HUNTSVILLE – U.S. News and World Report recently released their top 25 “Best Places for Families to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024”, and listed as Number 1 is our very own Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville beat out thousands of cities around the country and even the competitive top 25 that included runner-up San Jose, California, Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The rankings weigh a number of criteria including cost of living, schools, job market, commute, and unemployment for the cities ranked in the top 150 cities in their “Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2023-24.” Last year, Huntsville was ranked the top spot for this section and this year stayed near the top at the Number 2 spot behind Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In the “Best Places to Live” ranking, Madison receives a shout-out for “the area’s minor league baseball team, [that] plays at Toyota Field in the Huntsville suburb of Madison.”

Madison also contributed to the “Best Places for Families to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024” ranking as the rankings account for the entire metro area of Huntsville. Managing Editor Susannah Snider said, “The way Madison factors into that is we are looking at the metro area. So, our analysis doesn’t stop at the borders of Huntsville. It incorporates some of the surrounding areas, as well. So, all of the data and the wonderful statistics that apply to Huntsville are also incorporated in some of those surrounding communities.”

According to Snider, the cost of living was a major defining factor that placed Huntsville at the top and distinguished it from San Jose, which came in second place.

“One thing that really, really stands out about San Jose versus Huntsville is cost of living,” Snider says. She cites the higher average home prices (over $1 million) in San Jose and the above average median salary in Huntsville that stretched income farther as one of the distinguishing factors that led to Huntsville receiving the top spot for families.

In fact, the ranking noted, “Not only is Huntsville’s median annual salary, at $61,140, above the national average of $58,260, but residents spend just 19.62% of the median annual household income on the cost of living.”

Huntsville also comes in at #51 on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best Places to Retire.

For the complete “Best Places for Families to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024” listing, go to https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/slideshows/best-places-to-live-in-the-us-for-families.