A new study conducted by U.S. News & World Report compared the average quality of life in over 850 cities across the country, measuring variables such as crime, healthcare access, quality of education, and average commute time, to develop a ranking and identify the cities with the highest quality of life in America.
Much to our excitement, the study determined that one of the suburbs of Washington, D.C., was ranked as the #3 best place to live for quality of life in the nation!
Which Washington, D.C. suburb was ranked the #3 best place to live for quality of life in America?
According to the study, the #3 best place to live for quality of life in the country is none other than Bethesda, Maryland!
The Montgomery County suburb, which is just 2 miles from the Washington, D.C. border, received one of the highest scores in the study’s Quality of Life Index observed in the study!
What makes the quality of life in Bethesda so high?
The study developed its own unique ‘Quality of Life Index’ to attribute a numerical value that could be measured so that the quality of life could be more easily compared between cities.
The key variables to this index were as follows:
- Quality of education
- Quality & availability of health care
- Air quality
- Environmental risk
- State economy
- State infrastructure
In the case of Bethesda, here are a few notable factors that stood out in the study:
- The city’s well-established infrastructure connects to downtown D.C. via the Metro, supplying residents with a reliable and affordable transportation option to the location where most Bethesda residents work.
- The local education in Bethesda is considered stellar, having what U.S. News ranked as the #2 high school in Maryland this past year: Walt Whitman High School.
- A growing local economy stemming from many middle-class families being priced out of Northern Virginia communities and D.C. itself as a result of rising costs.