WHAT HAPPENED?
San Antonio plummets on list of best places to live in new national report
In a shocking turn of events, which might not surprise some, San Antonio has fallen from grace in U.S. News and World Report's "Best Places to Live" ranking for 2023-2024. Maybe the city took a page out of Icarus' book on flying too close to the sun in touting how great it is...
San Antonio was previously the No. 75 place to live in America in 2021, and tumbled into No. 83 in 2022. Now, the Alamo City has dropped even further down the list (and out of the top 100) to No. 103. That hurts.
The report takes a look at several different metrics to determine their rankings, including quality of life, housing affordability, desirability, and job market strength.
To determine why San Antonio fell so low, you have to examine its overall rating, which was a 6.1. The city's value and net migration were similarly ranked at 6.4 and 6.5, and its highest rating was a 6.6 for desirability, which is to be expected considering it was a top 10 contender for the housing market's growth and stability.
The city's lowest ratings were a 5.6 and 5.9 for it's job market strength and quality of life, which also makes sense when a six-figure salary doesn't go as far as it used to in the city.
On the bright side, San Antonio is the No. 2 Best Place to Live in Texas for 2023, so at least we have that going for us. Austin held on to its No. 1 title on that list, and Dallas-Fort Worth took No. 3. Rounding out the top five is Killeen in No. 4, and El Paso at No. 5.
Here's how other Texas cities faired in 2023's Best Places to Live report:
- No. 40 – Austin, down from No. 13 last year
- No. 113 – Dallas-Fort Worth, down from No. 32 last year
- No. 122 – Killeen, down from No. 108 last year
- No. 128 – El Paso, down from No. 124 last year
- No. 131 – Beaumont, down from No. 109 last year
- No. 132 – Corpus Christi, up from No. 133 last year
- No. 134 – Brownsville, unchanged from last year
- No. 137 – McAllen, up from No. 138 last year
- No. 140 – Houston, down from No. 59 last year
The full report can be found on U.S. News and World Report's website.
