Palo Alto, Berkeley, Santa Clara among top 10 most livable cities in America

Published Sep 15, 2014 12:28 PM

BERKELEY, CA - APRIL 23: UC Berkeley students walk through Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus April 23, 2012 in Berkeley, California. According to reports, half of all recent college graduates are finding themselves underemployed or jobless and the prospects for new graduates dim in a weak labor market. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

UC Berkeley students walk through Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus April 23, 2012 in Berkeley, California. According to Matt Carmichael, Livability’s editor, cities at the top of the livability list were often home to a major institution like a university, hospital or state capital.

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, CA on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. AFP PHOTO / Ryan Anson (Photo credit should read Ryan Anson/AFP/Getty Images)

Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, CA on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. According to Matt Carmichael, Livability’s editor, cities at the top of the livability list were often home to a major institution like a university, hospital or state capital.

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AFP/AFP/Getty Images

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California has 22 of the top 100 best cities to live in America, according to a list released by Livability.com. Palo Alto, Berkeley and Santa Clara ranked among the top 10.

Livability.com partnered with the research team at the Martin Prosperity Institute to conduct the survey. More than 2,000 cities with a population between 20,000 and 350,000 were evaluated. Data points spread across eight categories: economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education and health care.

Respondents were asked about factors that make a city a better place to live and work, as well as factors they consider when choosing where to live.

“The cities at the top of the list were often home to a major institution like a university, hospital or state capital,” says Matt Carmichael, Livability’s editor. “Institutions like that help these smaller cities compete in terms of sports, culture, jobs and entertainment.”

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Below is a table with the ranking and score of all the 22 Californian cities that made it on the list. See if your city is here and tell us if you agree with the result.

What factor matters the most for you when selecting a city to live in?

Ranking	City	Livability Score	Economics	Health care	Housing	Social and Civic Capital	Education	Amenities	Demographics	Infrastructure
#5	Palo Alto	679	30	70	62	78	70	86	73	71
#6	Berkeley	672	33	74	51	66	78	78	81	74
#7	Santa Clara	671	49	71	69	51	72	82	71	70
#15	San Mateo	660	49	66	65	63	54	83	76	70
#16	Santa Barbara	656	43	74	49	59	73	92	68	64
#21	Pasadena	651	44	61	63	40	75	87	79	69
#23	Ventura	650	56	65	71	57	73	86	55	57
#25	Sunnyvale	645	46	53	66	64	62	80	77	67
#26	Mountain View	645	49	61	67	72	43	75	76	73
#28	Santa Monica	644	46	61	55	56	85	85	61	65
#31	San Rafael	638	44	77	68	51	52	83	64	69
#45	Alameda	632	44	61	59	56	74	68	72	69
#49	Fullerton	631	47	63	62	42	73	78	78	60
#53	Irvine	630	33	53	43	68	91	91	68	55
#56	Santa Cruz	629	42	78	62	65	53	79	48	75
#61	Monterey	626	39	60	49	68	62	83	72	66
#68	Costa Mesa	622	58	70	52	42	73	79	57	66
#78	Santa Rosa	618	49	76	65	50	44	86	63	60
#79	Goleta	617	62	67	55	73	37	75	69	56
#87	Menlo Park	612	29	67	52	79	52	68	71	70
#89	Burbank	610	53	63	66	44	57	77	65	62
#90	Hayward	610	51	72	64	24	56	74	77	68

The full list of top 100 cities is featured on Livability.com.