This Is The Most Laid-Back US City

Population and Social Characteristics

Published: April 30, 2024 9:50 am

Having a laid-back attitude is not for everyone. Some people love the hustle and bustle of a busy environment, while others prefer a relaxed and easygoing atmosphere. Being characterized as a “laid-back city” means an easier living environment and related economic factors, coupled with more opportunities for improved well-being and more leisure activities, according to a recently published report.

To find the most laid-back cities in the U.S., 24/7 Wall St. reviewed personal finance site FinanceBuzz’s report The Most Laid-Back Cities Across the U.S. (2024). Cities here are ranked based on their overall laid-back score out of 100. We added population, bachelor’s degree attainment rate, and median household income from the Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey five-year estimates.

FinanceBuzz looked at 25 factors in four main areas to come up with the cities’ laid-back scores. The areas are: Well-being, which includes such measures as sleep and working from home; economic factors, which includes cost of living and hours worked per week; livability, which includes commute time, weather, walkability, and more; and leisure activities, which includes golf parks, yoga studios, cannabis dispensaries, restaurants and more.

For most of the lower-scoring cities, economic factors tend to be the best performing area, while leisure activities, well-being, and livability are the performing areas among the higher-scoring cities.

So, for example, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh score high in leisure activities with a high concentration of spas and yoga studios in the former and the highest per capita golf courses in the latter. Similarly, Portland, Oregon, has the highest percentage of people who sleep at least seven hours a night, while Washington D.C. is the most bikeable city. (Also see: 40 US Cities With Booming Downtowns.)

On the other hand, Houston has a dearth of leisure activities relative to its population, though it also ranks low in economic factors. San Antonio, Texas, too, has the lowest leisure activities score of any city in the country, though it ranks second highest in economic factors. In fact, Texas is the only state with multiple cities in the bottom 10, at three.

While among the top 10 most laid-back cities, six have a higher median household income than the national median, this is the case in only two of the 10 least laid-back cities. When it comes to bachelor’s degree attainment rate, all of the 10 most laid-back cities have a higher attainment rate than the national average — with some significantly higher, but only five of the least laid-back cities can boast the same.

Why Are We Covering This

Source: 400tmax / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Each U.S. region has its own characteristics, just as cities often have their own so-called “vibe.” If New York is the city that never sleeps, Seattle is the Emerald city, Las Vegas is Sin city, and Detroit is Motor city. Americans interested in perhaps relocating, can find out more about potential cities’ livability, well-being of residents, economic factors related to work-life balance, and leisure activities opportunities that perhaps amount to a more laid-back attitude.