There’s a common denominator that all the best cities in the United States have. They’re safe, with excellent schools, plentiful jobs, things to do, and low crime rates.
The best places in the United States are where everyone wants to live. High home prices indicate excess demand, so if home prices are too low, it’s a sign it’s a bad place to live. If crime is high, no one wants to live there.
The cities below all share the qualities people prefer in a town. There might be some surprises on this list, but when you look at the unbiased data, it’s hard to argue against.
To determine the best places to live in America, we looked at the most recent Census data for income, home prices, and unemployment rate. We then merged that data with FBI crime data, education, and points of interest data to measure crime and amenities.
After analyzing the 207 most populated cities in the country, here is our list of the best places to live in America.
What’s the best place to live in America? The best place to live in America for 2026 is Naperville according to the most recent data from the Census and FBI.
$155,105 median income · $610,454 median home
And where’s the best place to live in America? On paper, Naperville, Illinois is the best place to live in America according to the most recent Census and FBI data.
This Chicago suburb is plain loaded. There’s barely any place in the country where families bring in more money per capita. If being near wealthy people where crime is something that simply happens in other cities is a place that sounds good to you, then Naperville is your spot. Money Magazine always sings the praises of Naperville, and Kiplinger called it the best place in America to retire.
Plus, the public libraries in Naperville rank as the best in the land, and the downtown area of Naperville is just so charming, who wouldn’t want to live here?
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$186,170 median income · $2,168,909 median home
You may have heard it before — Sunnyvale is simply an amazing place to live. Sunnyvale, California has been known around the streets as a great place to live, according to our unbiased data. It’s the 2nd best place to live in America. Why? Well let’s take a peek.
First off it would be hard to find a better place to raise kids then in this Silicon Valley city, which has the highest home values in the country. You can make the case that home prices really do determine how great a place is, because people speak with their cash. Other factors: really low crime, high population density, and just about everyone who wants a job has a job.
And Sunnyvale isn’t just for nerds, either.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$134,905 median income · $626,396 median home
Cary, North Carolina is the 3rd best place to live in the US.
Chances are if you live in Cary a car break-in happens once a week, and makes the front page of the local paper. This Raleigh suburb is simply in a class of its own when it comes to a peaceful quiet standard of living.
Practically everyone in this community who wants a job has one, and there’s plenty of technology companies in the region, which is one reason people are flocking here from all over, particularly the Northeast.
The running joke in Cary is that it’s a place where people settle who don’t want to be in Florida, but want to be close to family in the New England region.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$122,551 median income · $572,507 median home
Our 4th stop on our tour of the best cities to live in the US, is surprisingly Gilbert, Arizona. Gilbert’s located near Phoenix. Gilbert has grown at an extremely high rate over the last 30 year, from only 6,000 people to more than 200,000 people. That means lots of people want to live here. Households in Gilbert bring in about $122,551 annually, which is the highest in the state of Arizona. And crime is just about as low as you can expect for a city of its size.
Gilbert has its downsides. Obviously it’s hotter than blazes in these parts, where you might have to wear an oven mitt to get to work. Some people might not like it that much. Eskimos for example, probably would hate it here.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$165,576 median income · $1,516,154 median home
Welcome to one of the wealthiest place in America. Now, we’re not speculating that wealth is the main sign of desirability, but in most studies, the ‘better’ places to live happen to also be the wealthiest places. That’s because often, areas where there are high incomes also are areas with great schools, lots of jobs and low crime.
Here in Bellevue, the median household brings in more than $165,576 a year annually. And, this is just about the safest place you can live in the state of Washington. Most of the successful people who commute into Seattle live here.
There’s a reason Bellevue was the fastest-growing city in Washington for a number of years in the early 2000’s.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$178,958 median income · $1,782,192 median home
Santa Clara, California is an awesome place to live. Silicon Valley suburbs are where it’s at! In fact, there are five(!) California suburbs in the top 10 here…
What makes Santa Clara particularly desirable? If measuring an area based on the income of its residents is a sign of desirability, then Santa Clara has it made. Folks here are pretty wealthy, earning $178,958 each a year. The schools are great in Santa Clara, and crime is among the lowest in the state.
if you live in the Bay Area, and you say you live in Santa Clara, you get major street cred.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$122,081 median income · $844,909 median home
Simi Valley, California ranks as the 7th best place to live in America. Here in Simi Valley, the number of people employed is high. Part of that’s because it’s located right in the Southern California growing tech scene. Crime here is far lower than in other nearby cities like Long Beach, and it’s not as expensive to live here as it is in nearby Pacific Palisades or Manhattan Beach. However, the average home price here is $844,909, and the income levels are $122,081, meaning, yes, Simi Valley is an awesome place to live, but the cost of living is extremely high.
Just like in many of the other California cities we mentioned, people in Simi Valley have all sorts of opportunities for fun. There’s plenty of shopping in Simi Valley malls and such.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$120,919 median income · $1,366,658 median home
Huntington Beach, California ranks as the 8th best place to live in America. California cities have a lot to do and they have a great economy. Huntington Beach is no exception. Just about every major publication which ranks places to live has called Huntington Beach both a top spot to raise families as well as a great place to retire.
Huntington Beach is located in Orange County, south of LA. Here in Huntington Beach, the schools are some of the best in the US, where funding levels are really high, and where overcrowded schools are non existent. Who wouldn’t want to live at the beach, too? Huntington Beach has a lot to do and doesn’t have the riffraff you’d find in some of the other Southern California beaches.
However, the downside of living in Huntington Beach is competing with all the other people who want to come to the beach. If you’ve never been here, parking in the summer can be a real pain in the rear. But when you have hotties like this in your front yard every day, you’ll probably make an exception or two.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$150,212 median income · $656,758 median home
Welcome to Frisco, Texas. Frisco is actually also the wealthiest place in America, too. Now we’re not going to speculate that wealth is the main sign of desirability, but in most studies the better places to live happen to also be the wealthier places. That’s often because areas where there’s high incomes are also areas with great schools, lots of jobs, and low crime.
Here in Frisco, the average household brings in more than $100,000 a year annually, and this is just about the safest place you can live in the state of Texas. Most of the successful people who commute to the Dallas-Fort Worth area live here. There’s a reason Frisco was named the fastest growing city for a number of years in the early 2000s.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$100,795 median income · $526,994 median home
Meridian is the fast growing suburb just west of Boise, and it has climbed into the 10th spot on our list of the best places to live in America. Households here earn a median of $100,795 a year, crime is among the lowest of any city on this list.
While the commute has stayed short with the population boom, not everything else has. The housing market has exploded in price, where the typical home now runs about $526,994 after years of Idaho’s biggest migration wave.
Meridian is not a secret anymore and most definitely earns its spot near the top of the best places to live in America.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is the United States’s statewide median.
the United States statewide median: $80,734
the United States statewide median: $332,700
the United States statewide median: 5.2%
On the map
Where the best places to live in America are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you decide the best cities in the United States?
To rank the best places to live in America, we used Saturday Night Science to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a city. It is safe to assume that people like low crime, solid education, things to do, and a stable local economy.
So, we put together all those criteria to get the best, most complete analysis possible. Using FBI crime data, Zillow, and the 2020-2024 American Community Survey census data, we used these criteria:
- Population Density (The higher the better — meaning there’s more to do for indoor entertainment)
- Lowest Unemployment Rates
- Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
- Low Housing Vacancy Rate
- Education (High expenditures per student and low Student-Teacher Ratio)
- Low Crime
We looked at the 207 biggest cities in America — those with over 100,000 people per the latest numbers. We then ranked each city from best to worst on each criterion.
Finally, we averaged all the ranks to create the best place to live index. The city with the lowest index, Naperville, is crowned the best place to live in the United States for 2026.
If you’d like to see the complete list of the 100 biggest cities in the US, scroll to the bottom of this report.
The full plate
Best Places To Live In The United States For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Average Home Price | Median Income | Unemployment Rate | Total Crime /100k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naperville, IL | 150,692 | $610,454 | $155,105 | 4.5% | 0 |
| 2 | Sunnyvale, CA | 154,236 | $2,168,909 | $186,170 | 4.5% | 0 |
| 3 | Cary, NC | 179,306 | $626,396 | $134,905 | 3.5% | 0 |
| 4 | Gilbert, AZ | 280,262 | $572,507 | $122,551 | 3.5% | 0 |
| 5 | Bellevue, WA | 151,847 | $1,516,154 | $165,576 | 4.2% | 0 |
| 6 | Santa Clara, CA | 130,256 | $1,782,192 | $178,958 | 5.1% | 0 |
| 7 | Simi Valley, CA | 125,634 | $844,909 | $122,081 | 5.0% | 0 |
| 8 | Huntington Beach, CA | 195,240 | $1,366,658 | $120,919 | 5.4% | 0 |
| 9 | Frisco, TX | 219,304 | $656,758 | $150,212 | 4.6% | 0 |
| 10 | Meridian, ID | 130,138 | $526,994 | $100,795 | 2.7% | 0 |
| 11 | Irvine, CA | 311,690 | $1,557,982 | $136,719 | 5.9% | 0 |
| 12 | Roseville, CA | 155,955 | $644,324 | $119,288 | 5.2% | 0 |
| 13 | Chandler, AZ | 280,136 | $524,156 | $108,095 | 3.6% | 0 |
| 14 | Fremont, CA | 228,295 | $1,543,132 | $181,506 | 4.7% | 0 |
| 15 | Thousand Oaks, CA | 125,205 | $1,049,634 | $135,603 | 5.4% | 0 |
| 16 | Overland Park, KS | 200,306 | $482,295 | $104,834 | 3.6% | 0 |
| 17 | Orange, CA | 138,266 | $1,143,788 | $117,113 | 4.9% | 0 |
| 18 | Santa Clarita, CA | 230,221 | $802,016 | $123,062 | 5.6% | 0 |
| 19 | Mckinney, TX | 210,600 | $481,963 | $124,215 | 3.7% | 0 |
| 20 | Arvada, CO | 122,634 | $616,566 | $117,348 | 3.8% | 0 |
| 21 | Scottsdale, AZ | 243,821 | $858,022 | $110,886 | 3.6% | 0 |
| 22 | Alexandria, VA | 156,976 | $676,205 | $119,681 | 3.3% | 0 |
| 23 | Elk Grove, CA | 179,155 | $637,450 | $125,924 | 6.4% | 0 |
| 24 | Olathe, KS | 145,057 | $433,117 | $114,009 | 2.7% | 0 |
| 25 | Torrance, CA | 142,130 | $1,124,932 | $116,217 | 6.0% | 0 |
| 26 | Clovis, CA | 124,725 | $521,708 | $99,241 | 5.6% | 0 |
| 27 | Pearland, TX | 127,514 | $382,157 | $118,842 | 3.3% | 0 |
| 28 | Coral Springs, FL | 136,103 | $520,102 | $93,602 | 5.1% | 0 |
| 29 | Plano, TX | 290,594 | $498,989 | $112,253 | 4.0% | 0 |
| 30 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | 175,411 | $792,765 | $111,895 | 5.9% | 0 |
| 31 | Surprise, AZ | 154,948 | $422,473 | $96,711 | 4.3% | 0 |
| 32 | Virginia Beach, VA | 456,349 | $427,032 | $92,968 | 4.0% | 0 |
| 33 | Stamford, CT | 137,144 | $704,417 | $111,586 | 4.9% | 0 |
| 34 | Ann Arbor, MI | 122,036 | $523,391 | $82,212 | 3.9% | 0 |
| 35 | Seattle, WA | 754,195 | $868,680 | $123,860 | 4.6% | 0 |
| 36 | San Diego, CA | 1,389,526 | $1,001,265 | $108,077 | 6.0% | 0 |
| 37 | San Jose, CA | 990,138 | $1,463,614 | $146,427 | 5.1% | 0 |
| 38 | Madison, WI | 278,001 | $423,767 | $78,050 | 2.7% | 0 |
| 39 | Round Rock, TX | 127,786 | $407,077 | $99,287 | 3.8% | 0 |
| 40 | Corona, CA | 159,670 | $764,386 | $109,242 | 5.5% | 0 |
| 41 | Carrollton, TX | 133,740 | $406,040 | $101,396 | 3.3% | 0 |
| 42 | Peoria, AZ | 196,906 | $488,596 | $95,815 | 4.0% | 0 |
| 43 | Oceanside, CA | 172,242 | $877,742 | $97,737 | 5.3% | 0 |
| 44 | Chula Vista, CA | 276,375 | $846,372 | $108,032 | 8.0% | 0 |
| 45 | Santa Rosa, CA | 177,090 | $718,726 | $99,060 | 6.3% | 0 |
| 46 | Charleston, SC | 154,338 | $589,607 | $92,414 | 3.4% | 0 |
| 47 | San Francisco, CA | 830,235 | $1,356,662 | $140,970 | 6.1% | 0 |
| 48 | Berkeley, CA | 120,257 | $1,443,684 | $108,092 | 5.6% | 0 |
| 49 | Fullerton, CA | 140,968 | $1,050,945 | $104,286 | 6.3% | 0 |
| 50 | Fort Collins, CO | 170,229 | $563,815 | $85,070 | 5.4% | 0 |
| 51 | Concord, CA | 124,035 | $742,769 | $108,709 | 5.4% | 0 |
| 52 | Boston, MA | 666,442 | $798,217 | $97,344 | 6.1% | 0 |
| 53 | Chesapeake, VA | 252,583 | $420,756 | $95,373 | 4.9% | 0 |
| 54 | Garden Grove, CA | 170,964 | $1,013,183 | $92,174 | 6.0% | 0 |
| 55 | Thornton, CO | 144,187 | $502,945 | $103,088 | 4.5% | 0 |
| 56 | Lewisville, TX | 131,080 | $393,896 | $89,233 | 4.3% | 0 |
| 57 | Yonkers, NY | 209,978 | $680,218 | $83,549 | 7.1% | 0 |
| 58 | Fontana, CA | 214,169 | $639,032 | $102,821 | 6.5% | 0 |
| 59 | Jersey City, NJ | 294,078 | $658,269 | $97,710 | 5.5% | 0 |
| 60 | Santa Ana, CA | 312,534 | $866,066 | $93,999 | 4.8% | 0 |
| 61 | Fairfield, CA | 120,785 | $609,269 | $101,895 | 5.8% | 0 |
| 62 | Mesa, AZ | 511,764 | $435,134 | $82,752 | 4.2% | 0 |
| 63 | Sterling Heights, MI | 133,573 | $306,785 | $79,909 | 6.1% | 0 |
| 64 | Murfreesboro, TN | 161,445 | $426,292 | $80,108 | 4.3% | 0 |
| 65 | Escondido, CA | 149,668 | $844,072 | $91,967 | 4.7% | 0 |
| 66 | Henderson, NV | 332,141 | $486,156 | $90,138 | 6.8% | 0 |
| 67 | Worcester, MA | 207,055 | $430,112 | $70,102 | 6.5% | 0 |
| 68 | Cedar Rapids, IA | 137,264 | $204,112 | $70,424 | 3.6% | 0 |
| 69 | Lincoln, NE | 294,856 | $291,062 | $71,867 | 3.3% | 0 |
| 70 | Lakewood, CO | 156,583 | $573,913 | $89,792 | 4.5% | 0 |
| 71 | Salinas, CA | 161,761 | $747,758 | $91,908 | 4.7% | 0 |
| 72 | Raleigh, NC | 481,031 | $433,996 | $85,395 | 4.4% | 0 |
| 73 | Portland, OR | 641,165 | $534,638 | $90,919 | 5.8% | 0 |
| 74 | Hayward, CA | 158,801 | $848,427 | $113,318 | 6.3% | 0 |
| 75 | Austin, TX | 979,539 | $508,530 | $93,658 | 4.7% | 0 |
| 76 | Moreno Valley, CA | 211,666 | $551,284 | $93,222 | 7.1% | 0 |
| 77 | St. Petersburg, FL | 262,732 | $347,964 | $75,192 | 4.7% | 0 |
| 78 | Joliet, IL | 150,445 | $259,875 | $92,201 | 5.5% | 0 |
| 79 | Anaheim, CA | 344,521 | $950,504 | $95,227 | 5.8% | 0 |
| 80 | Tempe, AZ | 188,065 | $468,281 | $79,663 | 5.5% | 0 |
| 81 | Ontario, CA | 180,547 | $672,742 | $88,941 | 6.3% | 0 |
| 82 | Sioux Falls, SD | 201,469 | $329,723 | $75,970 | 2.5% | 0 |
| 83 | Visalia, CA | 143,939 | $396,184 | $81,989 | 6.9% | 0 |
| 84 | Pittsburgh, PA | 304,759 | $237,533 | $65,742 | 6.1% | 0 |
| 85 | Denver, CO | 718,877 | $539,666 | $94,718 | 4.9% | 0 |
| 86 | Oxnard, CA | 200,928 | $767,291 | $96,212 | 6.5% | 0 |
| 87 | Midland, TX | 136,640 | $328,325 | $89,585 | 3.5% | 0 |
| 88 | Fargo, ND | 131,627 | $314,973 | $66,998 | 3.8% | 0 |
| 89 | Tampa, FL | 401,618 | $374,888 | $75,475 | 4.9% | 0 |
| 90 | Vancouver, WA | 195,300 | $509,318 | $81,338 | 5.7% | 0 |
| 91 | Sacramento, CA | 528,706 | $479,766 | $87,321 | 6.6% | 0 |
| 92 | New York, NY | 8,483,844 | $812,861 | $80,483 | 8.0% | 0 |
| 93 | Anchorage, AK | 288,976 | $410,782 | $103,284 | 4.6% | 0 |
| 94 | Modesto, CA | 219,215 | $446,494 | $79,891 | 7.2% | 0 |
| 95 | College Station, TX | 124,570 | $349,041 | $50,900 | 5.1% | 0 |
| 96 | Omaha, NE | 488,837 | $294,189 | $73,201 | 4.2% | 0 |
| 97 | Colorado Springs, CO | 487,887 | $449,452 | $84,818 | 5.6% | 0 |
| 98 | Eugene, OR | 179,591 | $473,231 | $66,562 | 7.6% | 0 |
| 99 | Reno, NV | 273,212 | $567,857 | $80,760 | 5.1% | 0 |
| 100 | Clarksville, TN | 176,456 | $318,206 | $69,303 | 5.5% | 0 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, FBI UCR, Zillow. The 207 largest US cities.
Summary
Summary: The Best Big Cities in The US
If you’re looking at cities in the U.S. where crime is low, people are wealthy, and the public schools are amazing, this is an accurate list.
If you live in Naperville, or any of the other cities we mentioned, you’re lucky. If you don’t, we’re sure your city is also pretty cool.
The best cities in the United States are Naperville, IL, Sunnyvale, CA, Cary, NC, Gilbert, AZ, Bellevue, WA, Santa Clara, CA, Simi Valley, CA, Huntington Beach, CA, Frisco, TX, and Meridian, ID.
