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The Sunshine State is home to the city that just nabbed the title of the best spot to live in the U.S.
That development comes as U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday identified Naples, which sits on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida, as the top city for people to reside in its "2024-2025 Best Places to Live" report.
Scoring well in the job market and quality of life categories helped Naples achieve that feat and beat out 149 other major U.S. cities that also appeared on the list, the outlet said. In last year’s rankings, Naples was No. 6.
Waterfront homes near Naples Pier in Naples, Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. Florida's southwestern coast, long one of America's fastest-growing regions, is losing some of its boomtown swagger as a home-insurance crisis and other soaring costs mak (Photographer: Lisette Morales McCabe/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
There were some changes to how U.S. News & World Report went about creating its "Best Places to Live" list compared to previous years that resulted in some shake-ups.
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The outlet said it started looking at "city-based data" instead of "metropolitan area-based data." The value and job market measures, two of the four main categories it uses for its analysis, received more emphasis as well.
The value, job market and quality of life metrics played a big role in Idaho’s capital city, Boise, landing in second-place for 2024-2025, U.S. News & World Report said.
View of Boise downtown and Idaho Capitol on a fine autumn morning as seen from Capitol Blvd, Boise, Idaho, USA (iStock / iStock)
Colorado Springs, Colorado; Greenville, South Carolina; and Charlotte, North Carolina also appeared among the report’s five highest-ranking cities, according to the report.
In sixth place was Raleigh, North Carolina, the outlet said.
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Huntsville, the biggest city in Alabama, scored the No. 7 placement for best locales to live in. U.S. News and World Report also found it was the second-most affordable of the cities it looked at.
Huntsville, Alabama, USA park and downtown cityscape at twilight. (iStock / iStock)
The outlet put Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Austin, Texas, in eighth and ninth place, respectively. The latter city, which performed well in terms of desirability and job market, previously held the top spot from 2017 to 2019.
While the South had a major presence in the top 10, the state of Colorado did have a second city that completed the portion of the rankings: Boulder, according to the report.
BOULDER, CO – 2009: The downtown and surrounding neighborhoods are seen in this 2009 Boulder, Colorado, early morning spring landscape photo. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) (George Rose/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Rising concerns about career prospects, housing affordability and increased cost of goods and services are reflected in this year’s rankings. While quality of life remains the top priority for many Americans, a city’s value and job market are becoming increasingly important for those looking for a place to live," U.S. News & World Report loans expert and reporter Erika Giovanetti said in a statement.
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently said the U.S. as a whole had a 3.9% unemployment rate in April.
Meanwhile, Americans faced a median monthly housing payment of $2,894 for the four weeks ending May 5, according to Redfin. That marked an "all-time high," the company said.
