Livability can be hard to quantify, but it can mean the difference between a city feeling like home or not.

RentCafe recently analyzed and ranked 139 U.S. metros for livability, using 17 metrics to assess such factors as commute time, number of arts venues and access to healthy food.

The research took into account additional socioeconomic factors including:

  • Cost of living;
  • Income growth rate;
  • Poverty rate;
  • Unemployment rate; and
  • Income inequality ratio.
It also looked at location and community factors such as:
  • Share of higher educated residents;
  • Share of long commutes;
  • Social association rate;
  • Share of severe housing problems; and
  • Arts, entertainment and recreation venues ratio.
And the quality of life factors considered in the study included:
  • Average number of physically unhealthy days;
  • Average number of mentally unhealthy days;
  • Food index;
  • Share of residents with access to exercise opportunities;
  • Share of physically inactive;
  • Share of uninsured; and
  • Health care providers ratio.
The Midwest was named the most livable region, with nine of the top 20 spots on the list. The East Coast was a close second with seven cities in the top 20. In the West, only three cities — Colorado Springs, San Francisco and Seattle — made the top 20.

The slideshow above illustrates the top 10 most livable cities in the U.S. according to RentCafe.

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