Carlsbad appears to fit a particular “niche” in the U.S. when it comes to being a pleasant place to live despite high housing and living costs, according to a national website’s recent rankings.
The city cracked the top 25 of the Best Places to Live in America from Niche, an online platform that links families and prospective students with schools and colleges in regions throughout the U.S. The company announced its 10th annual national rankings on Tuesday, March 26.
In particular, Carlsbad ranked high for education, 4th place out of 229 ranking for Cities with the Best Public Schools in America. The city also placed 13th out of 229 for Best Cities to Raise a Family in America and Best Cities to Retire in America.
Rankings are based on a number of grades given to a community such as quality of schools, housing access, family-friendly environment, cost of living, access to jobs and more.
“Niche creates the annual Best Places to Live rankings by using data from sources such as the U.S. Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics and CDC combined with millions of resident reviews,” the company explained in a news release.
Carlsbad’s 23rd place and overall A score for 2024 came with positive grades related to education, weather, and health and fitness. Not necessarily surprising, however, were low grades for housing and cost of living.
The city earned A+ marks for public schools, weather, and health and fitness, according to Niche’s page for the city. Cost of living earning a D+ and housing received a C, however.
The low marks for housing and cost of living came as new figures from the San Diego Association of Realtors and the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed an increasingly expensive market in San Diego County.
The 30-day median home price in the county was $860,000 as of the week ending Friday, March 29, according to the San Diego Association of Realtors.
Meanwhile, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index reported that county home prices were up by 11.2% year-over-year in January, putting San Diego among the top of the most expensive cities in the United States.
“Choosing where to live is no small task,” Niche CEO and founder Luke Skurman said in the company’s news release. “For 10 years now, our Best Places to Live rankings have served as a compass for navigating these tough choices. We know that people consider far more than just affordability when deciding where to call home, from neighborhood diversity and weather conditions to career opportunities and the quality of the schools. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula.”
