Sacramento Moves Up List Of Nation’s Best Places To Live
Source: Sacramento Business Journal, Sonya Sorich and Diana Barr
Photo: Austin, Texas was named Number 1 on the U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking of the nation’s best places to live.
Sacramento rose in U.S. News & World Report’s latest ranking of the nation’s best places to live, but still trails other California cities on the list.
The 2019 ranking, released Tuesday, rates the nation’s 125 largest metropolitan areas based on affordability, job prospects and quality of life.
Sacramento ranked No. 82, ahead of its 92nd position last year. This year, Sacramento received an overall score of 6.3 out of 10.
Here’s an excerpt from the publication’s summary of Sacramento: “Though it’s constantly overshadowed by cosmopolitan places in its own state, Sacramento is undergoing a transition, with technological and cultural developments breathing new life into the California capital.”
For the third consecutive year, Austin, Texas, took the No. 1 spot, in front of Denver at No. 2 and Colorado Springs, Colorado, at No. 3. Rounding out the top five were Fayetteville, Arkansas, at No. 4 and Des Moines, Iowa, at No. 5.
Most of the top 25 on the U.S. News ranking are located in the middle of the country, but the tech boom had a regional impact on the Pacific Northwest, the publication said. San Francisco (No. 7); Portland, Oregon (No. 8); and Seattle (No. 9) made the top 10. The only city in the Northeast to make the top 20 this year was Washington, D.C., which this year fell from No. 8 to No. 19 due to a decrease in housing affordability and net migration.
Despite expensive housing, San Francisco rose to No. 7 from No. 20 on increases in desirability and job market (with the highest scores among all cities) and quality of life. San Jose is No. 14.
To complete its ranking, U.S. news surveys thousands of people nationwide about what they want in their hometown, then categorizes that data into indexes for job market (20 percent), value (25 percent), quality of life (30 percent), desirability (15 percent), and net migration, which factors if people have been moving to a city (10 percent).
Ranking data also comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, FBI and Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as U.S. News’ ranking of the best high schools and best hospitals.
The St. Louis Business Journal contributed to this report.