Huntsville named ‘Best City for Families’ by U.S. News

We already know that Huntsville is among the best places for anyone to live, as evidenced by U.S. News & World Report’s rankings the last two years — where the Rocket City was no. 1 in 2022 and no. 2 in 2023 — but the publication has now named the Rocket City as the no. 1 city for families.

This week, U.S. News ranked the Best Places to Live For Families, and placed Huntsville atop that list. Check this out:

The Best Places to Live for Families

The fact that we topped this list as well as the U.S. News list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. is not coincidence. The publication used the list of  Best Places to Live in the U.S. rankings for 2023-2024, then weighted affordability, quality of life and job market equally.

What they compiled from that data was a list of the Best Places to Live for Families. The top 10 on the list looks like this:

1. Huntsville, Ala.
2. San Jose, Calif.
3. Green Bay, Wisc.
4. Fayetteville, Ark.
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
6. Des Moines, Iowa
7. Albany, NY
8. Grand Rapids, Mich.
9. Fort Wayne, Ind.
10. Lincoln, Neb.

The publication’s description of Huntsville praises its average household income and other factors, saying, “Not only is Huntsville’s median annual salary, at $61,140, above the national average of $58,260, but residents spend just 19.62% of the median annual household income on the cost of living.

“Combine those statistics with how the cost of goods and services compare with other metro areas, Huntsville’s the fourth most affordable metro area out of the 150 places on the list. Huntsville also ranks No. 25 for its relatively low risk of extreme weather or natural disasters, and higher resilience to those that could occur.”

More accolades for the Rocket City

The Rocket City keeps receiving accolades from national publications. As we said, this recent honor comes after U.S News & World Report listed us among the Best Cities to Live in the U.S. for the last two years (with the Rocket City landing at no. 1 in 2022 and no. 2 this year).

Last month, World Atlas named the city among the Most Charming Cities In The Appalachians. The Times Tribune this year named Madison County as the best county to live in Alabama.

Earlier this month, Huntsville ranked no. 1 for tech markets in the U.S. Those of us who live here know what a great city we live in, but it appears the rest of the country is taking notice.

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