City in Florida considered America's best spot to live: where do other cities stack up?

Naples, Florida has been named the best city to live in the U.S. for 2024-2025 by U.S. News & World Report. The city excelled in job market and quality of life metrics, climbing from sixth place last year. Other top cities included Boise, Colorado Springs, Greenville, and Charlotte. Changes in the ranking methodology, emphasizing city-based data and the value and job market categories, influenced this year's list.

The shift from using metropolitan area-based data to city-based data in the U.S. News & World Report's "Best Places to Live" list had a significant impact on the rankings. This change in methodology allowed for a more focused analysis on individual cities rather than larger metropolitan areas1. As a result, the rankings experienced some notable shake-ups compared to previous years. The emphasis on city-based data, along with increased weight given to value and job market measures, played a crucial role in determining the rankings for the 2024-2025 list1. This methodological update provided a fresh perspective on the best places to live by highlighting the attributes of cities themselves, potentially leading to different cities standing out in the rankings due to their specific urban characteristics rather than broader metropolitan traits16.