BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — One Colorado city has some major bragging rights.
Boulder is the best place to live in America, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Boulder received high marks in desirability among surveyed residents. Quality of life and a vibrant job market also helped Boulder rise to the top.
“It’s just a special place to live,” said Dan Kingdom, a third-generation Boulder native who owns WK Real Estate. “It’s not just in the United States. It’s worldwide. Boulder is on the map. People want to move here, and they’re willing to pay the price to be here.”
Affordable, at least to Silicon Valley transplants
The top ranking also includes affordability metrics. Despite a red-hot real estate market, Boulder still came out on top for a second year in a row.
But is Boulder really affordable? FOX31 asked Devon Thorsby, real estate editor of U.S. News & World Report.
“A lot of the people who are moving to the Boulder area are coming from even more expensive places, like Seattle or Silicon Valley,” Thorsby said.
High-paying jobs in the area create a median household income that is on par with the median cost of living in Boulder, Thorsby said.
Boulder as desirable as NYC
“People are moving here because they want to be here,” said Scott Sternberg, executive director of Boulder’s economic council.
Boulder’s diverse workforce — that includes tech and aerospace jobs — helped the city ride out some of the pandemic economic woes, experts said. The job market was also a key factor pushing Boulder to spot No. 1.
U.S. News and World Report discovered Colorado’s gem of a city is in line with the Big Apple in terms of desirability — a place, survey says, people want to be.
“New York City is still on the list of most desirable places to live … it’s still up there,” Thorsby said. It’s actually tied with Boulder.”
This is the second year Boulder came out on top and the second year Boulder was considered in the nationwide ranking.