USA Today names Richmond the South’s 10th best city to move to

Richmond, VirginiaPhoto byBruce Emmerling/Wikipedia Screenshot

WRIC 8 News reported that USA Today has named Richmond the Southern United States’ 10th best city to move to.

USA Today's list

While Richmond came in tenth, there are two other Virginia cities higher on the list. Congratulations to Roanoke for coming in second and Lynchburg for coming in fourth.

1. Johnson City, Tennesee
2. Roanoke, Virginia
3. Greenville, South Carolina
4. Lynchburg, Virginia
5. Auburn, Alabama
6. Albany, Georgia
7. Hoover, Alabama
8. Laredo, Texas
9. Concord, North Carolina
10. Richmond, Virginia

USA Today’s full list can be found here.

How cities were selected

USA Today used several characteristics to determined the best Southern cities to move to.

• houses and rent prices
• crime rates
• unemployment
• number of severe weather events

Richmond's data

According to USA Today’s data, Richmond has a typical home value of $358,188, a typical monthly rent of $1,591, 37.7 reported crimes per 1,000 residents, 2.6% unemployment, and 24 severe weather events in 2023.

The data came from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, as well as Zillow, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.