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Charleston, South Carolina, can't be missed.
- U.S. News & World Report published its annual list of the 50 best places to live in America.
- The South had the most entries on the list, including the No. 1 city, Austin, Texas.
- Cities were ranked by metrics including desirability, affordability, and quality of life.
U.S. News & World Report released on Tuesday its annual list of the 50 best places to live in America, comprising the metro areas with the perfect combination of affordability, a good job market, and quality of life.
While every geographic region of the US was represented on the list, it's the South that seems to have come out on top for the third year in a row.
The U.S. Census Bureau definition of the South includes 16 states and Washington, DC (check out the specifics here). The region had 20 cities in the top 50 - more than any other - including the city that received the highest marks, Austin, Texas.
But it wasn't just the typical Southern hotspots like Austin, Atlanta, and Nashville that put the South over the edge this year. This year also saw four new Southern cities added to the list: Huntsville, Alabama; Lexington, Kentucky; Asheville, North Carolina; and Fort Myers, Florida.
U.S. News & World Report used five criteria - job market, value, quality of life, desirability, and net migration - to definitively rank these major metro areas. You can read U.S. News' full methodology here.
Read on to see the 20 Southern cities that made the cut this year.