Living Large
It's official: Austin declared the best big city to live in and we're not surprised
WalletHub just confirmed what we've known since the get-go: Austin is the best large city in the country. On the website's 2015 analysis of the Best and Worst Large Cities to Live in, the Capital City ranks No. 1.
The website compared the attractiveness of America's large cities based on 31 key metrics in four categories: livability, quality of education, quality of health, and local economy and taxes. And high scores in three of the four categories put Austin on top.
Austin takes the No. 2 spot for quality of education. According to WalletHub, we rank No. 1 for best school system quality and No. 7 for level of education among residents. The Capital City also ranks No. 2 for local economy and taxes. The website notes that we have the third highest household income and the 24th best job market.
Austin also fares well for livability, ranking No. 7. We're the 10th best city for drivers, the 16th most diverse city, and the 19th best city for recreation. Sadly, we rank a mediocre No. 21 for quality of health. Says WalletHub, Austin ranks No. 31 for the percentage of adults in excellent health and No. 25 for the number of folks who bike to work.
On the list of best large cities to live in, Austin is followed by Raleigh, North Carolina; Colorado Springs, Colorado; San Jose, California; and Seattle, Washington. Other Texas cities in the top 50 are Corpus Christi (No. 26), Houston (No. 29), Arlington (No. 33), El Paso (No. 38), San Antonio (No. 43), Fort Worth (No. 47), and Dallas (No. 50).