Central Iowa city makes Best Places to Live list. What sets it apart?

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    Central Iowa city makes Best Places to Live list. What sets it apart?

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    Central Iowa is home to one of the best places to live in 2026, according to new rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

    Ankeny was named the fourth in the annual Best Places to Live rankings.

    U.S. News reviewed more than 850 cities across the nation to determine the 250 best places. Five other Iowa cities made the list.

    Ankeny ranked 18th on last year’s list. This year, the city is also claiming the top spot for Best Place to Live in Iowa and ranked second in Best Small Cities to Live in the U.S.

    “Moving from No. 18 to No. 4 in the nation is a meaningful recognition of the work happening across our community,†Ankeny City Manager Mike Schrock said in a news release. “Ankeny continues to stand out because of its high-quality services, safe neighborhoods, excellent schools, strong job market and quality of life.â€

    How did U.S. News & World Report choose how to rank cities?

    U.S. News ranked each city using four separate indexes: quality of life, value, desirability and job market. Each component received a different percentage weighting based on a nationwide internet survey. People from across the country voted for what they believed was the most important factor to consider when choosing where to live.

    The breakdown of the indexes are as follows:

    • Quality of life: housing affordability and cost of living
    • Value: quality of education, quality of healthcare, air quality index, environmental risk, state economy, state infrastructure
    • Desirability: crime rates, weather, culture/leisure, commute time
    • Job market: unemployment rate, median household income

    Why did Ankeny rank highly on the U.S. News Best Places to Live list?

    The basic statistics listed on the U.S. News website provide a quick overview of how Ankeny compares to other small cities.

    The national average home value is $359,870, while the median home value in Ankeny is $331,417. Ankeny offers a lower cost of living compared to similarly sized cities, according to U.S. News.

    The median household income in Ankeny is $107,871 and the average commute time is about 20.8 minutes. The unemployment rate is 2.25%, which also lower than the national average.

    The city received an overall score of 7.1

    How did other Iowa cities rank on the U.S. News Best Places to Live list?

    Des Moines has been slipping down in the rankings since 2023 and completely dropped off the list in 2025. The city’s biggest drop came in 2024 when U.S. News switched from using metro-based data to city-based data. That allowed cities like Ankeny and West Des Moines to jump up the list, but dropped Des Moines’ score.

    The city just barely missed the mark in 2026 again, with an overall score of 5.7, putting Des Moines in 288th place.

    Six Iowa cities made it onto the list. Here’s how they scored:

    • West Des Moines: 6.7 (40th)
    • Cedar Rapids: 6.1 (136th)
    • Council Bluffs: 6.1 (160th)
    • Dubuque: 5.9 (208th)
    • Sioux City: 5.9 (219th)

    Lucia Cheng is a service and trending reporter at the Des Moines Register. Contact her at lcheng@gannett.com or 515-284-8132.

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