News & Media

The Queen City Climbed To #6 Spot In US News’ “Best Places to Live in the US”

The Queen City has just jumped into the top 10 of US News & World Report’s list of the ‘Best Places to Live in The US’ for 2020.

In their new 2020-21 ranking, Charlotte came in at the #6 spot, climbing up 14 spots from last year’s ranking. We came in 1 spot ahead of Des Moines (#7) and 5 spots ahead of Raleigh (#11).

The official ranking compared the largest 150 metros in America with a variety of data points and criteria. They used the following weights to come up with each city’s overall score.

  • Best Places to Live: 25.7% — quality of life index; 23.4% — value, or housing affordability, index; 21.6% — jobs market index; 16.4% — desirability index; and 13% — net migration
  • Best Places to Retire: 22.7% — happiness index; 20.2% — housing affordability index; 18.1% — health-care quality index; 14.6% — retiree taxes index; 13.5% — desirability index; and 10.9% — job market index

Charlotte’s score came in at 7.3, with a desirability score of 8.6, net migration score of 7.9, value score of 7.6, job market score of 6.8, and an overall quality of life score of 6.4.

“Moving up from the No. 20 spot in 2019, Charlotte receives its high score for its fast and sustained population growth,” the report noted. “The Charlotte metro area grew by 5.83% between 2014 and 2018 due to net migration alone. Charlotte also rounds out the top 10 most desirable places to live, with many U.S. residents expressing an interest in living there compared to other places on the list.”

“The Queen City Climbed To #6 Spot In US News’ ‘Best Places to Live in the US.’” Charlotte Stories, Charlotte Stories, 21 Nov. 2020, www.charlottestories.com/the-queen-city-just-climbed-to-the-6-spot-in-us-news-best-places-to-live-in-the-us/.