North Carolina is home to two of the country’s best cities to live in, according to U.S. News & World Report’s yearly rankings for 2025-2026.
U.S. News ranked a total of 250 major U.S. cities for quality of life (26%), value (25%), desirability (24%), job market (23%) and net migration (2%). According to this year’s report, the methodology used to assign rankings is “determined by Americans’ preferences,” as determined by a survey.
The yearly best places to live rankings are intended to “help readers make the most informed decisions when choosing where to settle down,” with data pulled from Applied Geographic Solutions and internal resources from U.S. News…