Two Wisconsin Towns Named the Best Places to Live in the Country
An annual list of the best places to live in the entire country has been released for 2024. It lists the 100 best towns and two of them are in Wisconsin! Both of these towns were also on the list in 2023 and 2022.
How the Best Places to Live in the US Were Chosen
This list came from Livability. Like I said, each year they come out with this list and update for anything that has changed in the past year.
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In order to determine their rankings of the 100 best places to live in the US, a lot of data is taken into consideration. On Livability's website, they mention that they based the rankings on "nearly 100 data points and an algorithm that takes into account measures of a city’s economy, housing and cost of living, amenities, transportation, environment, safety, education and health."
All very important things when it comes to finding a good place to live!
Before getting to Wisconsin's top places to live, let's take a look at the neighboring states' best towns.
Minnesota's Best Places to Live
Minnesota is home to four of the 100 best places to live in the country. In order from lowest ranking to highest, the towns are St. Paul (79th), Duluth (66th), Rochester (30th), and Bloomington (21st).
Illinois' Best Places to Live
Illinois has a whopping five of the 100 best places to live! Those are, in order from lowest to highest ranking, Champaign, Peoria, Bloomington, Evanston, and Naperville.
Iowa's Best Places to Live
And finally, before we get to Wisconsin's, Iowa has two of the 100 best places to live. Those are Iowa City (55th) and Cedar Rapids (41st).
Wisconsin's Best Places to Live
Like Iowa, Wisconsin also has two of the 100 best places to live in the entire country. Coming in as the 53rd best place to live in the country and the second best in Wisconsin, is Appleton!
Appleton also made the list in 2023 and 2022. In 2023 the town ranked 66th and in 2022, 39th. So a big dip happened between 2022 and 2023 but they're inching back up there this year.
Finally, the Wisconsin town that is the 44th best in the country and number one in Wisconsin is Madison!
Madison made the list in 2023 and 2022 as well. In 2023 the town ranked 55th and in 2022 they were the number one best place to live in the country.
Appleton and Madison were the only Wisconsin towns to make the list in 2023 but in 2022 Wisconsin dominated with six towns in the top 100: Madison (1st), Waukesha (12th), Appleton (39th), Green Bay (74th), Eau Claire (78th), and La Crosse (89th).
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Gallery Credit: Zillow/Take Action Realty Group, LLC