Why Huntsville [AL] Is the Best Place to Live in the U.S. in 2022-23

US News & World Report ^ | 5/17.2022 | Devon Thorsby

[simpson96]

To some, Huntsville, Alabama, may seem an unlikely metro area to beat out 149 others in the U.S. News Best Places to Live ranking. With a population of less than 500,000, it's smaller than a significant portion of places on the list and it’s off the beaten path when it comes to vacation destinations or typical spots people consider when moving to a new part of the country.

But this northern Alabama metro area offers the affordability and quality of life that people seem to be craving after years of a pandemic that forced them to stay home, opened up opportunities to work from home permanently and urged many people to consider their top priorities in a place to live.

Huntsville ranks as the No. 1 metro area in the Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2022-23 rankings, unseating Boulder, Colorado, after two years at the top. The Best Places to Live rankings are determined by factoring in housing affordability, the job market, net migration, desirability and quality of life, which includes crime rate, college readiness among high school students, overall well-being among residents, average commute time, access to quality health care and air quality. With particularly high scores in housing affordability and quality of life, Huntsville took the top spot.

Whether you’re a Huntsville resident, considering a move to the area or wondering if you should include Huntsville in your list of potential hometowns, we’re breaking down what makes Huntsville the Best Place to Live in 2022-23, why it beats out other places and what downsides you may need to compromise on.

Affording Huntsville Is Easy

In a national housing market where home prices are rising fast and buyers are frequently outbid as they compete to purchase a house, starting at a lower price threshold helps – and that’s what you’ll find in the Huntsville market.

Huntsville metro area residents spend 20.12% of the area’s median annual household income on housing costs, including mortgage payments, rent, property taxes and utilities. That makes it the third-most affordable place to live out of the 150 metro areas in the Best Places to Live ranking.

[scrabblehack]

The Rocket City Trash Pandas (minor league baseball team).

[wardaddy]

Don’t leave out the pearl Florence

[milagro]

And it’s cheap to live there?
Oh sure.....

[MamaB]

Prices are going up like many places. Traffic is getting worse. Lots of traffic but roads have not kept up with it. Houses are reasonable but there are the very expensive areas. When we moved here the population was about 75,,000 and now it is hundreds of thousands. I know we want progress but I have different feelings about that. Yankees/liberals are moving in and trying to change this area. I was looking at my old house in the real estate ads which we bought in 1969. I think we paid about $19,000 for it and it recently sold for over $100,000. A relative recently bought a house, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, etc. think it was a little over $300:000. When I first went to it, I had no idea those houses were even in that area but guess the new people need them. Back in the 1960’s, we lived in that area and there was nothing but cotton fields and other farms. Now, it is houses, businesses, etc. quite a change! I believe it is Dollar General which is building in every area. Most schools are good. I like the area which is about 3/4 hours from my MS hometown.

[GaryCrow]

I don’t understand how people can handle the humidity on the gulf coast.

I live due south of Huntsville on the Gulf Coast. I'm pretty much at the closest point on the coast to Huntsville and it's 340 miles from me to there. It's 50 miles closer from Huntsville to Indiana than it is Huntsville to the Gulf Coast.

If Huntsville is on the Gulf Coast then they moved it without telling me!

[eyedigress]

I stopped by a few times while stationed in AZ.

Famous bar there with the spitoon running under yer feet.

[smalltownslick]

If Huntsville is the third most affordable place, what are the two above it?

[Theophilus]

Love it!

[princess leah]

One big negative is that Huntsville is located in the path of Tornado alley. Was up there for a softball tournament during my daughters freshman year in college, and we sat in the hallway of our hotel as a tornado blew thru (spring of 2006) and that tornado killed over 20 people as it raged through Alabama and Tennessee!

[Theophilus]

It can get exciting but so does Kentucky. Otherwise, weather-wise, it's pool weather from April through October.

[Trailerpark Badass]

She nearly ran him over with her grocery cart. She says he was very charming with the ladies.

[Gaffer]

I used to make the Huntsville Trek from Atlanta to Huntsville almost weekly over a 20 year period supporting contracts we had with prime contractors at Huntsville for Redstone Arsenal there. It’s a very nice area. The amount of government money that flows through Huntsville is mind-boggling. The FBI has increased their presence there, also. Spending by the FBI there has totaled up to nearly $2.5 billion dollars....