Resonance Consultancy Releases the 2025 America’s Best Cities Report and Ranking

New York City ranks #1 for the ninth consecutive year; Los Angeles and Chicago round out the Top 3 as America’s cities define the future amid today’s massive global transformation. California is the state with the most cities in the Top 100 with eight, followed by Florida with seven and Pennsylvania and New York, both with six.

NEW YORK, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amid profound geopolitical shifts and a transformative era for global urbanization, Resonance Consultancy, a leading advisor in place branding, tourism, and economic development, today released its ninth annual America’s Best Cities ranking for 2025, spotlighting the 100 cities shaping the country’s future.

New York, bolstered by its #1 rankings across all three pillars of Livability, Lovability and Prosperity, retained its #1 ranking for an incredible ninth consecutive year. Los Angeles secured the #2 spot with its ongoing investment in the creative economy, massive urban infrastructure projects, and visceral city-building urgency after its tragic fires. Chicago rounded out the Top 3, thriving as a welcoming, affordable and well-resourced talent magnet.

Resonance’s America’s Best Cities 2025 report combines global user-generated data, core statistical performance, and new proprietary research, including a landmark Ipsos survey of more than 2,000 residents across the U.S., to create the country’s most comprehensive city ranking.

“For those building America’s urban future—whether through capital deployment, headquarters decisions, retail footprint strategy or place marketing—this data offers more than rankings. It offers clarity, risk context and a roadmap to opportunity,” said Chris Fair, President & CEO of Resonance Consultancy. “These 100 metros are aligning investment attraction with livability and cultural capital—redefining what a ‘best city’ means in this decade.”

The Top 10 America’s Best Cities for 2025 are:

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. San Francisco
5. Seattle
6. Miami
7. Boston
8. Washington, D.C.
9. Las Vegas
10. San Diego

America’s Best Cities 2025 arrives at a pivotal moment:

• American cities are navigating converging headwinds such as rising climate volatility, interest rate uncertainty, infrastructure strain, and geopolitical tensions that are reshaping global capital and talent flows.
• Urban wildfires, extreme heat events, and water access issues are no longer outliers but key considerations for development and site selection.
• International visitor influx, which was critical to downtown recovery in many gateway cities, has plummeted, with 2025 inbound visitation from markets like China, Japan, and the UK projected to lag 2019 benchmarks by as much as 15%.
• Despite challenges, leading cities are responding by reshoring advanced manufacturing, doubling down on R&D ecosystems, investing in multimodal connectivity, and creating magnetic cultural districts to attract talent and visitors.

“With shifting global perceptions influenced by tariff disputes and politics, U.S. cities are leveraging their cultural assets and innovative spirit more than ever,” said Jason McGrath, EVP and Head of U.S. Corporate Reputation at Ipsos, the Best Cities research partner. “Our findings suggest that America’s top cities brilliantly weave local culture with economic prospects, aligning with global and domestic travel trends to create premier experiences for both residents and travelers.”

How the ranking was built:

The Place Power™ Score, Resonance’s proprietary methodology, evaluated each city’s performance and perception across three core pillars:

• Livability (housing affordability, green spaces, healthcare, air quality)
• Lovability (culture, nightlife, dining, attractions, social media engagement)
• Prosperity (economic strength, labor force participation, educational attainment, startup ecosystem)

This year's index reflects fresh realities, including affordability pressures, reshoring of critical industries, new mobility patterns, and national and global perception that drives travel and investment behaviors across the United States.

The full America’s Best Cities 2025 report is available here.

About Resonance Consultancy

Resonance creates transformative strategies, brands and campaigns that empower destinations, cities and communities to realize their full potential. As leading advisors in real estate, tourism and economic development, Resonance combines expertise in research, strategy, branding and communications to make destinations, cities and developments more valuable and more vibrant. ResonanceCo.com

About Ipsos

Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling companies globally, operating in 90 markets and employing nearly 20,000 people. Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 business solutions are based on primary data from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques. “Game Changers”—our tagline—summarizes our ambition to help our 5,000 clients navigate with confidence our rapidly changing world. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has been listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and Mid-60 indices and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD). ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com

About World's Best Cities

Best Cities is the global authority in forward-looking city intelligence. Our insight is used by leading news outlets and trusted by city leaders to unlock the power in urban data to identify opportunities for regions, cities, and companies. The Best Cities rankings span global, U.S., European and Asia-Pacific indexes and reports, and are widely considered to be the world’s most comprehensive. Bloomberg calls it, ”The most comprehensive study of its kind; it identifies cities that are most desirable for locals, visitors, and businesspeople alike, rather than simply looking at livability or tourism appeal.” WorldsBestCities.com | #BestCities

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• Resonance Consultancy Reveals America’s Best Cities for 2025
• Resonance Consultancy Reveals America’s Best Cities for 2025

Tom Gierasimczuk
Resonance Consultancy
604-649-8664
tom@resonanceco.com

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