Top 50 U.S. Cities for Quality Living

Summary

Explore the best places to live in the U.S.
Understand the ranking criteria used by Niche.
Discover specific cities ideal for families, diversity, young professionals, and retirees.

What makes any town or city a great place to live? When you’re considering relocation, key factors often include housing costs, nearby attractions, access to transportation, crime rates, and more. Moreover, Niche, a reputable website known for compiling profiles, ratings, and reviews for schools and places throughout the U.S., has gathered a list of the best places to live in the country to help refine your search.

Niche ranked the best places to live in the U.S. by evaluating overall livability, considering important aspects such as quality of local schools, crime rates, housing trends, employment statistics, and access to amenities.

Best Cities to Live in the U.S.

Below, you’ll find Niche’s list of the 50 best cities to live in the U.S. Some states, like California and Texas, are particularly well represented with eight and seven cities included, respectively. However, states such as New York, Oregon, and Hawaii are noticeably absent from this prominent list.

Remarkably, some popular tourism destinations ranked among the top 15 U.S. cities in the 2022 World’s Best Awards, such as Charleston, South Carolina and Austin, Texas. Furthermore, destinations like Alexandria, Virginia, which lies adjacent to the nation’s capital, also made the list.

Niche categorizes the best cities into segments, such as the best places to raise families, the most diverse locations, and the best options for young professionals or retirees. Consequently, this allows individuals to find the ideal spot suited to their specific needs.

Family-Friendly Cities

According to Niche’s findings, the top five places to raise a family in 2022 are Chesterbrook and Penn Wynne in Pennsylvania, leading the ranking, followed by Great Neck Gardens in New York, Long Grove in Illinois, and Syosset in New York taking the next three spots. In terms of the most diverse places, the top positions were claimed by Rodeo, Vallejo, and Valley Hi / North Laguna in California, with Dunlap, Washington, and Queens, New York rounding out the five.

Best Cities for Young Professionals and Retirees

Further valuable insights reveal that Hell’s Kitchen and Nolita in New York ranked as the best places for young professionals in 2022. Moreover, notable cities like Telegraph Hill in California and Center Square in New York appeared in the list for young professionals. As for retirees, Florida prominently featured locations such as Pelican Bay, Highland Beach, Indian River Shores, and South Palm Beach, all taking top spots.