Meredith Corporation’s MONEY.com announced its annual Best Places to Live list with Clarksville, Tennessee, ranked No. 1, followed by Round Rock, Texas, and Fishers, Indiana, respectively. The list, first published more than 30 years ago, takes into account each city’s economic health, cost of living, diversity, public education, income, crime, ease of living and amenities, among other data points.
“We’re excited to announce this year’s list of the 100 best places to live in America, which, for the first time, includes neighborhoods as well as cities,” says Shaina Mishkin, the writer at MONEY.com who oversaw the project. “The average American will move nearly a dozen times during his or her lifetime. Our Best Places to Live franchise gives individuals and families the guidance they need to make informed decisions about where they will have the best living experience across the country.”
MONEY’s Top 10 Best Places to Live are as follows:
1. Clarksville, Tennessee
2. Round Rock, Texas
3. Fishers, Indiana
4. Fulton River District, Chicago, Illinois
5. Country Club Heights, Charlotte, North Carolina
6. Draper, Utah
7. Bentonville, Arkansas
8. Madison, Wisconsin
9. Meridian, Idaho
10. Winter Garden, Florida
Two Arizona cities made the Best Places to Live list:
• Goodyear was ranked No 22. The report said, “With a brand-new Microsoft campus and a Nike manufacturing facility set to bring in more than 500 full-time jobs, the city of Goodyear, located just outside of Phoenix, has ample career opportunities. Job growth in the surrounding county increased by 23.1% from 2010 to 2018, and is projected to go up 7.7% by 2023.”
• Flagstaff was ranked No. 69.
No other Arizona communities made the Top 100.
Click here to view MONEY’s complete 2019 Best Places to Live list.
This year’s rankings include winners in 42 states and count 10 states with four places each on the list: Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
The variety of winners ranges from a family-friendly suburb in Indiana to a bustling downtown neighborhood in Denver. Clarksville, Tennessee, MONEY’s No. 1 pick, is attracting young homebuyers with its affordable prices and growing economy; the average home costs $155,000 and companies like Google and LG are moving to the area, with jobs predicted to grow nearly 10% in coming years.
The list also reflects the larger demographic changes within the U.S., as Americans are increasingly leaving large coastal cities in favor of warmer climates, more affordable housing and better job opportunities. Each year, roughly 40 million Americans, or about 14 percent of the U.S. population, move at least once.
