The Phoenix metro plunged for the second-straight year on the latest U.S. News & World Reports rankings of the Best Places to Live in the U.S.
The Valley came in at No. 110 on the magazine’s 2023 list of the top 150 places, which equates to a 43-spot drop from its previous rank of No. 67 last year. Just two years ago, the Phoenix metro came in at No. 40.
U.S. News didn’t offer specific reasons for why Phoenix has fallen so far on the list over the past couple of years, but affordability is a likely contributor. The metro’s average housing costs have risen more sharply than the national average since 2019, going from a little over $300,000 then to $463,117 now. The national average is $365,616, according to the report.
The report gave Phoenix a value index rating of 6.4 out of 10, which means that the Valley still offers a better value than similarly sized metro areas when housing costs are compared to median household income, U.S. News said. However, Phoenix’s average annual salary of $54,870 was below the national average of $56,310, the report said.
