{"id":93202,"date":"2024-04-08T11:09:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T18:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/?p=93202"},"modified":"2025-07-01T09:35:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T16:35:35","slug":"best-places-to-live-methodology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/best-places-to-live-methodology\/","title":{"rendered":"Redfin&#8217;s Best Places to Live Methodology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Redfin&#8217;s Best Places to Live rankings are intended to provide an objective measure of a metro area\u2019s quality of life. Redfin\u2019s rankings are based on a proprietary method that aggregates and weighs 20 factors for each metro area. These 20 factors are split up into 4 umbrella categories highlighting important aspects of living: Community and Health; Navigability; Housing and Economy; and Recreation and Leisure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To make the top ten list and be considered a \u201cBest\u201d place to live, a metro area or town must average a high score across each of the umbrella categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, in an effort to fairly measure each state, we created population thresholds for metropolitan areas depending on the state\u2019s size. We did this to reduce the risk of favoring larger populations and allow for a more complete picture of all 50 states. Here\u2019s a quick breakdown:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">For states with over 20 million residents, only metros with a population of 100,000 or greater were considered.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For states with a population between 10 million and 20 million, only metros with a population of 50,000 or greater were considered. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">For states with a population between 3 million and 10 million, only metros with a population of 20,000 or greater were considered.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">For states with a population between 1.2 million and 3 million, only metros with a population of 10,000 or greater were considered.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\">For states with fewer than 1.2 million residents, only metros with a population of 7,500 or greater were considered.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below is a complete list of our categories and the weights we ascribed to each.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Categories and weights<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community and Health \u2013 40%<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community and health aims to measure how equipped a metro area is in serving its community through available healthcare and government services. This includes providing medical, preventative, and restorative care, public amenities and facilities, and access to the outdoors. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC7215691\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research has shown<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that residents in areas with robust healthcare and government services, as well as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8125471\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free and open access to the outdoors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, tend to have a higher quality of life. Solar power generation can also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/eere\/solar\/solar-energy-wildlife-and-environment#:~:text=Solar%20energy%20can%20also%20improve,and%20ground%20and%20stormwater%20management.\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">help improve<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> local air quality and soil health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a more in-depth breakdown:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Health and Medicine (17%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Health and medicine locations are essential parts of a healthy and thriving community. These amenities include hospitals, dentists, physicians, mental health services, hospice centers, acupuncturists, veterinarians, and many more.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Landmarks and Outdoors (12%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Access to open outdoor space can be a vital part of a community. This category includes parks, lakes, islands, mountains, beaches, forests, campgrounds, historic and protected sites, and more, with 50 providing the maximum possible score.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Community and Government (8%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Community and government counts the number of government, public, nonprofit, and educational amenities a metro area has, with 50 being the maximum. These can include post offices, courthouses, schools, colleges and universities, community centers, animal shelters, and more.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Share of Homes that Use Solar Energy (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Solar energy benefits the environment and reduces utility bills. This data measures the percentage of homes in a certain metro area that use solar panels, solar heating, or another form of solar energy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Navigability \u2013 20%<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Navigability measures how easily residents of all abilities can move around a metro area. Time spent commuting to and from work, transportation options, and infrastructure, all impact a resident\u2019s daily quality of life. Studies have shown that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/36612893\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lower commute times<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S2666558121000294\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more transportation options<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/quality-infrastructure\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">robust infrastructure<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> lead to a higher quality of life. These amenities play a huge role in measuring an area\u2019s navigability, compactness, and number of amenities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a deeper breakdown:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Average Commuting Time (7%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The average time it takes to travel to and from work using all modes of transportation. Our methodology favors shorter times.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Travel and Transportation (5%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Travel and transportation includes amenities like lodging, parking, ports, gas stations, RV parks, major roads and highways, ferries, trains, and airports. 50 amenities in this category gives the highest possible score<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Walk Score (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The walkability of a metropolitan area calculated at its center. Read the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walkscore.com\/methodology.shtml\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Walk Score methodology<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more information.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Transit Score (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The access to and number of transit options a certain metro area has calculated at its center. Read the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walkscore.com\/transit-score-methodology.shtml\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transit Score methodology<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more information.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Bike Score (2%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The bikeability of a metropolitan area calculated at its center. Read the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.walkscore.com\/bike-score-methodology.shtml\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bike Score methodology<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for more information.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing and Economy \u2013 20%<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing market and economic factors play a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8884244\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vital role<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a community\u2019s quality of life. \u201cHousing\u201d takes into account home sale prices, days on market, and the homes sold above list price in order to estimate the strength of the metro area\u2019s housing market. \u201cEconomy\u201d measures the strength of the local economy through per-capita income and unemployment rates. Lastly, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/health.gov\/healthypeople\/priority-areas\/social-determinants-health\/literature-summaries\/high-school-graduation\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">it\u2019s been shown<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that receiving a high school diploma increases current and future quality of life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a deeper dive:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Median Home Sale Price (7%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The median sale price of all homes in a metro area. Our methodology favors lower prices to promote affordability.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Share of Residents Who Are Unemployed (4%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The percentage of all residents in a metropolitan area who listed their employment status as \u201cunemployed\u201d in the U.S. Census. The methodology favors a lower unemployment rate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Share of Residents with a High School Diploma (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The percentage of all residents in a metropolitan area for whom high school is their highest level of education.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Estimated Per-capita Income (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/note\/US\/INC910222\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Per-capita income<\/a> is a measure of the average income earned per person in a specific area. It\u2019s calculated by dividing the total income of the population by the total number of residents (regardless of age), providing a per-person income figure that reflects the average economic well-being of the population. Per-capita income is one of three components of the <a href=\"https:\/\/hdr.undp.org\/data-center\/human-development-index#\/indicies\/HDI\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\">Human Development Index<\/a> of a country, and can be a vital indicator of a region\u2019s quality of life. Our methodology favors a higher per-capita income.<i> Note: A region\u2019s per-capita income will almost always be much lower than its median income.<\/i><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Median Number of Days a Home Stays on the Market (2%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The median number of days that homes in a metro area stay on the market after being listed. Lower values tend to coincide with more active housing markets, while higher values are the opposite. Our methodology favors a lower number of days.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Share of Homes Sold Above List Price (1%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The percentage of all homes in a metropolitan area that sold above the original listing price. Our methodology favors more homes sold above list price in order to prioritize an active housing market.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recreation and Leisure \u2013 20%<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recreation, shopping, leisure, and events are cornerstones of life for many people, and they\u2019ve <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC10\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">been shown<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to improve overall quality of life. More socialization, relaxation, and expressive outlets let people decompress from day-to-day life and develop new skills, interests, and hobbies that can contribute to personal and professional development.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a breakdown:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Food and Drink (7%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Food and drink counts the number of restaurants, bars, bagel shops, bakeries, breweries, donut shops, and more that a metro area has. 50 amenities in this category gives the maximum possible score.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Arts and Entertainment (4%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Arts and entertainment measures how many venues and destinations a metro area has, with 50 providing a metro the maximum possible score. This can include aquariums, comedy clubs, bowling alleys, museums, zoos, water parks, performing arts venues, and more.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Sports and Recreation (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: All types of sporting types, events, fields, venues, studios, courses, gyms, ranges, rinks, and courts are included, with 50 giving the maximum score.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Retail (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Retail includes stores of all types, including sport, hobby, music, grocery, fashion, and dozens of other stores, and pharmacies, with 50 being the maximum.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Events (3%)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: These include festivals, markets, fairs, parades, sporting events, conferences, conventions, and others. 50 amenities in this category gives the maximum possible score.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where did we get the data?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We used a variety of public and private data. These were:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/data\/developers\/data-sets.html\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Census Bureau API<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/location.foursquare.com\/places\/docs\/categories\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foursquare Places API<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/geodb-cities-api.wirefreethought.com\/\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GeoDB Cities API<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/maps\/documentation\/places\/web-service\/overview\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Places API<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Redfin Data<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How did we do the math?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, we first normalized the data points, such as house prices and employment rates, onto a scale from 0 to 100. This process allowed us to equally evaluate different types of information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, we assigned weights (as a percentage) to each data point based on its importance. We then multiplied each data point\u2019s normalized score by its weight to get final scores. Adding these up for all data points gave us an overall score for each area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, we ranked the metro areas from highest to lowest score to compile our top ten list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note: Data used was current as of the date an article was originally published.<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a data point was not available for a given metropolitan area, we excluded the metro from our list. This primarily affected small metros for which there wasn\u2019t sufficient housing market data.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disclaimer: These articles are for informational and educational purposes only.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read Redfin&#8217;s best places to live methodology, covering aspects like affordability, navigability, and number of amenities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2656],"tags":[],"coauthors":[34342],"class_list":["post-93202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Redfin&#039;s Best Places to Live Methodology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read Redfin&#039;s best places to live methodology, covering aspects like affordability, navigability, and number of amenities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/best-places-to-live-methodology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Redfin&#039;s Best Places to Live Methodology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read Redfin&#039;s best places to live methodology, covering aspects like affordability, navigability, and number of amenities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/blog\/best-places-to-live-methodology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redfin | Real Estate Tips for Home Buying, Selling &amp; 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