California neighborhood ranked among the 'Best Places to Live'

For the second straight year, a neighborhood in Virginia has taken top honors in an annual study of the best places to live in the United States. Meanwhile, one Southern California neighborhood has rocketed toward the top of the list.

Niche, a research and ranking platform, releases a report each year that weighs data from the Census Bureau, FBI, NOAA, the Niche local survey and other sources to rank more than 12,000 communities across the country.

In 2025, Colonial Village in Arlington, Virginia, was once again the top place to live. Home to just over 3,000 people, the neighborhood received the best possible grade for public schools, health and fitness, commute, nightlife and family-friendliness.

“This year’s results highlight significant growth in the South, which is well represented across our Best Places to Buy a House and Lowest Cost of Living categories,” Niche PR Manager Zach Chatham told Nexstar. “Notably, Texas stands out as a top destination, attracting a surge of newcomers.”

A SmartAsset study in late 2024 echoed those findings, showing that roughly 615,000 people moved to the Lone Star State between 2021 and 2022, according to IRS data.

Climbing from 404th on the list to No. 5 was Santa Monica’s City Center neighborhood, which received an overall Niche grade of A+.”

“Living in City Center offers residents a dense urban feel, and most residents rent their homes,” Niche noted. “In City Center, there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many young professionals and retirees live in City Center, and residents tend to have moderate political views.

City Center was the only California neighborhood to rank in the top 20.

The top 50 places to live in America, according to Niche:

Niche found that the following states had the most entries in the top 100: Florida (13), Virginia (11), Texas (8), Georgia (8) and California (8).

At a local level, some states made tremendous leaps in the rankings. City Center in Los Angeles was ranked 404 in 2024 but shot up to 5 a year later, thanks to a decline in its rent-to-income ratio, according to the American Community Survey.

Niche gave Downtown Orange County, Florida a boost from 474 to 15, citing reductions in the following Health and Fitness subcategories: physical inactivity, smoking, being uninsured and obesity.

Finally, Buckhead Village in the Atlanta area went from 677 to 51 based on improvements in housing affordability, public schools, cost of living and walkability.

For the full rankings and the complete methodology, see the Niche website.

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