If you have a good job in Manhattan but don’t want to blow all of your income on rent or housing in New York City, living right across the Hudson River in Jersey City is a pretty good option.
SmartAsset named it the most livable city in the country. Jersey City has the third-highest population density and third-highest income after housing, and is fourth in walkability. Subtracting housing costs, residents earn roughly $35,000 on average, the highest rate in the nation.
Other cities in the top 25 included mainstays like Boston, Seattle, and Denver, but also Irving, Texas, Madison, Wis., and Chandler, Ariz.
California was well-represented, but Southern cities were on the outside looking in.
Southern cities did not fare as well in our study. Only two Southern cities (both in Texas) cracked the top 25. This was mostly due to low levels of walkability. Five of the bottom 10 cities are in the South and all had poor walkability scores. Notably Winston-Salem, North Carolina was ranked at the second-to-last livable city, as well as the second-least walkable.
SmartAsset determined the ranking based on factors including crime rate, unemployment rate, income after housing, walkability, and population density (a way to measure access to local businesses like grocery stores, laundromats, and restaurants).
