Special Report
25 Best Counties to Live In
January 1, 2019 5:00 am
Last Updated: March 20, 2020 1:59 pm
Roughly one in nine Americans moved within the last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. People move to accommodate growing families, work at a new job, or find somewhere that better fits their needs as they age, among other factors. No matter the reason, some parts of the country are more desirable places to live than others.
While different people look for different things in a place to call home, there are certain attributes that make some areas preferable to others.
24/7 Wall St. constructed an index of education, poverty, and life expectancy to determine the 25 best counties to live in. Though each index component stands alone as a discrete metric, they are closely tied to one another.
Click here to see the 25 best counties to live in.
Adults with greater educational attainment are more likely to be financially secure and healthy — and partially as a result, the best educated communities in the country are also often among the healthiest and highest earning.
Each of the 25 counties on this list have a bachelor’s degree attainment rate of at least 45%. In 21 counties, at least half of adult residents finished college. This high level of education qualifies these residents for specialized, high-level jobs that tend to be high paying.
Though it is not a part of the index, median household income is one of the best indicators of whether or not a county is a good place to live. Each of the 25 counties on this list has a greater median household income than the U.S. median of $57,652. Of the 25 counties, 15 have a median income greater than $100,000.
Higher income individuals are able to afford a greater range of healthy options related to diet and lifestyle, and as result, often live longer and healthier lives. In each of the counties on this list, life expectancy at birth exceeds the 79.1 year national average by at least two years.
Methodology
To determine the 25 best counties to live, 24/7 Wall St. constructed an index consisting of bachelor’s degree attainment, poverty rate. All data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey.
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