top of the line

Austin prevails in new list of America's top 15 best cities

It's a solid ranking for the Texas Capital.

Photo by Daydreamer Creative on Unsplash

Austin is earning high praise for its prosperity, lovability, and livability in a prestigious new report by Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors Resonance Consultancy.

The annual "America's Best Cities" report ranks the relative qualities of place, cultural diversity, and economic prosperity for America's principal cities with metropolitan populations of 500,000 or more. These top 100 cities are "the engines of their regional and national economies and, importantly, the global economy," according to the report.

Austin ranked No. 15 on the list, with New York City (No. 1), Chicago (No. 2), and Los Angeles (No. 3) claiming the coveted top three spots.

Resonance refers to its 2023 report of the "World's Best Cities" when describing Austin's achievements, specifically reiterating the city's ability to bring in big economic players like entrepreneurs and investors.

"The rebellious Texas city — forged by can-do persistence cut with a university town’s progressive livability — is now a well-oiled talent-attraction machine," the report restated.

The city's glowing reputation also extended toward the consistently high-ranking University of Texas at Austin, and the growing roster of major employers that have found a home in Austin (some of which were recently hailed the best companies to work for by U.S. News and World Report).

"It’s no surprise, then, that since the pandemic Austin has secured headquarters for giants like Oracle, Tesla, BAE Systems and dozens more, joining incumbents like Samsung USA, which in April announced a $40-billion investment in nearby Taylor, Texas, to build massive semiconductor chip plants, expedited by a $6.4-billion investment by the Biden Administration," the report said.

Two additional standout factors in the report were Austin's lively local music scene, and the downtown skyline.

"New high-rises like the Waterline (which will be the tallest building in Texas when it opens in 2026) and Wilson Tower (the largest planned U.S. residential high-rise outside of NYC) will be pinnacle trophies on the city’s expanding skyline.

Elsewhere in Texas, Houston (No. 10) was the only Texas city to grace the top 10 best U.S. cities. Dallas (No. 16) ranked one spot behind Austin, with San Antonio coming in at No. 32 nationally. Landing outside the top 50 in the report were El Paso (No. 83) and McAllen (No. 88).

The top 10 best American cities, according to Resonance Consultancy, are:

No. 1 – New York, New York
No. 2 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 3 – Los Angeles, California
No. 4 – Miami, Florida
No. 5 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 6 – San Francisco, California
No. 7 – Boston, Massachusetts
No. 8 – Washington, D.C.
No. 9 – Seattle, Washington
No. 10 – Houston, Texas

The full list of cities and the report's methodology can be found on worldsbestcities.com.

houston austin dallas san antonio best cities rankings report

better luck next year

Austin drops out of top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Tracy Vu on Unsplash

Austin needs to put in some major work to improve its ranking for the 2026 report.

In a surprising turn for the city, Austin is no longer considered one the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Austin the 53rd best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Austin took a 10-place tumble after previously ranking as No. 43 for two consecutive years, starting in 2022.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Austin in the top 15 – when explaining the Texas Capital's successes. The report praised Austin's "progressive spirit," economic prosperity, and the award-winning University of Texas at Austin.

"Austin continues to position itself as a hub of innovation and talent," the report's author wrote. "Over the past decade, the Austin area has become a magnet for major corporations, with Tesla recently establishing headquarters here to join long-standing players like Whole Foods and Dell."

However, Resonance attribute's Austin's dip in the rankings due to rising office vacancy rates and high housing prices.

"The office vacancy rate is climbing as remote work continues to impact the demand for commercial spaces," the report said. "Moreover, housing remains among the least affordable in the U.S., despite home prices having dropped 18 percent from the pandemic highs seen in mid-2022, the most among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas according to Redfin."

Elsewhere in Texas, both Houston and Dallas made major rebounds on the World's Best Cities list for 2025 from the previous year's rankings. Houston had plummeted into No. 66 in 2023, but has now skyrocketed back into the top 50 to claim the No. 40 spot. Meanwhile, Dallas moved up from No. 73 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

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