Austin: best place to live in America, new study finds

Cities in Texas and on the West Coast have come out on top in a new wide-ranging study of US cities.

The highlight finding in a series of reports from personal finance website WalletHub was that Austin, Texas, is the best city to live in America, followed by Raleigh, North Carolina, Colorado Springs, Colorado, San Jose, California and Seattle, Washington.

WalletHub analysed and researched data relating to the 62 cities in America with populations over 300,000 in terms of liveability, health and education systems, economic growth and tax rates. They then collaborated with academic experts to put the findings in context.

New York was ranked the 40th best city to live in, eight places behind Boston and 20 places above Philadelphia. Detroit, Michigan, was found to be the worst US city to live in.

“There is a trend towards West Coast cities that has to do with job opportunities and education,” Jill Gonzalez, a WalletHub spokesperson, told Cities Today. “Places like Austin, San Jose and Seattle are booming with tech and healthcare opportunities.”

“East coast cities have attracted people for years but we found that areas in America such as San Diego and Seattle are popping up as hotbed for job opportunities. New York has a lot less growing to do than somewhere like Austin.”

This trend was accelerated when it came to WalletHub’s study of the best & worst run cities in America. Seven cities in Texas featured in the top ten best run cities with Lubbock, Texas, finishing first.

New York, whose mayor, Bill de Blasio, has recently come under fire for his governance of the city, was judged the fourth worst city to live in with Fremont, California, taking the unenviable mantle of the worst city to live in America.

Gonzalez added: “In the West Coast and Texas, the cost of living is better, there is a warmer climate and a new generation of workers are placing an emphasis on active lifestyles. Cities such as San Francisco and Denver are at the forefront of promoting that active lifestyle.”

“It’s also a business ploy, cities are seeing what millennials are liking and are harping on that. It’s a generation that isn’t brand loyal and isn’t really city loyal. Many are thinking they’ll head west or to a beach town instead of moving to a big city that isn’t so liveable.”

However the East Coast fared better when it came to the safest states to live in America which took into account the relative cost of housing, the quality of local schools and health care systems, and the opportunities for fun and recreation. Massachusetts finished top, followed by Vermont, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Hawaii. The study concluded that Mississippi was the most dangerous state in America.

Overland Park, Kansas, was graded the best city to live in for a family while Cincinnati, Ohio, was ranked the best city for recreation.

Sports was also included with Salt Lake City, Utah, ranked the best city for football (soccer) fans. “We looked at all type of sports,” Gonzalez said, “because alot of times when you’re a single person looking for a new city, those things matter to you.”