03 May . 2019
It’s a 3-Peat! Austin named best city to live in America for third year in a row
For the third year in a row, Austin is the No. 1 Best Place to Live in the U.S.
That’s according to U.S. News & World Report, which ranks the nation’s 125 largest metro areas using five indexes, including desirability, value, job market, quality of life and net migration.
Using a 10-point scale, Austin earns an overall score of 7.6, edging out No. 2 ranked Denver, which has a 7.4 score.
Not surprisingly, Austin earns impressive 9 scores on desirability and net migration. Austin’s job market scores 7.4, and its quality of life score is 7.3.
Austin’s lowest score is for value, where the city earns 6.7 due to rising home prices in some areas. However, communities like Sweetwater are offering more new-home choices in a broad variety of price ranges, with some of its newest home plans starting from the $300,000s.
“The capital of Texas continues to receive interest from the tech industry, contributing to a strong job market and high desirability among Americans as a place to live,” U.S. News writes. “Named the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin has a plethora of music venues and local bands to entertain endless crowds. The metro area is home to banner music festivals like Austin City Limits…as well as South by Southwest.”
U.S. News lists Austin’s metro population at 2,000,590. The median home price is $292,500, and the median annual salary is $51,840.
Austin also ranks No. 4 on U.S. News’ Best Places to Retire in the U.S. for 2019, with an overall score of 7.2.
Check out our Hill Country Area and Relocation guides for more reasons to love Austin.