Livability.com Unveils 2026 Top 100 Best Places to Live

Affordability Takes Center Stage in Annual Ranking of Small to Mid-Sized Cities

Mar. 31, 2026 at 5:04pm

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A vibrant, pop art-inspired illustration featuring a repeating grid of stylized house icons in a range of bright, neon colors, conceptually representing the theme of accessible and affordable housing in the top livable cities.Livability.com's annual ranking highlights the growing importance of affordable housing and cost of living in determining the most livable small to mid-sized cities across America.Virginia Beach Today

Livability.com has released its highly anticipated 2026 Top 100 Best Places to Live list, showcasing the nation's most vibrant and livable small to mid-sized cities. This year's ranking placed extra emphasis on affordability, with only cities under $500,000 median home value eligible. The data-driven list was curated using nearly 100 data points across eight categories to help users personalize their search for the ideal community.

Why it matters

As Americans face evolving work dynamics and higher costs of living, this annual list provides a data-driven resource to identify affordable yet livable small to mid-sized cities that offer the best quality of life. The ranking's focus on housing and cost of living aims to highlight communities where people can realistically build families, launch businesses, and lead meaningful lives.

The details

Livability.com partnered with data experts at Applied Geographic Solutions to analyze more than 2,000 U.S. cities with populations between 75,000 and 500,000. The final Top 100 list was curated using nearly 100 data points across eight broad categories: Economy, Housing & Cost of Living, Amenities, Transportation, Environment, Safety, Education, and Health. While the algorithm assigns a LivScore to determine the top 100, the platform's filtering system allows users to refine the list by category importance, population size, and region.

  • Livability.com unveiled the 2026 Top 100 Best Places to Live list on March 31, 2026.

The players

Livability.com

A website that publishes data-driven rankings and editorial content focused on identifying the most livable small to mid-sized cities in the United States.

Amanda Ellis

The editor-in-chief of Livability.com.

Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS)

The data experts who partnered with Livability.com to analyze more than 2,000 U.S. cities and curate the Top 100 Best Places to Live list.

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What they’re saying

“Our 'Top 100' is an annual data-driven collection of what we consider to be the best small to mid-size cities. As Americans face consistently evolving work dynamics and a desire for the best quality of life possible amidst inflation and uncertainty, our list celebrates places where people can more realistically build families, launch businesses and lead meaningful lives.”

— Amanda Ellis, Editor-in-Chief, Livability.com

The takeaway

This year's Livability.com Top 100 Best Places to Live list reflects a growing emphasis on affordability and accessibility, as Americans seek communities where they can realistically achieve their personal and professional goals amidst economic uncertainty. By prioritizing housing costs and the overall cost of living, the ranking aims to identify small to mid-sized cities that offer the best combination of livability factors to support families, businesses, and quality of life.