Although California is among the most expensive and desireable places to live, those cities are not viewed as the best places to live, according to the nationally renowned publication.
No California city cracked in U.S. News’ top 100 list. The highest-ranked California city was Folsom in Sacramento County at No. 119. Although not very high on the list, three Bay Area cities were included in the top 200: Palo Alto (No. 148), Cupertino (No. 151) and San Ramon (No. 180).
Three cities in Texas cracked the top 10. Johns Creek, Ga. took home the top ranking at No. 1.
U.S. News: Best Places to Live in 2025-26
- Johns Creek, GA
- Carmel, IN
- Pearland, TX
- Fisgers, IN
- Cary, NC
- League City, TX
- Apex, NC
- Leander, TX
- Rochester Hills, MI
- Troy, MI
See U.S. News’ full ranking here.
Even in U.S. News’ “Best Big Cities to Live” list, California wasn’t shown with much love as the highest-ranking city was San Diego at No. 15. San Francisco, the first Bay Area city to crack the list, was ranked No. 20. San Jose ranked No. 24.
Methodology
U.S. News analyzed 859 of the most populated cities in the country. Main factors include the city’s “job market, value, quality of life and desirability.” The ranking weighed the following factors as such.
- Quality of Life Index (26%)
- Value Index (25%)
- Desirability Index (24%)
- Job Market Index (23%)
- Net Migration (2%)
Each of those indexes had subfactors that contributed to its score in that category.
U.S. News combined those weighted indexes and converted the value to come up with a 10-point scale. The publication used data from sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The full methodology can be viewed on U.S. News’ website.
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