NYC Trounced In National Listing Of Best Cities

NEW YORK CITY — What do Oklahoma City, Des Moines and Albany all have in common? They’re among 95 cities named better places to live than New York City, according to a new ranking.

U.S. News & World Report released a list Tuesday of 125 cities named 2018’s Best Places to Live in the United States and New York City, with its high cost of living and mediocre quality of life score, came in 96th.

The survey examined affordability, the availability of jobs and quality of life and found that Austin, Texas, was the best place to live for the second year in a row. Colorado Springs took the No. 2 spot, bumping Denver, Colorado, to No. 3, and Des Moines, Iowa, came in at No. 4.

U.S. News tried to soften the blow by reminding New Yorkers of our old adage, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,” then provided data proving why it is extremely difficult to make it here.

New York earned a 6.2 out of 10 points on its scorecard, scoring just 3.8 for value and a 6.1 for quality of life.

“Affordable housing is an ongoing problem in New York City, with one-bedroom apartments renting for several thousand dollars a month,” surveyors wrote.

The ranking also called out Brooklyn gentrifiers for doing the thing that gentrifiers are notorious for.

“Some Brooklyn residents muse that they're feeling priced out of their neighborhoods and are now considering apartments in Manhattan,” according to U.S. News. “Those looking to save on housing costs often look to communities in Connecticut and New Jersey, or on Long Island.”

New York's "significant wage gap " earned the city a 7.8 score for job availability, the 12:1 student teacher ratio earned it a 7.8 score for schools and, because our murder rate is the fourth highest of the ranked metro areas, the city got a crime score of 7.9.

The study does not appear to favor smaller cities, as New York City was beat out by many major metropolises across the nation, including Portland (#6), Washington D.C. (#8), Seattle (#10), San Francisco (#20), and Boston (#25).

To come up with the 2018 Best Places to Live ranking, U.S. News looked at data from the Census Bureau, FBI and Department of Labor. The various qualities residents look for — for example, the job market, affordability and quality of life — were weighted according to the results of the of a public survey in which 2,500 random internet users in 125 metro areas were asked where they would prefer to live.

Several cities were newcomers to the top 10, including Portland, which saw the largest jump in desirability of all cities on the list. Though the quality of life, net migration and job market rankings in Minneapolis didn’t change, more survey respondents expressed a desire to move their than they have in previous years.

Fortunately for New York, U.S. News still thinks a lot of our tall buildings and baked goods.

"Brimming with some of the nation's tallest buildings and historic landmarks, New York City is never short on spectacle," surveyors reminded us.

"New York City has been a leader in trade and culture, redefining everything from fashion trends to what a proper bagel with schmear should taste like."

Read the full list here.

(Lead image: Photo by TTstudio/Shutterstock)