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.
Good-weather days per year, from ten years of daily records (2016–2025) at each metro's main weather station. Temperature counts most: a day with a high of 55–90°F earns a full point. Hotter days earn less (0.85 up to 95°F, 0.6 up to 100°F, 0.3 above), and so do cooler ones (0.6 for 45–55°F, 0.25 for 32–45°F, nothing below freezing). Each rain day subtracts half a point, a snow day another half, and a muggy day (normal dew point above 65°F) a fifth of a point.
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.