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The Best Places to Live in the U.S. Have Been Revealed—Did Your Hometown Make the Cut?

Check out Money's annual roundup of 100 cities to see if your hometown made the list.

Whether you're considering relocating or you're just curious as to how your hometown holds up against others, you'll be interested in the top city in the United States. Luckily, Money just released its annual list of the best places to live in America—and the results might surprise you.

cumberland river in clarksville tennessee

But before we reveal the winners, it's important to know how this list was devised. If analyzing every single town in the U.S. sounds like an incredibly tall task, well, it is. So Money came up with a pretty meticulous method to narrow down the results. To be considered, a city must have a population of at least 50,000. Locations that had populations more than 300,000 were broken down into neighborhoods, which had to have 5,000 to 200,000 people. The publication removed any place "that had more than double the national crime risk, less than 85% of its state's median household income, or a lack of ethnic diversity."

After considering all these factors, there were 1,796 areas to analyze. The site looked at more than 80 different types of data to figure out the list, and "put the greatest weight on economic factors, housing, health and safety, diversity and cost of living." The magazine adds that the roundup would have no more than four places per state and one per county, and locations on last year's list were not eligible to be on this year's.

Along with all the number crunching, reporters were dispatched to research "the kinds of intangible factors that aren't revealed by statistics." Basically, they wanted to find an affordable place that still has stuff going on, says Money writer Shaina Mishkin. "That's the holy grail of places you want to live," Mishkin explains. "Somewhere where you can get a job, afford to rent or buy a home, and enjoy the place you're living."

So, which place took home top honors on the 2019 list? The number one place to live in the United States, according to Money, is (drum roll, please): Clarksville, Tennessee.

The modest-sized city, which is home to many generations, boasts about 160,000 people and is located fifty miles northwest of Nashville. Mishkin notes that in 2018, the average home in Clarksville sold for a little less than $156,000—a whopping $100,000 less than the national median price. The quaint downtown offers a little something for everyone, including local boutiques, restaurants, and breweries. The area's schools are also impressive, with a graduation rate of 95%.

Clarksville isn't the only southern spot on the list. Rounding out the top ten most desired places to live are:

2. Round Rock, Texas

3. Fishers, Indiana

4. Fulton River District in Illinois

5. Country Club Heights in North Carolina

6. Draper, Utah

7. Bentonville, Arkansas

8. Madison, Wisconsin

9. Meridian, Idaho

Even if your city didn't place, don't worry. There's always next year.