Click a column to sort. Click a metro for its full profile.
Elsewhere
75 metro areas, ranked on weather, cost, jobs and getting around. Tell us how much each one matters and the list reorders.
Click a column to sort. Click a metro for its full profile.
Pleasant days per year. Every day from 2016 to 2025 at the metro's main weather station gets partial or full credit. A high of 65–82°F earns full credit, fading to none at 50°F and 95°F; in dry air the comfortable range stretches to 88°F and fades out at 100°F. Credit is reduced for humid days, rain, and nights below freezing.
Typical rent as a share of median household income, typical home value divided by median income, and the regional price level for everything else (U.S. = 100). Lower is better for all three.
Unemployment over the last 12 months, job growth since 2019, and median household income adjusted for local prices.
Transit trips per resident each year, the share of commuters who take transit, walk or bike, the EPA walkability index, and average commute time.
Each measure is turned into a 0–100 score by where a metro falls among all 75: the best gets 100, the worst 0. A category's score is the average of its measures, and the overall score is the average of the four categories using your weights.
Sources: Zillow Research (rent and home values, Sep 2026); U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020–2024; Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities (2024); Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment and employment (through Sep 2026); Federal Transit Administration National Transit Database (Oct 2025–Sep 2026); EPA National Walkability Index; NOAA daily weather records and dew point normals. Metro areas are Census-defined and include their suburbs.