Huntsville ranked in top 100 rising luxury cities in the U.S. by Architectural Digest

best hotels in the south luxury — Huntsville’s 106 Jefferson hotel is one of the best, according to readers of Conde Nast Traveler. (Lacey Spear/Hville Blast)

You read that right. Huntsville has another accolade to add to its resume: The city ranked in the top 100 for rising luxury cities in the country, according to Architectural Digest.

The Rocket City tied for 70th along with Madison, Wis., and Waco, Texas.

What makes an emerging luxury city?

alyson estile pouring wine at Domaine South — Bartender Alyson Estile pours wine at Domaine South. (Audrey Johnson/Hville Blast)

Rising luxury cities needed to have a population of over 100,000 people in 2023 to be considered, according to the Architectural Digest methodology. They also needed to show population growth from 2020 to 2023.

Ultimately, the 115 chosen were ranked according to six categories: activities, properties, dining, annual income, diversity and safety.

Here’s how Huntsville’s numbers ranked against all 114 other cities:

Luxury activities rank: 92 of 115
Luxury properties rank: 73 of 115
Luxury eats rank: 76 of 115
High earner rank: 41 of 115
Diversity rank: 66 of 115
Safety rank: 49 of 115

Which other Alabama cities made the list

The Huntsville Botanical Garden has been nominated for numerous national awards. (Lacey Spear/Hville Blast)

Huntsville was the only Alabama city featured in the list of 115 cities including. In fact, there were no emerging luxury cities ranked from Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi or Arkansas.

The closest cities to Huntsville that made the list were all in Tennessee:

47th – Murfreesboro, Tenn.
94th- Clarksville, Tenn.
100th – Knoxville, Tenn.
104th – Chattanooga, Tenn.

Huntsville’s other accolades

luxury downtown huntsville — Downtown Huntsville in the summertime. (Lacey Spear/Hville Blast)

The Rocket City has been booming for the past several years, and it’s not just those rocket engines. Check out some of Huntsville’s other awards from this year: