If you’re an Alabama resident looking to settle down, you may not have to look too far.
Huntsville was recently ranked eighth in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Places to Retire list.
For their ranking, the site primarily looked at happiness of local residents, housing affordability, tax rates and health care quality. You can see the complete methodology here.
“Huntsville’s city center has undergone a renaissance in recent years,” the ranking reads.
“An outbreak of new construction downtown means more shopping, dining and apartment options are available.”
The city received an overall score of 6.8, coming very close to the overall score (7.0) of the number one city, Naples, Fla.
It received the second highest housing affordability score (8.5) out of the top ten cities, only outranked by Fort Wayne, Ind., which received an 8.7.
Huntsville’s lowest score was healthcare with a 3.7, which was average for similarly ranked cities.
Alabama’s other largest cities, Birmingham, Mobile, and Montgomery, were not included in the 150-city ranking.
This is not the Rocket City’s first appearance on a U.S. News & World Report top ten list.
Since 2022, Huntsville has been highly ranked on the site’s Best Places to Live list, although it has migrated from number one to number seven in that time.
But city leadership said previously that they are happy to be where they are.
“The city of Huntsville is honored to be listed at #7 and ranked among the top 10 best cities in the country,” Mayor Tommy Battle told The Huntsville Times this summer.
“We’re in excellent company. While these accolades are nice, the city’s primary focus is striving to be better every day. It’s what we did when we started moving up in the rankings, and it’s what we’ll do every day forward.”