MSA: Lafayette, LA Best places ranking: #2 among midsize metro areas Population: 259,073 Lafayette is the capital of French Louisiana and the heart of Cajun country. French...
Huntsville, AL
MSA: Huntsville, AL Best places ranking: #1 among midsize metro areas Population: 395,645 In the 1960s, Huntsville was often racked with earthquake-like rumblings as NASA's engineers tested...
Baltimore, MD
MSA: Baltimore-Towson, MD Best places ranking: #10 among large metro areas Population: 2,667,117 Sure, there's the swanky Inner Harbor, crab feasts and Oriole Park, but Baltimore's biggest...
New York City, NY
MSA: New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Best places ranking: #9 among large metro areas Population: 19,006,798 The sprawling New York metropolitan area is anything but homogeneous....
Austin, TX
MSA: Austin-Round Rock, TX Best places ranking: #8 among large metro areas Population: 1,652,602 Entrepreneurial ventures and small businesses have thrived in Austin, which has a number...
Charlotte, NC
MSA: Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC Best places ranking: #7 among large metro areas Population: 1,701,799 Nestled in the Piedmont region of the Carolinas, Charlotte has all the amenities of...
Washington, DC
MSA: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Best places ranking: #6 among large metro areas Population: 5,358,130 For anyone providing services to the government -- anything from consulting to IT to...
Hartford, CT
MSA: Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Best places ranking: #5 among large metro areas Population: 1,190,512 Hartford, a two-hour drive from both Boston and New York City, is...
Houston, TX
MSA: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Best places ranking: #4 among large metro areas Population: 5,728,143 Traditionally known for its lax zoning, low taxes, dominant oil industry and heavy...