For the last nine years, Livability editors and data scientists have combined our great love of cities and data to create our annual ranking of the Top 100 Best Places to Live in America. This year, Livability examined more than 2,300 cities based on more than 50 data points that are grouped into eight categories, measuring a city’s economic stability, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, and health care. This is how they calculate each city’s LivScore.
Since March 2020, more than 42% of the U.S. population has either moved or considered moving. As home prices hit historical highs and inflation continues to rise, it is more important than ever that Livability creates homes in places that are both affordable and functional for a diverse and growing population. Affordability is a core value for Livability, so they look for places that are growing wages and home values while maintaining an affordable cost of living.
This year, Livability focused on mid-sized cities (generally defined as 500,000 population or smaller) that are attracting big waves of young people. They also added more weight to some of our measures of diversity and inclusion in order to reflect what millennials are looking for in the cities they choose to call home.
The 100 top cities are welcoming, affordable and offer the space and opportunity to grow, both professionally and personally. These seven Colorado cities were named in the top 100: #11 Fort Collins, #16 Colorado Springs, #32 Littleton, #65 Longmont, #68 Loveland, #91 Aurora, & #94 Castle Rock. Congratulations to these outstanding Colorado cities for making the top 100 list!