New York in the United States, London in the United Kingdom, Paris in France, and Tokyo in Japan. These are the names at the pinnacle of global city brands. But in rankings that ask about "places good to live every day," they all fell off the list. Their places were taken by suburban small cities with populations around 100,000, rural market towns with populations in the 10,000s, and coastal resort cities. In the 2026-2027 "best places to live in the United States" ranking released on the 20th (local time) by the U.S. newsweekly US News & World Report, No. 1 went to Carmel, a suburban city of about 100,000 people on the outskirts of Indianapolis. No. 2 was Fishers, the adjacent suburban city right next to No. 1. In the same report, none of the giant marquee cities such as New York, San Francisco, and Chicago made the U.S. top 10.
Behind Carmel and Fishers, suburban cities within major metropolitan areas filled the top ranks, such as Flower Mound, Texas (about 80,000), Leander (about 91,000), Frisco (about 237,000), and Sugar Land (about 108,000). The assessment selected 250 out of 850 cities nationwide and measured housing cost burden, job market, crime rate, and commute time, then combined data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with surveys of thousands to calculate the results. US News & World Report said, "In this year's assessment, as the cost of living increased, the weight of 'affordability' was greater than in any other year." Mid-sized tech cities such as Boulder, Colorado in 2021, Huntsville, Alabama in 2022, and Green Bay, Wisconsin in 2023 took the top spot. But since 2024, after Naples, Florida—a residence for high-income retirees—took first place, the trend of small cities on the outskirts of major metros has solidified for three consecutive years.
The same trend appeared in U.S. Census Bureau migration data. The Census Bureau said, "Between 2024 and 2025, as prices surged, the growth of major cities slowed sharply, and some large hub cities even saw slight population declines." In contrast, mid-sized cities found a so-called "Goldilocks (a state that is neither too hot nor too cold) zone" between major cities and small towns as domestic and international migration aligned with new dwellings supply. This is interpreted to mean that citizens are not leaving major metropolitan areas so much as relocating their residences to affordable outskirts within the same living zone. The model keeps jobs in the urban core while addressing home prices, school districts, and public safety in the suburbs.
A similar trend has emerged in Europe. The No. 1 spot in the "2025 Happy at Home Index" compiled by Rightmove, the United Kingdom's largest real estate portal, was not London or Manchester but Skipton, a North Yorkshire market town. The city's population is about 15,000. The average asking price for real estate transactions in Skipton is £326,093 (about 657 million won), 12% lower than the U.K. national average of £364,833 (about 735 million won). Rightmove explained, "Housing satisfaction is not determined by the home itself alone; it is heavily influenced by the community, the natural environment, and access to essential amenities." In the "2026 Best Place" ranking by the British daily The Sunday Times, which assessed 72 areas by schools, transportation, and high street vitality, the nationwide No. 1 also went to Norwich, a mid-sized city in eastern England (about 140,000). Within population-heavy London, the boroughs of Richmond upon Thames (about 195,000) and Camden (about 210,000) made the list. Experts said that it is not that all major cities are being shunned; rather, within big cities, demand is concentrating in neighborhoods with good access to green spaces and culture, making polarization more pronounced.
In France, too, symbolic metropolises such as Paris, Lyon, and Marseille disappeared from the very top of the livable cities rankings. In the "2026 best cities and towns to live in" ranking assessed by a private French association, No. 1 in the city category was Biarritz (about 26,000), a resort city on the Basque coast. No. 2 was Annecy (about 130,000), No. 3 Angers (about 158,000), No. 4 Bayonne (about 53,000), and No. 5 Rodez (about 24,000). Cities where natural conditions—coastlines, Alpine lakes, and mild climates—mesh like gears with health care, public safety, and commercial services scored higher than the overwhelming capital brand. The ranking evaluates 34,727 communes (village-level units) in metropolitan France using 197 criteria across 11 categories, including quality of life, safety, health, transportation, education, and environment.
Japan's pattern is more complex. In the "2025 most livable cities" ranking by Toyo Keizai, a Japanese business magazine, which assessed 20 public indicators across four fields—safety, convenience, comfort, and affluence—the top spot went to Fukui City (about 200,000), a manufacturing hub whose accessibility improved with the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen. In a ranking that a real estate corporation, Daito Kentaku, compiled by cumulatively surveying actual resident satisfaction, Higashikawa Town in Hokkaido (about 8,000) took No. 1. The city earned high marks for its living infrastructure based on clear groundwater, its local government ordinance on scenery, and its urban strategy.
There was also an exception that directly defied the global trend. In Germany, high-wage jobs and an industrial base offset expensive housing costs. In the 2025 ranking by the German Economic Institute (IW) and the real estate portal ImmoScout24 analyzing 71 large cities with populations over 100,000, No. 1 was Munich (about 1.5 million), a globally renowned industrial metropolis; No. 2 was Stuttgart (about 630,000); and No. 3 was Ingolstadt (about 140,000), home to automaker Audi's headquarters. ImmoScout24, the portal that conducted the survey, analyzed, "Munich is strongest in the labor and real estate markets, but high rents and housing prices simultaneously reveal a burden in terms of population movement," adding, "Only Munich and Freiburg ranked within the top 15 in all three indicators—current level, growth momentum, and infrastructure." Experts interpreted this as evidence that the criteria for livable cities have not simply shifted to cheap housing costs; rather, jobs and infrastructure capable of bearing the expense must support them.