Niche: Ann Arbor is sixth best city in United States...again

Visitors near the intersection of State Street and East Liberty Street during the 2021 Ann Arbor Art Fair. (Meredith Bruckner, Sarah Parlette, WDIV)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Tree Town has once again topped Niche’s list of “Best Cities to Live in America,” proving that it is more than just a bustling downtown and football games.

The Michigan city has been named the sixth-best city in the nation for the second year in a row.

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Ann Arbor has previously made Niche’s list at least four times. In 2017 and 2018, it was the best city in the U.S., then the second-best in 2019. In 2021, it dropped to the No. 6 spot.

How are rankings made?

Niche looked at 228 cities around the U.S. and assigned them grades in several categories like housing, employment, crime, cost of living and diversity. Grades were created based on publically available data from sources like the FBI, IRS and U.S. Census Bureau and resident reviews.

One resident review said, ”Being a college town, Ann Arbor has just about everything much everything you could need conveniently located within or within a ten minute drive.”

Another resident wrote, “I’ve lived in Ann Arbor for about 15 years now and overall I’d say my experiences have been entirely positive.”

Here’s Tree Town’s 2022 report card:

CategoryGradeCategoryGrade
Public SchoolsA+Crime & SafetyC+
HousingB-NightlifeA+
Good for FamiliesA+DiversityA-
JobsB+WeatherC
Cost of LivingCHealth & FitnessA
Outdoor ActivitiesA-CommuteA+

Find Ann Arbor’s profile here.

Here are the 10 best U.S. cities:

  1. The Woodlands, Texas
  2. Cambridge, Massachusetts
  3. Naperville, Illinois
  4. Arlington, Virginia
  5. Overland Park, Kansas
  6. Ann Arbor, Michigan
  7. Columbia, Maryland
  8. Berkeley, California
  9. Plano, Texas
  10. Irvine, California

Find the full list of cities here.


About the Author

Sarah has worked for WDIV since June 2018. She covers community events, good eats and small businesses in Ann Arbor and has a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from Grand Valley State University.

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