This PA Metro Ranked Among Best Places To Live For Quality Of Life

PENNSYLVANIA — One city in Pennsylvania is among the 2023-2024 Best Places to Live in the country for quality of life, according to the most recent ranking released by U.S. News and World Report.

The top five Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024 overall, which were determined by their value, desirability as a place to live, and job market as well as quality of life, were Green Bay, Wisconsin, Huntsville, Alabama, Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina, Boulder, Colorado, and Sarasota, Florida, according to the site.

But U.S. News and World Report also broke down the list further, with one major category by which the cities are ranked being for quality of life.

Lancaster is the only Pennsylvania metro ranked in the top 25 cities nationally for quality of life, falling at #21 on the list. One downside is that Lancaster offers a lower value than similarly sized metro areas when you compare housing costs to median household income.

U.S. News reporter Marie Loiseau hails Lancaster's balance between natural and commercial spaces as well as its hiking trails, corn mazes, and tractor pulls.

It's also affordable compared with other major metro areas, and health care, transportation, and other living expenses fall in line with the national average.

A major reason why Lancaster stands alone on the list is that U.S. News & World Report only considers the 150 most populous metropolitan areas in the country.

Coming in at #1 for this year's quality of life ranking is Ann Arbor, Michigan, followed by Boulder, Colorado, Madison, Wisconsin, San Jose, California, and Portland, Maine in the top 5.

The NYC metro was ranked #25 this year, and Philadelphia didn't make the top 25.

The site's Quality of Life Index measures how satisfied residents are with their daily lives in each ranked metro area, along with how affected the specific metro area is by life-impacting factors, according to U.S. News and World Report's methodology.

To calculate quality of life scores, the site evaluated multiple aspects of life in each metro area using a weighted average after surveying people across the U.S. to see the importance they place on each aspect evaluated in the index.

It takes into account crime rates, quality of education, well-being, commuter index, quality and availability of health care, air quality index, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index.

U.S. News based its ranking on data from sources like the National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Census Bureau, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Labor.