Austin tops 'Best Places to Live in the USA' list for third year
AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - U.S. News & World Report has released its annual list of the 125 Best Places to Live in the USA and Austin is ranked number one for the third year in a row.
Austin has topped the list since bumping Denver, Colo. from the top spot in 2017.
Metro areas were analyzed based on quality of life, job market, value of living there and people's desire to live there. Scores are on a scale of 10 and Austin had an overall score of 7.6.
In the categories U.S News looked at, this is how Austin scored:
- Desirability - 9.0
- Value - 6.7
- Job Market - 7.4
- Quality of Life - 7.3
- Net Migration - 9.0
The publication uses data from sources like the United States Census Bureau, the FBI, the Department of Labor and their own internal resources.
According to the publication, people are drawn to Austin's music scene, outdoor spaces and cultural institutions, but despite being one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, the median sale price for a single-family home in Austin is well above the national median.
The publication also states that Austin is among the nation's worst metro areas for traffic congestion, with the average commute time being 0.4 minutes more than the national average.
Austin also ranked the fourth-best place to retire in the U.S.
The top 10 is as follows:
- Austin, Texas
- Denver, Colorado
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
- San Francisco, California
- Portland, Oregon
- Seattle, Washington
- Raleigh & Durham, North Carolina
Other Texas cities to make the list include Dallas-Fort Worth (#21), Houston (#30), San Antonio (#34), Killeen (#101), Corpus Christi (#105), Beaumont (#108), El Paso (#110), McAllen (#112), and Brownsville (#116),
You can get a look at the full list and get more information here.