Big City Living

Austin slips from No. 1 spot on new list of America's best places to live

Austin ranks among the top places to live, but we're no longer No. 1.

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Austin is accustomed to coming in first. The Capital City has ranked No. 1 on a variety of lists, from best cities to start a business to best places to live.

But WalletHub's new report names Austin the No. 6 best big city to live in the country, which means we've tumbled from our No. 1 ranking in 2015.

The financial website ranked the 62 largest cities in the U.S. on five major factors: economy, quality of life, education and health, affordability, and safety.

Austin performs the best in the economy category, coming in third. That's due in part to our 3 percent unemployment rate — the lowest in the country — and the fact that only 18 percent of the population is living below the poverty line, the 20th lowest.

Austin ranks No. 14 for education and health. We're pretty well-educated — a little over 87 percent of the Austin population ages 25 and older have a high school diploma — and our public hospital system is No. 12 in the U.S.

According to WalletHub, Austin's quality of life is the 17th best, thanks to our many entertainment options. Austin comes in first for number of music venues per capita; the city is also home to a lot of fitness centers (No. 6), movie theaters (No. 9), and shopping centers (No. 10).

Austin ranks much lower for affordability (No. 32) and safety (No. 32). Even though the Capital City boasts the ninth highest median household income in the country, $57,689, our homeownership rate is just 44.8 percent, one of the lowest among big cities, due to high home prices. And when it comes to safety, Austin experiences three fatalities and over 3,000 property crimes per 100,000 residents, both dismal stats compared to the other places on WalletHub's list.

Even so, Austin performs far better than its fellow Texas cities. The next high-ranking Lone Star city is El Paso at No. 25, followed by Arlington (No. 30), Fort Worth (No. 33), San Antonio (No. 35), Dallas (No. 43), Corpus Christi (No. 47), and Houston (No. 48).

The best big city to live in right now? Virginia Beach, Virginia (No. 1). Seattle; Pittsburgh; San Diego; and Colorado Springs, Colorado, round out the top five.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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