Posted on 09/18/2026 11:25:59 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Where can Americans get the most quality of life for their money? This graphic by Valerii Emelianov uses the Numbeo Quality of Life Index to compare 41 major U.S. cities after adjusting quality of life for living costs.
Numbeo’s broader index incorporates factors including purchasing power, safety, healthcare, climate, property prices, traffic, pollution, and cost of living. The result offers a different lens on livability: not simply which cities score highly, but where those benefits come at a lower cost.
The table below ranks major U.S. cities by the quality of life received for every $100 of living costs, based on Numbeo data.
| Rank | City | Quality of Life per $100 of Living Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tucson | 300 |
| 2 | Jacksonville | 297 |
| 3 | San Antonio | 295 |
| 4 | Omaha | 288 |
| 5 | Kansas City | 286 |
| 6 | Albuquerque | 285 |
| 7 | Raleigh | 283 |
| 8 | Austin | 281 |
| 9 | Tampa | 277 |
| 10 | Houston | 276 |
| 11 | Oklahoma City | 273 |
| 12 | Columbus | 272 |
| 13 | Indianapolis | 271 |
| 14 | Charlotte | 271 |
| 15 | Milwaukee | 270 |
| 16 | Fort Worth | 268 |
| 17 | Colorado Springs | 258 |
| 18 | Nashville | 256 |
| 19 | Minneapolis | 251 |
| 20 | Atlanta | 244 |
| 21 | Dallas | 242 |
| 22 | Sacramento | 236 |
| 23 | San Diego | 236 |
| 24 | Baltimore | 236 |
| 25 | Portland | 235 |
| 26 | Denver | 228 |
| 27 | Las Vegas | 228 |
| 28 | Boston | 225 |
| 29 | New Orleans | 216 |
| 30 | Phoenix | 215 |
| 31 | Philadelphia | 213 |
| 32 | Chicago | 213 |
| 33 | Detroit | 210 |
| 34 | Oakland | 210 |
| 35 | Seattle | 205 |
| 36 | Washington DC | 200 |
| 37 | San Jose | 198 |
| 38 | Miami | 192 |
| 39 | San Francisco | 182 |
| 40 | Los Angeles | 157 |
| 41 | New York | 134 |
Expensive coastal hubs cluster near the bottom of the ranking. San Jose scores 198, Miami 192, San Francisco 182, Los Angeles 157, and New York just 134.
Affordability is what reshuffles the ranking.
Cities with relatively strong quality-of-life scores can rise sharply once those scores are viewed against local living costs, while expensive metros can fall despite offering high incomes and amenities.
A good place to settle ultimately balances affordability with safety, healthcare, amenities, and personal preferences. Recent livability rankings increasingly give greater weight to housing and cost of living, reflecting how central affordability has become to decisions about where to live.
Higher earnings can expand your options, but location determines how much those earnings actually buy. The income associated with happiness also varies substantially by location, reinforcing the broader point that the best-paying city is not necessarily where your money buys the best life.
See how perceptions of livability differ around the world in Mapped: Where People Think Quality of Life Is Best on the Voronoi app.
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A quality suburb city would top much, if not all, of this list.
These rankings all depend on the criteria people use to rate living standards in different places.
Tucson is the best on this list, yet some would not want to live in a desert, if they were choosing a place to live.
New York City is very low, yet some want to live there because of the opera, the theater, the ballet, orchestras, and Thai restaurants. To some people, these amenities override the downsides of life in New York.
Tucson has the added advantage of being right next to the Mexican border.
/s
Miami is ranked at 38, San Francisco at 39 and Los Angeles at 40 Was this list put together by a pollster from the sexual weirdo community or am I reading it wrong?
Raleigh? Puke.
You're reading it wrong. 38, 39, 40 are their RANK among the places listed. 198, 192, 182, etc. are their SCORES, used to determine their RANK.
Sort of surprised/not surprised to see Omaha 4th. We have extremely high property taxes, but otherwise things are generally pretty good, and mostly GOP/conservative values in this area and state.
Austin is a very expensive place when it comes to housing.
LOL except for Omaha and KC, the top 10 gives you a choice of dry roast or nearly perpetual sauna.
Whew, no cities in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming or Utah made the cut. These are absolutely TERRIBLE places to live. People are polite, no marauding “teens”, people believe in God, Guns and Country. People can’t stand it here and are just dying to leave. Replacements not needed. Western states are awful! You don’t want to live here.
“Ranked: Where Your Money Buys the Best Quality of Life in America”. I nominate Cawker City, KS.
I’m here in Florida, with the heat, humidity, slithering snakes, blood-thirsty mosquitos and nasty gnats and here I shall remain.
Selling a house is something I’ll not repeat.
Tucson is a Leftist shithole
So is Albuquerque
It might cost nearly $40,000 to sell and house and pay the closing costs on another one.
One can travel quite a bit for that kind of money.
Turning the other cheek is normally cheaper than a 6% real estate commission.
ISWYDT
Rural Central Texas features a similarly low quality of life. Do yourself a favor — learn from my mistake and don’t move here!
I am looking at the New Braunfels area, which is between Austin and San Antonio.
this is a good list for the average people polled.
Your personal list is different.
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