Colorado Springs vaulted to No. 3 in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Places to Live rankings for 2024-25 — earning a top spot, in large part, because of its desirability as a city to live.
In the national publication’s annual best places list that was released Monday, Colorado Springs climbed six spots this year from its No. 9 ranking in 2023-24 and trailed only Naples, Fla., and Boise, Idaho.
“Our secret is out — Colorado Springs is indisputably one of the best places to live in our great country, and we are proud to again rank as one of the top cities in this reputable list by U.S. News & World Report,” Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade said via email.
U.S. News compiles its annual Best Places to Live rankings to help its readers make informed decisions when they choose a home.
In its methodology, the publication uses data from the Census Bureau, FBI, the federal Department of Labor and its own internal sources, while it also surveys thousands of people to determine the most important factors to them when they choose a place to live.
Using that survey, U.S. News categorized its data into four indexes that help determine Best Places to Live scores for the 150 largest cities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico: quality of life, which, this year, made up 32% of a city’s ranking; value, 27%; job market, 22%; and desirability, 19%.
Past rankings have examined data from broader metro areas; this year’s rankings were shifted to focus on city-only data, which U.S. News said would allow people who are looking for a place to live to weigh the livability and overall experience of specific municipalities.
As part of its desirability index, U.S. News studies net migration patterns to determine if a city is attracting new residents; examines temperature data to gauge a city’s climate appeal; and tallies the number of restaurants and bars per 100,000 people.
In another key part of the desirability index, U.S. News surveyed 3,500 people nationwide in February to ask in which of the 150 cities they’d most like to live.
The result? Respondents rated Colorado Springs as their No. 1 choice, which, along with other desirability index components, helped propel it to No. 3 in the overall Best Places to Live rankings, said Erika Giovanetti, a U.S. News reporter and loans expert.
“The desirability factor is what pushed it over the edge,” Giovanetti said in an interview. “Colorado Springs has long been near the top of our rankings. Even at No. 9 last year, that’s like a really impressive score. You really have to have a little bit of everything.
“That’s really what’s true of all of the top five, is that Colorado Springs, like all the other ones in the top five and in the top 10, it has … a good balance of all of the other things as well,” she said. “You have the desirability, quality of life, job market and value. And it’s really a good balance of all of those things. Desirability, especially getting the top spot for that category, really helped bring Colorado Springs to the top of our rankings this year.”
Colorado Springs also ranked No. 35 in the U.S. News housing affordability index, which includes data such as annual housing costs for renters and homeowners and examines the percentage of local renters versus homeowners and weighs the cost of renting or owning against median household incomes.
Though No. 35 is several spots down the list on the affordability index, and many local owners and renters know that housing costs have skyrocketed in recent years, “considering that Colorado Springs is a desirable place to live in a relatively high cost-of-living state, ranking No. 35 for housing affordability was impressive,” Giovanetti said. “Based on our data, Colorado Springs carefully balances desirability and value, making it one of the best places to live again this year.”
Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce & EDC, said she believes several economic factors have contributed to the Springs’ standing as a place to live.
Among them, she said: median wages are up, which demonstrates a strong economy; the Chamber & EDC has announced more than 4,000 new jobs since 2022, many of which are high-wage positions; and employers who are bringing jobs also are making capital investments in equipment and facilities, which demonstrates “it’s a place on the move.”
Quality of life additions — including new entertainment and night-life options, such as the outdoor Sunset Amphitheater scheduled to open in August — also help make Colorado Springs attractive to today’s 18- to 34-year-olds.
“Having lived in multiple cities in my life, I can tell you that, to me, we have a small-town atmosphere with big-city amenities,” Reeder Kleymeyer said. “Which means we’re collaborative, there’s a lot of community pride in seeing our community grow smartly and making sure that we’re welcoming to all. All of these items help contribute to Colorado Springs’ secret sauce.”
Other highlights of the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Places to Live rankings for 2024-25 include:
• Of three other Colorado cities on the list, Boulder ranked No. 10, down from No. 4 last year; Fort Collins slipped to No. 39 from No. 23; and Denver came in at No. 40, a big improvement over last year’s No. 99.
• In addition to Naples, Boise and Colorado Springs, the rest of the top 10 cities, in order, were Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Virginia Beach, Va.; Austin, Texas; and Boulder.
• The bottom 10, in descending order, were Cleveland; Reading, Pa.; Vallejo, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; Trenton, N.J.; Flint, Mich.; New Haven, Conn.; Hartford, Conn.; Detroit; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.