Thinking of moving this year?
From sea to shining sea, there are great places to settle down in the US — but only a dozen cities in the Sun Belt, Midwest, and New England take the prize for being the very best, according to US News & World Report.
Each year, the magazine analyzes the largest 500 metro areas in the US and ranks them according to employment rates, moving patterns, housing affordability, and quality of life considerations like access to healthcare and crime rates.
While these regions of the country have been drawing newcomers for years, the places topping the list published on Tuesday are on the outskirts of the most populated places that have grabbed bigger headlines for their offerings, like Miami and Boston.
Those smaller cities — such as Raleigh, North Carolina, or Portland, Maine — might have fewer amenities but are still singled out for their quality of life. Some proof of that is in their growth, which has been steady.
While US News & World Report puts a lot of weight on housing affordability and the job market to determine the rankings, quality of life was the single most important factor in its methodology.
Indeed, the cities on this list all have below-average crime rates, good schools, happy residents, easy commutes, and clean air, according to the report. In other words, they may be the perfect places to raise a family.
Without further ado, here are the 12 best places to live this year, and their metro area population, housing costs, and yearly salaries, according to US News & World Report.