What’s behind the U.S. World & News Report’s #3 “Best places to live” ranking of Colorado Springs | KRDO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – According to the yearly U.S. News and World Report, Colorado Springs is the 3rd best city to live in in the nation.

The rankings are determined by a complex set of data, broken into four “Indexes” that take multiple sets of data, both internally and externally sourced. Those four indexes are Quality of Life, Value Index, Desirability Index, and Job Market Index.

According to U.S. News and World Reporter Erika Giovanetti, Colorado Springs did incredibly well in terms of Desirability, ranking #1 in the nation in the group of 3500 people the news outlet surveyed.

“Colorado Springs ranked number one for desirability. Clearly … something just draws people to Colorado Springs and makes it a place where people want to be,” Giovanetti said.

Colorado Springs also remained competitive in the Job market and Quality of Life Index. The Job Market Index is determined by the unemployment rate and the average salary in the area. The Quality of Life Index takes into account crime rates, education quality, the FEMA Risk Index, and the Air Quality Index.

However, Colorado Springs ranked #58 in the nation for the “Value Index,” something determined by housing affordability and price parity, which is determined by cost of living and price parity. Price parity is essentially an evaluation of the cost of living in comparison with other cities.

“I think any great city is always constantly trying to find areas of improvement as we’ve grown, as you mentioned, housing is a number one issue that we need available and affordable housing at all income levels,” Johnna Reeder Klaeymeyer, the CEO and President of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce said.

Klaeymeyer also said she’s looking to improve access to affordable childcare and quality of education in the Springs, but was overall happy with the ranking.

“Last year, we were ranked number nine, so we’re now at number three. I’ll take number three all day long. Out of all of the communities in the United States. It’s a day to celebrate in Colorado Springs,” Klaeymeyer said.