Bethesda Ranks Among 'Top 100 Best Places to Live,' Livability Study Says

PHOTO: Bethesda street photo from Patch archive

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Bethesda has snagged a ranking among the “Top 100 Best Places to Live,” according to a new study by Livability out Monday.

So how did Bethesda rank? The community came in at No. 100 on the list, right behind Cambridge, MA, the home of MIT and Harvard University. Bethesda’s high income and federal jobs drew praise.

The website says of the city: “Just northwest of Washington, D.C., is Bethesda, a bedroom community regarded as one of the wealthiest and highly educated cities in America. The median income for families is about $175,000, and Bethesda houses Congressional Country Club - one of the most prestigious golf country clubs in the world. Major employers in the city include the National Institutes of Health, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and a number of corporate and government headquarters. See where Bethesda ranks as one of the Best Cities for College Grads.”

Other DC metro and Virginia places that made the list:

• Rockville: #17
• Arlington: #49
• Alexandria: #56
• Charlottesville: #21
• Fredericksburg: #92

Livability ranked more than 2,000 cities with populations between 20,000 and 350,000 to come up with their third annual Top 100 Best Places to Live. The #1 ranked town was Rochester, MN, home to the Mayo Clinic. The study said Rochester’s “diverse range of affordable housing” helped push it to the top spot.

MORE PRAISE FOR BETHESDA:

• Bethesda Named America’s Most Educated Town
• Bethesda Ranked Richest Small City in America
• Maryland Leads U.S. News Rankings of Top-Performing High Schools
• Bethesda and Rockville Among 10 “Snobbiest Small Cities in America”
• Montgomery Ranked Healthiest County in Maryland: Report

The list is based on more than 40 data points. This year they collaborated with urbanist Richard Florida and assistant clinical professor Steven Pedigo from the Initiative for Creativity and Innovation in Cities at NYU School of Professional Studies, EMSI and a board of advisors in shaping their methodology on how they rank the cities and counties.

Here’s more of what Livability had to say about Bethesda:

“More than 1,200 trees grace the streets of Bethesda, a community whose downtown is designated an Arts & Entertainment District by the state of Maryland. Bethesda is a bedroom community of Washington, D.C. and considered one of the wealthiest and highly educated cities in America, with a median family income of about $175,000. Major employers include Walter Reed National Military Medical Center along with a number of corporate and government headquarters.”