A spring day on the Harrisburg riverfront
The Harrisburg area ranks as the number-one place to live in Pennsylvania, according to a much-followed annual list.
In its recently released 2023-24 list of “Best Places to Live,” U.S. News & World Report placed Harrisburg ahead of all other metro areas in the commonwealth.
In its report, U.S. News lauded Harrisburg for such attributes as affordability, a strong arts scene, easy access to the “great outdoors” and proximity to larger cities.
“While Harrisburg isn’t necessarily regarded as affluent, it has a more affordable housing market and a lower cost of living than many of the East Coast’s larger metro areas,” the report states.
Every year, U.S News ranks the largest 150 metro areas in the United States, using such criteria as “desirability,” “value,” “job market,” “quality of life” and “net migration.”
In its new list, released last week, U.S. News ranked the top three “best places to live” in the United States as Green Bay, Wisc., Huntsville, Ala., and Raleigh/Durham, N.C. The bottom three spots were Stockton, Calif., Bakersfield, Calif., and San Juan, P.R., respectively.
Overall, the news organization ranked Harrisburg as the 38th “best place to live” in the country, a small decline from No. 35 last year, when it also ranked first in PA.
Harrisburg received its highest marks for “value” and “quality of life” and its lowest mark for “desirability.”
According to U.S. News, “quality of life” consists of a multitude of factors, including crime rates, quality of education and access to health care. Housing affordability and relative affordability compared to other metro areas constitutes “value.”
“Desirability” is largely based on a “desirability survey” that U.S. News conducts with respondents from across the country to find out where they would most like to live.
Elsewhere in PA, Pittsburgh ranked as No. 47 in the nation, Lancaster as No. 55, York as No. 78, Scranton as No. 85, Reading as No. 88, Allentown as No. 109 and Philadelphia as No. 119.
Last year, U.S. News also ranked Harrisburg as the No. 2 “best place to retire” in the entire country. In that report, Lancaster ranked as the No. 1 “best place to retire” in the country.
Click here to read more for “U.S. News Best Places,” 2023-24.
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