Rochester Among the 250 Top Places to Live in the US

What do you like about living in Rochester? I like that it's a big small town. But clearly there are many reasons to like living in Rochester, because we were recently named one of the best places to live in the US for 2026 according to an annual study done by US News and World Report.

The study ranks the top 250 best places to live. No, we didn't end up in the top 100, but we DID rank in the top 150!

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The Best Places to Live in the US, 2026

Obviously you want to know which towns took the top spots, so let's check those out quick.

I wrote about Ankeny, IA ranking in the top 5, which is really impressive! Let's take a look at all of the top 5:

5. Johns Creek, GA
4. Ankeny, IA
3. Flower Mound, TX
2. Fishers, IN
1. Carmel, IN

As for Rochester...

Rochester, MN One of the Top Places to Live in the US

Rochester ranked as the 138th best place to live in the US. Not too shabby!

Now, of course, how in the world did they even come up with these rankings? In order to be named one of the best places to live, the town/city had to be determined to have "good value, be a desirable place to live, have a strong job market and a high quality of life."

So it's pretty cool that Rochester made the list, even if it's number 138.

Other Minnesota towns that beat us are:

Eagan, 134
Woodbury, 112
Eden Prairie, 81
Maple Grove, 54
Plymouth, 31