This Indiana city ranks among the best places to live in the country

(NEXSTAR) – 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.

Locally, a well-regarded Indiana city finds itself in the top ten.

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, the top place to live was once again Colonial Village in Arlington, Virginia. Home to just over 3,000 people, the neighborhood received the best possible grade when it came to 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.

Meantime, communities in the Midwest and Northeast tended to score higher as great places to raise a family, thanks to solid public schools and access to jobs, while California dominated the the health and wellness category for a third year running, according to Niche.

Carmel ranks in top ten

Carmel, which ranked seventh, received an overall A+ grade, with categories like public schools, jobs, health and fitness and “good for family” receiving top marks. Weather received a B-, while commute, cost of living and crime & safety received B grades, according to the website.

Its comment on Carmel:

Carmel is in Hamilton County and is one of the best places to live in Indiana. Living in Carmel offers residents a dense suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Carmel there are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many families live in Carmel and residents tend to lean conservative. The public schools in Carmel are highly rated.
Niche’s overview of Carmel

See the top 50 places to live in America, according to Niche:

Rank	Name	Area Type	County	Metro Area	State	2025 Ranking	2024 Ranking
1	Colonial Village	Neighborhood	Arlington County	Washington, D.C. Area	Virginia	1	1
2	Atlantic Station	Neighborhood	Fulton County	Atlanta Area	Georgia	2	27
3	Chesterbrook	Town	Chester County	Philadelphia Area	Pennsylvania	3	3
4	Harbour Island	Neighborhood	Hillsborough County	Tampa Area	Florida	4	9
5	City Center	Neighborhood	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Area	California	5	404
6	South Lake Union	Neighborhood	King County	Seattle Area	Washington	6	20
7	Carmel	Town	Hamilton County	Indianapolis Area	Indiana	7	2
8	Midtown	Neighborhood	Fulton County	Atlanta Area	Georgia	8	57
9	Madison	Town	Madison County	Huntsville Area	Alabama	9	58
10	Johns Creek	Town	Fulton County	Atlanta Area	Georgia	10	13
11	Ardmore	Town	Montgomery County	Philadelphia Area	Pennsylvania	11	12
12	Courier City/Oscawana	Neighborhood	Hillsborough County	Tampa Area	Florida	12	113
13	Penn Wynne	Town	Montgomery County	Philadelphia Area	Pennsylvania	13	35
14	Brookline	Town	Norfolk County	Boston Area	Massachusetts	14	11
15	Downtown	Neighborhood	Orange County	Orlando Area	Florida	15	474
16	Cinco Ranch	Town	Fort Bend County	Houston Area	Texas	16	5
17	Ballston/Virginia Square	Neighborhood	Arlington County	Washington, D.C. Area	Virginia	17	44
18	Radnor/Fort Myer Heights	Neighborhood	Arlington County	Washington, D.C. Area	Virginia	18	8
19	Okemos	Town	Ingham County	Lansing Area	Michigan	19	15
20	Triangle State	Neighborhood	Travis County	Austin Area	Texas	20	40
21	Evergreen Park	Neighborhood	Santa Clara County	San Francisco Bay Area	California	21	7
22	Cambridgeport	Neighborhood	Middlesex County	Boston Area	Massachusetts	22	30
23	Naperville	Town	DuPage County	Chicago Area	Illinois	23	24
24	Innsbrook	Town	Henrico County	Richmond Area	Virginia	24	21
25	Clarendon Hills	Town	DuPage County	Chicago Area	Illinois	25	29
26	North Potomac	Town	Montgomery County	Washington, D.C. Area	Maryland	26	31
27	Brentwood	Town	St. Louis County	St. Louis Area	Missouri	27	17
28	Cary	Town	Wake County	Raleigh Area	North Carolina	28	32
29	Hinsdale	Town	DuPage County	Chicago Area	Illinois	29	38
30	Mount Pleasant	Neighborhood	District of Columbia County	Washington, D.C. Area	District of Columbia	30	71
31	Blue Ash	Town	Hamilton County	Cincinnati Area	Ohio	31	16
32	College Terrace	Neighborhood	Santa Clara County	San Francisco Bay Area	California	32	10
33	Alpharetta	Town	Fulton County	Atlanta Area	Georgia	33	25
34	Ho-Ho-Kus	Town	Bergen County	New York City Area	New Jersey	34	49
35	Princeton	Town	Mercer County	Trenton-Princeton	New Jersey	35	35
36	Audubon Park	Neighborhood	Orange County	Orlando Area	Florida	36	6
37	Mid-City	Neighborhood	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Area	California	37	22
38	Morningside/Lenox Park	Neighborhood	Fulton County	Atlanta Area	Georgia	38	33
39	North Highland	Neighborhood	Arlington County	Washington, D.C. Area	Virginia	39	301
40	Swarthmore	Town	Delaware County	Philadelphia Area	Pennsylvania	40	103
41	Coppell	Town	Dallas County	Dallas-Fort Worth Area	Texas	41	60
42	North Bethesda	Town	Montgomery County	Washington, D.C. Area	Maryland	42	18
43	Fulton	Town	Howard County	Baltimore Area	Maryland	43	14
44	Los Alamos	Town	Los Alamos County	Santa Fe Area	New Mexico	44	90
45	Great Neck Plaza	Town	Nassau County	New York City Area	New York	45	46
46	Holly Hills	Town	Arapahoe County	Denver Area	Colorado	46	45
47	Clarendon/Courthouse	Neighborhood	Arlington County	Washington, D.C. Area	Virginia	47	75
48	University South	Neighborhood	Santa Clara County	San Francisco Bay Area	California	48	26
49	Meadowbrook	Town	Shelby County	Birmingham Area	Alabama	49	34
50	Buckhead Village	Neighborhood	Fulton County	Atlanta Area	Georgia	50	248

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.