Iowa

These 2 Iowa cities are among the top 100 places to live in the U.S. Who made the cut?

Published

8 months ago

May 6, 2025

These 2 Iowa cities are among the top 100 places to live in the U.S. Who made the cut?

A pair of eastern Iowa cities are among the 100 best places to live, according to a recent ranking.

Each year, Livability.com publishes its top 100 places to live in the United States, focusing on small—to medium-sized cities.

Cedar Rapids and Iowa City each scored well on a multi-prong scale, each securing spots of the prestigious list.

How does Livability determine its top places to live list?

The methodology for Livability’s list is designed to identify cities that offer the best combination of affordability, opportunity, and quality of life. The media company partners with Applied Geographic Solutions to curate the list based on 100 data points across eight categories:

Economy: Includes unemployment rate and income growth
Housing and cost of living: Considers affordability and tax rates
Amenities: Covers cultural, leisure and shopping options
Transportation: Examines car ownership, walkability, and commute times
Environment: Assesses population density, air quality, and disaster risks
Safety: Looks at crime rates and overall community security
Education: Evaluates school quality and educational attainment
Health: Considers life expectancy and healthcare access

Each city is assigned a Livability Score (LivScore), derived from an algorithm that weighs each category, with a possible score of 1,000. The company looks at 2,000 cities with populations between 75,000 and 500,000 each year.

The final list of 100 cities represents the top 5% of cities within the studied range.

Why is Cedar Rapids a top place to live?

Cedar Rapids, the second-largest metro area in the state, has a LivScore of 718, placing it ahead of Coral Springs, Florida, which has a score of 717, and Rio Rancho, New Mexico, which has a composite score of 716.

Cedar Rapids scored the highest in the categories of housing, cost of living, transportation, amenities, and economy. Last year, Cedar Rapids was down slightly from the year before, securing a score of 762 in 2024.

Cedar Rapids, according to the list, offers a welcoming lifestyle with a rich history and diverse culture within the city limits. The Linn County city is home to thriving industries like manufacturing, technology, and bioscience while maintaining a strong connection to farmland.

Why is Iowa City a top place to live?

Iowa City secured a LivScore of 709, placing it ahead of Lincoln, Nebraska (707), and Fargo, North Dakota (706).

Like Cedar Rapids, Iowa City scored high in housing and cost of living, and transportation, though its highest scoring categories were health (67), and education (65. Iowa City also lost ground from a year ago, scoring 747 in 2024.

The City of Literature is home to the largest hospital in the state, while the community also boasts safe neighborhoods, well-regarded public schools, and a strong economy driven by education, technology, and manufacturing.

The top five cities in the U.S.

While the Livability doesn’t officially rank each city, these five cities had the highest LivScore among the 100 on this year’s list:

Flower Mound, Texas, with a LivScore of 875
Carmel, Indiana (872)
Sugarland, Texas (854)
Naperville, Illinois (841)
Roswell, Georgia (838)

Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_

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Iowa

Pat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star

Published

8 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Pat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star

Audi Crooks and Iowa State women’s basketball are officially sweeping the nation.

On Tuesday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN, the Cyclones’ star and NCAA women’s basketball scoring leader garnered significant praise from the former-NFL-punter-turned-media-personality.

“I’m a huge fan of the way she operates. Huge fan,” McAfee said. “She just gets buckets. That’s literally all she does.

“Did I know anything about Iowa State’s women’s basketball team ever? Nope. But Audi Crooks highlights pop up on my (algorithm), and I say, ‘Boys, immediately, I’m making a song, we’re making a highlight,’ because people are trying to take shots at Audi right now.”

The song and video McAfee referenced was posted on his social media and played on his show before his monologue about Crooks. It features a stylish edit of Crooks points accompanied by what appears to be an AI-generated song with the chorus of, “You’re about to get cooked, by Audi Crooks.”

The “shots” at Crooks that McAfee mentioned refer to a TikTok posted by ESPN with the caption, “Baylor exposed Audi Crooks on defense,” which came in ISU’s first loss of the season on Jan. 4.

Audi Crooks stats

2025-26 season (14 games): 29.1 points (NCAA leader), 6.7 rebounds, 71% shooting
2024-25 season: 23.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 60.5% shooting
2023-24 season: 19.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 57.7% shooting

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Iowa

Iowa women’s basketball, Chit-Chat Wright sick, Kylie Feuerbach update

Published

20 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Iowa women’s basketball, Chit-Chat Wright sick, Kylie Feuerbach update

Hawk Central report
| Des Moines Register

Iowa women’s basketball was lacking some of its vocal leadership on Monday at Northwestern.

Part of that was the fact that Hawkeyes senior Kylie Feuerbach is still sidelined with an ankle injury. Another part was the fact that Chit-Chat Wright was not feeling great.

“No excuse, but Chat’s really sick,” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said after the Hawkeyes’ 67-58 victory. “She didn’t have the flu game like (Michael) Jordan. But she’s really sick, like fever. And I think that just threw her. She was really not vocal tonight. So we were kinda searching, because Chat had been coming (as a leader).”

Wright fought through it and played 34 minutes, scoring 12 points and dishing out seven assists.

Jensen confirmed that Feuerbach remains day-to-day. She hasn’t played since getting hurt Dec. 20 vs. UConn.

“I think (our leadership tonight) was by committee,” Jensen said. “It just wasn’t the same person every time. … It’ll be nice to get Kylie back in that lineup.”

Feuerbach, the team’s best perimeter defender, has missed Iowa’s last three games. Jensen said she is pleased overall with how her team has played defensively in Feuerbach’s absence.

“(Against Northwestern) it was more an ‘us’ problem offensively,” Jensen said. “Our defense held. … We turned the ball over 20 times.”

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Iowa

Two killed in Dubuque after bar fight escalates into police shooting

Published

1 day ago

January 5, 2026

Press Room

Two killed in Dubuque after bar fight escalates into police shooting

Two people are dead after a Dubuque bar fight escalated, with one man shooting another and then being killed by police.

An officer with the Dubuque Police Department was outside the Odd Fellows bar just before 1 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 4, when he witnessed a physical altercation, according to a news release from the Dubuque Police Department.

As the officer exited the patrol vehicle, an adult man allegedly used a handgun to shoot one of the people involved in the fight. The officer fired at the offender, who then ran into the bar.

The victim who was shot first was provided medical treatment by officers at the scene and then transported to MercyOne Hospital in Dubuque.

The offender was treated by police officers inside the bar and then transported to UnityPoint Finley Hospital.

Both were later pronounced dead.

The names of those involved are not being released at this time pending notification of family members.

The incident is being investigated by the Dubuque Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The officer involved was not injured and has been placed on critical incident leave in accordance with the department’s policies.

Nick El Hajj is a reporter at the Register. He can be reached at nelhajj@gannett.com. Follow him on X at @nick_el_hajj.

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