It feels like it’s been a little bit since Seattle has had a ranking. Well, we’re back today with the 2020/2021 report from U.S. News, which takes an annual look at the best cities to live in in the US amongst the 150 most populous metro areas. Ready to see where we stand? The answer might just surprise you.

Obviously, the nation as a whole has had a very tumultuous past year between politics, the pandemic, and well, just life. Many cities have seen both large exoduses of people and also some unprecedented growth. But with all that in mind, things for the best of the best US cities have stayed somewhat “normal”.

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Now when it comes to the Emerald City, Seattle ranked #19 overall and #50 in best places to retire. We received an overall score of 7.1, a quality of life score of 6.5, and a value score of 5.8. Not too shabby if you ask us but honestly we also thought that we might end up raking a tiny bit higher. Now as you might have guessed, we got dinged by things like cost of living, commute times, and yes, the rain.

If you’re wondering, only one other Washington city made the list and that was Spokane at number #78. Now we’ll bet you’re curious about the cities that came out on top. The top three were Boulder CO, Raleigh & Durham NC, and Huntsville AL. Surprised? Well, Boulder is actually in its second year of being number one due to its high quality of living and job market.

The complete top 10 are as follows:

1. Boulder, CO
2. Raleigh & Durham, NC
3. Huntsville, AL
4. Fayetteville, AR
5. Austin, TX
6. Colorado Springs, CO
7. Naples, FL
8. Portland, ME
9. Sarasota, FL
10. Portland, OR

Clearly, we can’t be the best at everything but it could be worse. Let’s get this city back in order and see Seattle in the top 10 best US cities next year! If you’d like to check out the data or more rankings you can click here.