santa Barbara 651 78 63 59 67 80 70 46 57
Bloomington 649 72 74 38 62 68 61 81 59
East Lansing 647 54 81 43 60 86 46 79 70
Newton 647 56 98 57 58 91 76 35 49
Pittsburgh 647 79 60 48 70 73 69 52 63
Asheville 643 64 62 54 66 72 59 72 65
Arlington 643 74 79 62 51 82 75 51 42
Ithaca 641 62 55 55 58 81 69 70 66
Gainesville 641 56 69 45 67 79 59 75 61
Greenville 639 67 56 55 71 70 54 78 55
Kirkland 637 53 78 55 48 84 76 63 56
College Station 637 53 80 48 73 76 62 62 50
Littleton 637 69 77 49 64 80 53 70 44
Morgantown 636 74 57 36 62 74 65 78 59
Brookline 636 51 91 54 62 93 69 40 50
Boca Raton 633 63 82 62 58 89 58 46 53
Downers Grove 632 57 88 43 54 79 75 61 45
Scottsdale 631 76 83 46 61 86 68 38 46
Wheaton 631 62 94 45 57 81 64 53 47
Ashland 630 58 66 37 69 80 62 74 53
Lexington 628 77 59 44 65 79 64 58 54
Alameda 627 59 67 71 56 78 71 47 55
State College 627 67 59 49 62 62 66 71 63
Ames 627 51 81 40 63 77 66 70 48
West Lafayette 626 59 63 47 63 75 51 85 57
Moscow 624 72 66 31 62 77 67 61 58
Johnson City 623 58 62 34 81 77 55 77 43
Edina 622 55 91 50 59 65 75 50 48
Missoula 622 70 51 25 70 69 70 74 59
Tallahassee 622 76 62 44 62 81 49 72 49
Olympia 622 55 67 46 57 79 69 76 44
Walnut Creek 622 60 81 60 58 64 77 47 48
Elmhurst 620 53 92 40 46 83 75 61 44
Blacksburg 620 56 70 35 61 86 61 68 57
Coral Gables 619 54 79 62 62 73 62 52 50
Sioux Falls 619 73 39 47 73 69 69 72 47
Redwood City 619 62 53 65 63 63 76 56 57
Santa Monica 619 54 72 59 60 89 69 37 60
West Hartford 619 70 85 55 67 81 58 46 32
Laramie 618 64 69 27 62 71 50 83 64
Burlingame 618 64 64 58 71 63 75 41 53
Champaign 618 66 71 55 56 73 47 73 55
Pasadena 618 67 59 73 62 64 56 58 58
Bellingham 617 68 45 37 56 73 68 76 67
Oxford 615 48 59 34 77 73 42 77 78
Provo 615 53 69 37 65 66 51 83 63
Fargo 615 59 47 38 80 60 71 77 46
Grand Forks 614 53 58 33 85 58 67 79 42
Novato 614 57 83 50 61 52 82 54 43
Bismarck 614 58 51 39 74 69 71 75 43
Brookings 613 57 67 25 75 74 58 70 56
Rockville 613 75 69 76 44 78 71 46 37
Newport Beach 612 62 87 51 53 62 77 46 49
Huntington Beach 610 64 76 58 53 75 73 43 46
Sarasota 609 68 37 70 63 72 61 63 54
Mountain View 609 56 74 64 58 62 75 45 51
Framingham 609 52 69 64 57 65 71 58 48
Miami Beach 608 54 52 64 80 68 44 63 60
Boise 607 70 73 42 52 76 62 56 54
Portland 607 43 70 43 76 60 79 44 63
Salt Lake City 606 69 54 45 69 66 56 64 57
Cincinnati 606 76 51 52 67 60 53 51 76
Naperville 605 76 92 48 37 82 75 36 40
Auburn 605 59 76 44 70 83 35 67 47
Fullerton 605 64 44 68 53 82 66 60 51
Franklin 604 59 89 49 54 90 72 36 33
Bozeman 603 61 76 27 72 76 64 45 55
Lakewood 603 71 56 54 62 67 62 67 40
Oak Park 602 64 83 57 61 62 63 43 47
White Plains 602 55 69 75 64 45 61 50 62
Redmond 602 55 75 56 47 64 67 58 61