Chicago Suburb Tops List Of Best Cities To Live In America For 3rd Time In A Row: Niche

ILLINOIS — For the third year in a row, one of Chicago's suburbs has topped Niche's list of the Best Cities to Live in America.

Naperville once again beat out Cambridge, Massachusetts, Berkeley, California, and The Woodlands, Texas, to earn the top spot.

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The city earned an overall ranking of A-plus. Here's how Naperville scored for each of Niche's categories:

Public Schools: A-plus

Good for Families: A-plus

Housing: A-minus

Diversity: A-minus

Nightlife: A-minus

Crime and Safety: B

Niche writes, "Living in Naperville offers residents a dense suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Naperville there are a lot of restaurants and parks. Many families and young professionals live in Naperville and residents tend to be liberal."

This year, Naperville also ranked number one in Niche's roundups of the Best Cities to Buy a House in America and Best Cities to Raise a Family in America.

Niche used data from more than 1 million online reviews and survey responses, the U.S. Department of Education, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources in its study.

Cities were ranked on such factors as cost of living, employment rates, number of residents with bachelor's degrees or higher, health statistics, family-friendly living, recreational opportunities, air quality, walkability and more. Click the link to see Niche's full list of the Best Cities to Live in America in 2026.