{"id":665805,"date":"2026-05-26T09:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/665805\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T09:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:56:20","slug":"the-15-best-cities-to-live-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/665805\/","title":{"rendered":"The 15 Best Cities to Live in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Choosing a city to live in is a personal decision, but in an increasingly expensive housing market, affordability<\/a> is more important than ever.<\/p>\n

“Every year we ask consumers what they’re looking for in a place to live, and this year consumers overwhelmingly cited that they were looking for value and affordability<\/a>,” US News & World Report consumer lending analyst Erika Giovanetti told Business Insider. “They even said that they’re looking for affordability over quality of life and desirability.”<\/p>\n

US News & World Report<\/a> analyzed more than 850 US cities and ranked them based on four key indexes: value, quality of life<\/a>, desirability, and job market. This year’s rankings differ from previous years by weighting value higher than the other categories.<\/p>\n

“Education, college readiness, access to healthcare \u2014 all of these things fall under quality of life, but consumers this year are really feeling it in their wallets, and they are willing to make sacrifices if it’s about finding a more affordable place to live,” Giovanetti said of the rationale.<\/p>\n

While the Midwest<\/a> has become the most affordable region of the country, a majority of the entries on US News’ best cities to live in list are in Southern states<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Giovanetti noted that while affordability is an important factor this year, cities toward the top of the list are ones that demonstrate balance across all key categories. Johns Creek, Georgia, for example, finished first in last year’s rankings<\/a>, but dropped to fifth this year, mainly because it’s pricier than other cities.<\/p>\n

“Johns Creek ranks 232 for value, which is not so bad in the grand scheme of things, but it is one of the more higher priced cities that made the top of our list,” she said.<\/p>\n

Below, the best places to live in the US, according to US News & World Report.<\/p>\n

15. Buffalo Grove, IL<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Skokie, Illinois, a city between Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and Chicago.<\/p>\n

halbergman\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 41,765<\/p>\n

Median home value: $380,110<\/p>\n

Median household income: $135,543<\/p>\n

14. Parkland, FL<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Parkland, Florida.<\/p>\n

felixmizioznikov\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 36,938<\/p>\n

Median home value: $896,250<\/p>\n

Median household income: $223,200<\/p>\n

13. League City, TX<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

League City, Texas.<\/p>\n

halbergman\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 109,083<\/p>\n

Median home value: $344,265<\/p>\n

Median household income: $123,032<\/p>\n

12. Troy, MI<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

Troy, Michigan.<\/p>\n

AK \/ 500px\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 90,584<\/p>\n

Median home value: $396,774<\/p>\n

Median household income: $120,757<\/p>\n

11. Cary, NC<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Cary, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

zimmytws\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 182,416<\/p>\n

Median home value: $570,890<\/p>\n

Median household income: $136,700<\/p>\n

10. Sugar Land, TX<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Sugar Land, TX.<\/p>\n

Art Wager\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 114,818<\/p>\n

Median home value: $431,815<\/p>\n

Median household income: $140,511<\/p>\n

9. Frisco, TX<\/p>\n

\"Traffic<\/p>\n

Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n

Jean Burbano\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 229,028<\/p>\n

Median home value: $627,426<\/p>\n

Median household income: $152,749<\/p>\n

8. Leander, TX<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

Williamson County, Texas, where Leander is located.<\/p>\n

Gene Maysonet \/ 500px\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 81,757<\/p>\n

Median home value: $495,712<\/p>\n

Median household income: $143,568<\/p>\n

7. Rochester Hills, MI<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Rochester Hills, Michigan.<\/p>\n

RiverNorthPhotography\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 77,520<\/p>\n

Median home value: $388,231<\/p>\n

Median household income: $119,938<\/p>\n

6. Hoover, AL<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Birmingham, Alabama, just 10 miles outside Hoover.<\/p>\n

Leigh Ann Speake\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 91,649<\/p>\n

Median home value: $382,915<\/p>\n

Median household income: $104,005<\/p>\n

5. Johns Creek, GA<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Johns Creek, Georgia.<\/p>\n

rodclementphotography\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 78,408<\/p>\n

Median home value: $588,835<\/p>\n

Median household income: $167,051<\/p>\n

4. Ankeny, IA<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Ankeny, IA.<\/p>\n

Jacob Boomsma\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 78,414<\/p>\n

Median home value: $331,417<\/p>\n

Median household income: $107,871<\/p>\n

3. Flower Mound, TX<\/p>\n

\"Drone<\/p>\n

Grapevine Lake, which borders Flower Mound, Texas.<\/p>\n

Nathan Cannon\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 77,576<\/p>\n

Median home value: $553,334<\/p>\n

Median household income: $167,151<\/p>\n

2. Fishers, IN<\/p>\n

\"Sun<\/p>\n

Fishers, Indiana.<\/p>\n

Lindy Christopher\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 102,895<\/p>\n

Median home value: $405,882<\/p>\n

Median household income: $136,502<\/p>\n

1. Carmel, IN<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Carmel, Indiana.<\/p>\n

Michael Godek\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Population: 103,768<\/p>\n

Median home value: $477,625<\/p>\n

Median household income: $144,615<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Choosing a city to live in is a personal decision, but in an increasingly expensive housing market, affordability…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[12832,5457,291023,192,291025,291022,291024,271,2849,36389,5186,79,16153,194,44622,97165,2394],"class_list":["post-665805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-affordability","tag-consumer","tag-desirability","tag-environment","tag-giovanetti","tag-good-city","tag-johns-creek","tag-life","tag-list","tag-quality","tag-ranking","tag-science","tag-thing","tag-us-news","tag-value","tag-world-report","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}