The U.S. News & World Report’s Best Places to Live report zooms in on Massachusetts, specifically a Boston suburb with a population of 63,000.
According to the report, those tens of thousands of residents live in the town with America’s “best quality of life.” The study used Applied Geographic Solutions (AGS) and U.S. News’ internal resources to determine the best places to live for a high quality of life. According to U.S. News, AGS “develops its core database and specialized indexes from both private and government sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve, and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.”
The data determined Brookline, Massachusetts as the best place in the nation for quality of life—hoping to help ease the decision on where to settle down. The study weighed factors such as air quality, education, environmental risk, economy, infrastructure, affordability, crime, weather, culture, commuter access, job market, and many other factors. The methodology assed these variables based on statewide data and ranked them on a weighted scale to determine America’s best places to live.
Here are the top 10 places to live according to the study:
- Brookline, Massachusetts
- Newton, Massachusetts
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Bellevue, Washington
- Malden, Massachusetts
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Kirkland, Washington
- Rockville, Maryland
- Passaic, New Jersey
Taking up 40% of the top 10 spots on the list, it’s clear the study values Massachusetts as a great place to live for a high quality of life. Not in the top 10, but not far behind, Somerville ranked at number 21 on the list and Boston ranked at number 22.