DC drops 11 spots in latest U.S. 草莓传媒 ‘Best Places to Live’ ranking

Aerial drone view Austin Texas Perfect Texas flag flying in front of Austin Texas downtown skyline cityscape sunny perfect day — **No. 1** People are still moving, though not as many as in past years, to the Lone Star State’s capital due to its good weather, access to outdoor space, higher education institutions and live music scene. (Getty Images)

No. 2 The capital of Colorado moved up one spot in the rankings due to its desirability and quality of life scores, even though it’s not a cheap place to live. The Mile High City has a lot going for it, especially its access to the Rocky Mountains, which are about an hour away. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File

Snow covered Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs at the base of 14000 foot Pikes Peak in the wintertime. — **No. 3** Colorado Springs is an extremely attractive place to live, literally, as you can see here from this photo of the snow-covered Garden of the Gods Park at the base of 14,000 foot Pikes Peak. That helps keep it in the magazine’s top five for another year, even though it dropped one spot behind Denver, its neighbor a couple hours to the north. (Getty Images)

Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus. (Thinkstock) — **No. 4** The home of the University of Arkansas (this photo shows Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus) moves up one spot on the list due to its access to higher education, the outdoors and a growing economy. (Thinkstock)

No. 5 Classic homes, a vibrant metro area of 600,000 that still comes with a small-town feel, a low cost of living and access to good jobs keeps the state’s capital in the top five this year, despite a one spot drop. The city is working to clean up the Des Moines River and turn the city into a destination for paddlers. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

No. 6 As this photo shows, there’s no doubt Minneapolis is cold in the winter, but the Twin Cities area is becoming more and more attractive due to its historic neighborhoods, museums and amenities associated with big cities. It moved up three places from the No. 9 spot last year. This past winter, however, the city endured some of the lowest temperatures in a generation. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)

Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via AP

San Francisco Skyline with Dramatic Clouds at Sunrise, California, USA — **No. 7** San Francisco experienced a big jump in the rankings this year, moving up from No. 20 due to a hot job market, a high quality of life score and a high desirability score despite high housing costs. There’s no doubt it’s a great city in a great region, but beware: even though San Francisco residents can receive high salaries, it’s one of the least affordable cities in the U.S. and the commute is also one of the country’s worst. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/heyengel)

A rainbow pops out under dark rain clouds over the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Ore., Thursday, May 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Don Ryan) — **No. 8** Portland fell back a couple of spots in this year’s rankings, but it’s still a great place to live if you’re interested in a quirky culture, unique doughnuts, access to lots of outdoor activities and a solid job market boosted by big companies like Intel and a lower unemployment rate than the rest of the U.S. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

No. 9 Seattle moved up one spot in this year’s ranking. Here, visitors peer inside the Pike Place Market Starbucks, commonly referred to as the original Starbucks. Actually, the first Starbucks cafe was located nearby in the early 1970s. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

No. 10 The area considered the research triangle, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, moved up from No. 13. Duke University is just one of the well-known schools in the area, which also draws people due to its green spaces, technology companies and museums. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

AP Photo/Gerry Broome

Here is the token nighttime long exposure shot of the U.S. Capital building in Washington D.C. — **No. 19**听 While the District did drop in this year’s rankings, it’s still one of the most desirable places to live in the eastern part of the U.S. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Jesse Stafford)

No. 53 The Virginia state capital moved up one spot in the rankings this year. It’s home to stately houses, wide streets, a growing university (VCU), plenty of dining and entertainment options, and the cost of living is lower than many other east coast cities. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

AP Photo/Steve Helber

Baltimore, Maryland, USA Skyline over the Inner Harbor at dusk. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Sean Pavone) — **No. 100** Baltimore was the only Maryland city to make the list, but it dropped from No. 83 in 2018. It continues to grow and is well-situated between both Washington and Philadelphia. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Sean Pavone)

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The cherry trees reached peak bloom at the Tidal Basin on Monday, April 1. (草莓传媒/Dave Dildine)

A year ago, the District ranked No. 8 on the Best Places to Live ranking from U.S. 草莓传媒 and World Report. This year, it’s a much different story.

Despite a stable job market and good quality of life, D.C.’s high cost of living and a number of people leaving the city prompted the magazine to drop the District 11 spots to No. 19 on the list of the top 125 places to live in the U.S.

For the third straight year, Austin, Texas took the top spot, while a number of seemingly popular cities in the northeastern part of the country failed to crack the top 20.

For example, while many people are drawn to the bright lights and skyscrapers of New York, the Big Apple checks in way down the list at No. 90.

The publication compiled its list based on the following rubric: a city’s job market strength, including jobs and median income, was worth 20%; its cost of living was worth 25%; quality of life , including schools and morning commute time, was worth 30%; and the combination of whether people wanted to move to a city and the net number of people moving into or leaving a city (desirability index and net migration) were worth a cumulative 25%.

Data in the rankings came from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. 草莓传媒’ own research.

“D.C still performs very well, of course,” U.S. 草莓传媒 real estate editor Devon Thorsby told 草莓传媒 — the job market is strong; median pay is high and the area’s schools are highly ranked. Still, factors such as the cost of living (24% percent of the median income, which puts D.C. in the bottom half of the list) and the morning commute (at an average 34 minutes, it’s second-worst, only better than New York) set the area back.

D.C.’s not alone — much of the Northeast didn’t fare very strongly.

“I think a lot of it is due to affordability,” Thorsby said. That is seen most clearly in housing prices, particularly around the District:听鈥淭he rise in the cost of living in the D.C area, especially when the population isn鈥檛 rising rapidly 鈥� shows a bit of a disconnect between the real estate market 鈥� and what the existing population in the area can afford.鈥�

Cities with a big jump between 2018 and this year included Asheville, North Carolina (24 to 16) and Sarasota, Florida (34 to 18).听See the full ranking in the table below:

1	Austin	听TX
2	Denver	听CO
3	Colorado Springs	听CO
4	Fayetteville	听AR
5	Des Moines	听IA
6	Minneapolis-St. Paul	听MN
7	San Francisco	听CA
8	Portland	听OR
9	Seattle	听WA
10	Raleigh/Durham	听NC
11	Huntsville	听AL
12	Madison	听WI
13	Grand Rapids	听MI
14	San Jose	听CA
15	Nashville	听TN
16	Asheville	听NC
17	Boise	听ID
18	Sarasota	听FL
19	Washington	听DC
20	Charlotte	听NC
21	Dallas-Fort Worth	听TX
22	Greenville	听SC
23	Portland	听ME
24	Salt Lake City	听UT
25	Melbourne	听FL
26	Phoenix	听AZ
27	Boston	听MA
28	Albany	听NY
29	Lexington-Fayette	听KY
30	Houston	听TX
31	Winston-Salem	听NC
32	Omaha	听NE
33	Reno	听NV
34	San Antonio	听TX
35	Fort Myers	听FL
36	San Diego	听CA
37	Pensacola	听FL
38	Indianapolis	听IN
39	Cincinnati	听OH
40	Fort Wayne	听IN
41	Lansing	听MI
42	Jacksonville	听FL
43	Manchester	听NH
44	Harrisburg	听PA
45	Charleston	听SC
46	Knoxville	听TN
47	Hartford	听CT
48	Lancaster	听PA
49	Kansas City	听MO
50	Pittsburgh	听PA
51	Columbus	听OH
52	Buffalo	听NY
53	Richmond	听VA
54	Syracuse	听NY
55	Chattanooga	听TN
56	Tampa	听FL
57	Atlanta	听GA
58	Rochester	听NY
59	Lakeland	听FL
60	Honolulu	听HI
61	Milwaukee	听WI
62	Worcester	听MA
63	Orlando	听FL
64	Louisville	听KY
65	Spokane	听WA
66	Greensboro	听NC
67	Columbia	听SC
68	Oklahoma City	听OK
69	Dayton	听OH
70	Anchorage	听AK
71	Las Vegas	听NV
72	Augusta	听GA
73	Santa Barbara	听CA
74	Santa Rosa	听CA
75	Myrtle Beach	听SC
76	Tucson	听AZ
77	Salem	听OR
78	Port St. Lucie	听FL
79	Wichita	听KS
80	Springfield	听MO
81	St. Louis	听MO
82	Sacramento	听CA
83	Tulsa	听OK
84	Reading	听PA
86	Springfield	听MA
86	Springfield	听MA
87	York	听PA
88	Little Rock	听AR
89	Birmingham	听AL
90	New York	听NY
91	Providence	听RI
92	Detroit	听MI
93	Allentown	听PA
94	Toledo	听OH
95	New Haven	听CT
96	Lafayette	听LA
97	Youngstown	听OH
98	Scranton	听PA
99	Daytona Beach	听FL
100	Baltimore	听MD
101	Killeen	听TX
102	Philadelphia	听PA
103	Virginia Beach	听VA
104	Chicago	听IL
105	Corpus Christi	听TX
106	Albuquerque	听NM
107	Los Angeles	听CA
108	Beaumont	听TX
109	Baton Rouge	听LA
110	El Paso	听TX
111	Jackson	听MS
112	McAllen	听TX
113	Miami	听FL
114	New Orleans	听LA
115	Flint	听MI
116	Brownsville	听TX
117	Salinas	听CA
118	Memphis	听TN
119	Fresno	听CA
120	Modesto	听CA
121	Mobile	听AL
122	Shreveport	听LA
123	Stockton	听CA
124	Bakersfield	听CA
125	San Juan	听PR