Redfin’s Best Places to Live Methodology

Redfin’s Best Places to Live rankings are intended to provide an objective measure of a metro area’s quality of life. Redfin’s rankings are based on a proprietary method that aggregates and weighs 20 factors for each metro area. These 20 factors are split up into 4 umbrella categories highlighting important aspects of living: Community and Health; Navigability; Housing and Economy; and Recreation and Leisure. 

To make the top ten list and be considered a “Best” place to live, a metro area must average a high score across each of the umbrella categories. Only metros with a population of 20,000 or more were considered for our list. 

Below is a complete list of our categories and the weights we ascribed to each.

Categories and weights

Community and Health – 40%

Community and health aims to measure how equipped a metro area is in serving its community through available healthcare and government services. This includes providing medical, preventative, and restorative care, public amenities and facilities, and access to the outdoors. Research has shown that residents in areas with robust healthcare and government services, as well as free and open access to the outdoors, tend to have a higher quality of life. Solar power generation can also help improve local air quality and soil health.

Here’s a more in-depth breakdown:

Health and Medicine (17%): Health and medicine locations are essential parts of a healthy and thriving community. These amenities include hospitals, dentists, physicians, mental health services, hospice centers, acupuncturists, veterinarians, and many more. 
Landmarks and Outdoors (12%): Access to open outdoor space can be a vital part of a community. This category includes parks, lakes, islands, mountains, beaches, forests, campgrounds, historic and protected sites, and more, with 50 providing the maximum possible score.
Community and Government (8%): Community and government counts the number of government, public, nonprofit, and educational amenities a metro area has, with 50 being the maximum. These can include post offices, courthouses, schools, colleges and universities, community centers, animal shelters, and more.
Share of Homes that Use Solar Energy (3%): Solar energy benefits the environment and reduces utility bills. This data measures the percentage of homes in a certain metro area that use solar panels, solar heating, or another form of solar energy. 

Navigability – 20%

Navigability measures how easily residents of all abilities can move around a metro area. Time spent commuting to and from work, transportation options, and infrastructure, all impact a resident’s daily quality of life. Studies have shown that lower commute times, more transportation options, and robust infrastructure lead to a higher quality of life. These amenities play a huge role in measuring an area’s navigability, compactness, and number of amenities.

Here’s a deeper breakdown:

Average Commuting Time (7%): The average time it takes to travel to and from work using all modes of transportation. Our methodology favors shorter times. 
Travel and Transportation (5%): Travel and transportation includes amenities like lodging, parking, ports, gas stations, RV parks, major roads and highways, ferries, trains, and airports. 50 amenities in this category gives the highest possible score
Walk Score (3%): The walkability of a metropolitan area calculated at its center. Read the Walk Score methodology for more information.
Transit Score (3%): The access to and number of transit options a certain metro area has calculated at its center. Read the Transit Score methodology for more information.
Bike Score (2%): The bikeability of a metropolitan area calculated at its center. Read the Bike Score methodology for more information.

Housing and Economy – 20%

Housing market and economic factors play a vital role in a community’s quality of life. “Housing” takes into account home sale prices, days on market, and the homes sold above list price in order to estimate the strength of the metro area’s housing market. “Economy” measures the strength of the local economy through per-capita income and unemployment rates. Lastly, it’s been shown that receiving a high school diploma increases current and future quality of life. 

Here’s a deeper dive: 

Median Home Sale Price (7%): The median sale price of all homes in a metro area. Our methodology favors lower prices to promote affordability. 
Share of Residents Who Are Unemployed (4%): The percentage of all residents in a metropolitan area who listed their employment status as “unemployed” in the U.S. Census. The methodology favors a lower unemployment rate.
Share of Residents with a High School Diploma (3%): The percentage of all residents in a metropolitan area for whom high school is their highest level of education.
Estimated Per-capita Income (3%): Per-capita income is a measure of the average income earned per person in a specific area. It’s calculated by dividing the total income of the population by the total number of residents, providing a per-person income figure that reflects the average economic well-being of the population. Per-capita income is one of three components of the Human Development Index of a country, and can be a vital indicator of a region’s quality of life. Our methodology favors a higher per-capita income.
Median Number of Days a Home Stays on the Market (2%): The median number of days that homes in a metro area stay on the market after being listed. Lower values tend to coincide with more active housing markets, while higher values are the opposite. Our methodology favors a lower number of days.
Share of Homes Sold Above List Price (1%): The percentage of all homes in a metropolitan area that sold above the original listing price. Our methodology favors more homes sold above list price in order to prioritize an active housing market.

Recreation and Leisure – 20%

Recreation, shopping, leisure, and events are cornerstones of life for many people, and they’ve been shown to improve overall quality of life. More socialization, relaxation, and expressive outlets let people decompress from day-to-day life and develop new skills, interests, and hobbies that can contribute to personal and professional development. 

Here’s a breakdown:

Food and Drink (7%): Food and drink counts the number of restaurants, bars, bagel shops, bakeries, breweries, donut shops, and more that a metro area has. 50 amenities in this category gives the maximum possible score. 
Arts and Entertainment (4%): Arts and entertainment measures how many venues and destinations a metro area has, with 50 providing a metro the maximum possible score. This can include aquariums, comedy clubs, bowling alleys, museums, zoos, water parks, performing arts venues, and more.
Sports and Recreation (3%): All types of sporting types, events, fields, venues, studios, courses, gyms, ranges, rinks, and courts are included, with 50 giving the maximum score. 
Retail (3%): Retail includes stores of all types, including sport, hobby, music, grocery, fashion, and dozens of other stores, and pharmacies, with 50 being the maximum.
Events (3%): These include festivals, markets, fairs, parades, sporting events, conferences, conventions, and others. 50 amenities in this category gives the maximum possible score. 

Where did we get the data? 

We used a variety of public and private data. These were:

Census Bureau API
Foursquare Places API
GeoDB Cities API
Google Places API
Redfin Data

How did we do the math?

First, we first normalized the data points, such as house prices and employment rates, onto a scale from 0 to 100. This process allowed us to equally evaluate different types of information. 

Then, we assigned weights (as a percentage) to each data point based on its importance. We then multiplied each data point’s normalized score by its weight to get final scores. Adding these up for all data points gave us an overall score for each area. 

Finally, we ranked the metro areas from highest to lowest score to compile our top ten list.

Note: Data used was current as of the date an article was originally published. If a data point was not available for a given metropolitan area, we excluded the metro from our list. This primarily affected small metros for which there wasn’t sufficient housing market data. 

Disclaimer: These articles are for informational and educational purposes only.

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