ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — U.S. News & World Report has released its 2023-2024 Best Places to Live rankings. Out of the country’s 150 most populated metropolitan areas, Albany was ranked among the Top 25.

Albany was ranked 17th, which is four spots higher than the 2022-2023 rankings, which ranked Albany in the 21st spot. Albany is still the best place to live in New York, according to the new rankings, followed by Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and New York City.

Albany received an overall rating of 6.6 out of 10 with a 5.4 for desirability, 6.8 for value, 6.6 for job market, and 7.1 for quality of life. In last year’s rankings, the city had an overall score of 6.5.

Green Bay, Wisconsin, Huntsville, Alabama, and Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina took the top spots as the best places to live in the U.S. Albany was also ranked the 61st best place to retire in the U.S. and and the 17th best place to live for quality of life in the U.S.

Top 25 best places to live in the U.S.

  1. Green Bay, Wisconsin
  2. Huntsville, Alabama
  3. Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina
  4. Boulder, Colorado
  5. Sarasota, Florida
  6. Naples, Florida
  7. Portland, Maine
  8. Charlotte, North Carolina
  9. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  10. Fayetteville, Arkansas
  11. Madison, Wisconsin
  12. Boise, Idaho
  13. San Jose, California
  14. Ann Arbor, Michigan
  15. Melbourne, Florida
  16. Jacksonville, Florida
  17. Albany, New York
  18. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
  19. Des Moines, Iowa
  20. Grand Rapids, Michigan
  21. Knoxville, Tennessee
  22. Syracuse, New York
  23. Fort Collins, Colorado
  24. Tampa, Florida
  25. Hickory, North Carolina

U.S. News & World Report used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. News’ own internal resources to determine the rankings. The data was sorted into four categories to calculate the score and rank: job market, value, quality of life, and desirability.