So do you like living here in the greater Washington metropolitan region? Hope so, because according to the 2017 rankings by US News & World Report you will have to move to Austin, Denver or San Jose, California to find a better metro area to live
in. Using a 1 to 10 scale, the annual rankings take five elements into consideration – Desirability (6.9 DC ranking); Value (7.4); Job Market (8.7); Quality of Life (6.6); and Net Migration (6.9). The overall score for Washington was 7.3 out of 10 possible points.
According to the report “The Washington, D.C., metro area has the perks of a large urban area. It’s serviced by an extensive public transit system, is home to plenty of restaurants and entertainment venues and a variety of museums and other cultural sites. Meanwhile, each neighborhood in the District and its surrounding towns has its own atmosphere. Residents gather for block parties, mingle at dog parks and converse at coffee shops, creating an ambiance similar to that of a much smaller community.”
In its analysis, the report does note that housing is expensive (average housing price in Washington being $371,772; whereas US average is $211,731), however they also recognize that “Washington offers a better value than similarly sized metro areas when you compare housing costs to median household income.” The report notes that the area is fairly young and attractive because of good schools, plenty of well paying jobs and a variety of recreational and cultural amenities. Traffic, however, is a black eye, with our average commute times being 34.8 minutes, or roughly 8.4
minutes longer than the national average, and probably much more stressful.
All in all, many of the residents love this area for all of the things mentioned in the rankings report. To see more on the report and to see how other areas stack up with DC, visit realestate.usnews.com/places on the web.