Austin drops out of top 10 on U.S. News’ list of best places to live

(CultureMap Austin) Austin has been knocked out of the highest 10 in U.S. Information & World Report’s annual rating of one of the best locations to dwell within the U.S.

The Austin metro space tumbled from No. 5 final yr to No. 13 this yr. Austin ranked No. 3 in 2020, and No. 1 in 2017, 2018, and 2019. It stays the top-ranked place in Texas, although.

Austin has slipped within the annual U.S. Information rankings as housing prices have continued to soar. In March, the median sale value of the house within the metro space jumped 22 % to $521,100 in contrast with a yr earlier, in response to the Austin Board of Realtors. Inside the metropolis of Austin, the median sale value climbed 22.4 % to $624,000.

“In line with the Census Bureau’s 2021 inhabitants estimates, Austin is experiencing a internet progress of 146 folks per day. One of these progress locations fast and important demand on infrastructure, notably housing,” Lila Valencia, the Metropolis of Austin’s demographer, stated in an April information launch from the Austin Board of Realtors.

For this yr’s rating, U.S. Information thought-about key elements for 150 metro areas comparable to job availability, housing affordability, high quality of life, and desirability. This yr, the publication added information about air high quality for the primary time.

Huntsville, Alabama, grabbed the No. 1 spot from final yr’s top-ranked metro, Boulder, Colorado. Huntsville got here in third place final yr.

“A lot of the shakeup we see on the prime of this yr’s rating is a results of altering preferences,” Devon Thorsby, actual property editor at U.S. Information, says in a information launch. “Individuals transferring throughout the nation immediately are placing extra emphasis on affordability and high quality of life than on the job market, which in some ways takes a again seat as distant work choices have turn out to be extra commonplace.”

Elsewhere within the U.S. Information rankings:

• Dallas-Fort Value landed at No. 32, up from No. 37 final yr.
• Houston landed at No. 59, down from No. 39 final yr.
• San Antonio landed at No. 83, down from No. 75 final yr.
• Killeen landed at No. 108, up from No. 114 final yr.
• Beaumont landed at No. 109, up from No. 124 final yr.
• El Paso landed at No. 124, up from No. 131 final yr.
• Corpus Christi landed at No. 133, down from No. 129 final yr.
• Brownsville landed at No. 134, up from No. 140 final yr.
• McAllen landed at No. 138, up from No. 139 final yr.

See the complete story on CultureMap.

College bus drags Maine kindergartener almost 600 toes

Starbucks will cowl journey for employees in search of abortions

Amber Heard cross-examined about fights with Johnny Depp